In part one of his series, CHOWOO captures the struggles of farmers in the four districts of Acholi—Gulu, Nwoya, Omoro and Amuru—battered by climate change shocks, yet access to climate‑smart farming services remains painfully out of reach.
When Odokonyero Francis borrowed three million Ugandan shillings in an agricultural loan from the bank to invest in farming, he hoped to turn his fortune around. Instead, the small-scale farmer from Ajan North village in Odek Sub-County, Omoro District, is now counting losses after successive seasons of poor yields driven by harsh weather conditions.
Determined to improve his income, Odokonyero cleared eight acres of land where he planted soybeans in late April of the first season last year. With good rains expected, he projected he would harvest at least 40 bags. However, the prolonged dry spells hit the area, leaving his crops struggling to survive.
“I expected 40 bags, but I only harvested five,” Odokonyero says.
After selling his farm proceeds, Odokonyero earned just 850,000 Uganda shillings, which was less than what he needed to repay the loan to support his family.
“I had to borrow money from our [savings group] to repay the bank loan; it was additional stress,” he recalls.
After his painful experience, Odokonyero hoped to recover from the losses in the second season; he used the money earned from the proceeds to plant maize in the same garden, which also failed to germinate after two weeks without rain.
“The crops just failed to pick; some of them didn’t germinate. There was no rain, and the maize remained weak,” he explains.
Experts warn that dry spells are getting longer, extending beyond the normal months of December, January, February, and June. In the past, Gulu district would receive 1,800 mm of rain, but currently the district receives an average annual rainfall of approximately 1,500 mm, according to the Ministry of Water and Environment.
Gulu district’s senior agricultural engineer Geoffrey Anywar says that many farmers are frustrated by the unpredictable rainfall patterns.
“It is unfortunate that these eventualities were not there before.” He highlights.
Climate shocks deepening farmers’ vulnerability
Odokonyero’s experience reflects the growing extreme weather challenges faced by most of the small-scale farmers who rely mostly on rain-fed agriculture across Acholi sub-region, which experiences a bimodal rainfall pattern, characterised by sporadic pockets of rain in late June.
Tom Ocitti, who lost seven acres of coffee plantation and one acre of maize this first season to drought in Agonga village, Koch sub-county in Nwoya District, says, “The future of farming with rain-fed agriculture looks bleak; you can never predict the weather, and farmers are seriously losing their crops to droughts.”
Cissy Makumbi is another farmer in Aloko Kiwinyo Village in Owor Sub-County, Gulu District, witnessing her crops wither each month.
Last season, Makumbi lost three acres of soybeans due to prolonged dry spell. This season, her maize and groundnuts are withering again; she is also worried that 3 acres of soybeans and maize might suffer the same fate.
“Each day I go to the garden and come back when I am more demoralised. At night, I wake up to check on the sky to see if it might rain, but there is nothing; it is not easy,” she notes.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) acknowledges that the conditions of the small-scale farmers are undergoing due to the current dry spells in Northern Uganda.
“This time, we are having a big challenge; many farmers have been affected; there are some situations where the garden is completely dry,” said Acayo Consolate, Assistant Commissioner for Information and Communication at MAAIF, adding that most farmers suffered losses in the first harvest, with the second season’s rain delayed.
Climate-smart technologies are still out of reach.
In 2024, the Government of Uganda, through the MAAIF, launched the Uganda Climate-Smart Agricultural Transformation Project (UCSATP). The USD $354 million project is a six-year initiative to boost agricultural productivity, market access, and climate resilience for more than 3.9 million Ugandan farmers across 69 districts.
In the Acholi sub-region, the districts that were supposed to benefit include Agago, Omoro, Pader and Lamwo districts, with the project aiming to enhance production. Nwoya, however, is directly benefiting from the project.
Under this project, the government is co-funding 80%, while the farmers cover the 20%. This is intended to directly support farmers by supplying drought-tolerant maize seeds, soybeans, and other crops.
With three years remaining before the completion of the project, many farmers are still unaware while some have not benefited from the intervention as they struggle to contribute money through their groups to meet the requirements.
Similarly, the government introduced the Marco-Scale Irrigation Program to help farmers irrigate up to 2.5 acres. But the program has ended, and only a few farmers who can afford the co-funding have benefited in the first phase.
This program was implemented through a district-managed matching-grants scheme in partnership with the World Bank’s Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers (UgIFT).
The government co-finances between 25% and 75% of the total equipment cost. It pays 75%, and the farmers pay 25% to co-share the cost.
The uptake of this programme has been low across local governments in the Acholi sub-region due to cost, perceptions, and proximity to water points.
Bongomin Alfred, an agricultural officer in Amuru district, says repeated calls to farmers to embrace this intervention have fallen on deaf ears.
“Last year, the rainy season left early, and from November, we didn’t have much rain. This year, it returned early in February, which was not normal, disrupted the rainfall pattern, and affected crop growth,” Bongomin notes.
Despite these interventions, implementation has been low in the first phase of the programme. Many farmers could not afford it, and it was mainly bought by those who could afford it.
The farmers attribute the low adoption of such climate-smart practices to limited access to information and support.
“We are encouraging farmers to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices,” says Bongomin, the agriculture officer. “But resources are limited, and awareness remains low.”
They point to the gaps in extension services and farmer training as another key challenge. The gap is between the sub-county and the district.
The farmers say that without adequate knowledge and technical support, they cannot fully understand or implement climate-smart practices.
Many farmers cite the high cost of inputs, such as weather-resistant seeds, irrigation systems, and solar-powered equipment, as a major obstacle. For small-scale farmers with limited incomes, investing in such technologies is often out of reach
“We have limited resources,” Makumbi explains that as much as we should have pumps at the sub-country or district, accessing them is not easy; we are tired of relying on the government.”
However, for many small-scale farmers, these solutions remain out of reach.
High costs, limited access to credit, and uncertainty about their effectiveness discourage adoption, leaving farmers exposed to climate shocks.
“I did not try any technology to save my gardens; I don’t have the money, yet we need them to improve on our production,” Odokonyero notes.
Acayo of MAAIF admits a gap in raising awareness about the Micro-Scale Irrigation program as well as
Besides costs, some farmers remain skeptical of the reliability of certain climate-smart solutions. Uncertainty about returns on investment, for instance, discourages many from adopting new farming practices, especially in areas already facing repeated climate shocks.
In rural communities, grouping farmers remains a big challenge. This has worsened their chance of acquiring those smart technologies as a group.
“They have their perspectives that it might not help us, but they also think that they might eat our money; they prefer doing what they know better,” Makumbi narrates.
In Omoro district, the agricultural experts are tasking farmers to adopt bottle irrigation as an adaptation measure
The District Production Officer, Oyet Geoffrey Jomo, said, “With the perennial crops, we ask them to water their crops, like coffee, using bottle irrigation.”
The most affected people are small-scale farmers who have lost their maize, groundnuts, soybeans, and beans to the dry spells.
“The effects of the dry spells are hitting small-scale farmers very hard. Oyet says, “Our challenge is with the small-scale farmers who usually grow maize and soybeans, which are grown on a large scale; they can’t use this drip irrigation.”
Oyet also admits that most farmers lack access to water and irrigation, adding that many are impeded by the cost involved in installing irrigation systems: “We are encouraging them to use micro-scale irrigation for the high-value crops rather than perennial crops,” he adds.
Call for increased government support
Although most parts of the country started receiving rain early—between February and March—this year, the majority of farmers are counting losses while others have yet to plan their crops. Across the region, many still rely heavily on traditional knowledge to predict rainfall due to limited access to updated climate information, which has been heavily affected by
This has made it hard for them to know when to plant their crops. Odokonyero, who was affected by climate shocks, explains that farmers need to be educated on the best farming season
“We are in total confusion; we don’t know when to plant and not to plant. We don’t have access to the weather forecast,” he adds.
Agricultural experts are calling for increased government support, including providing subsidies and training communities on climate-smart technologies.
Anywar Geoffrey, the senior District Agricultural Engineer for Gulu, says “They really wish that the government could do it for free so that more people can afford it since the demand is high.”
Without such interventions, farmers risk falling deeper into debt and poverty.
MAAIF’s Assistant Commissioner for Information and Communication, Consolator Acayo, says reducing the cost of acquiring irrigation would motivate more smallholder farmers.
“Probably the government needs to reduce the cost of that equipment and make it more affordable for farmers to be able to utilize,” she says, adding that “I believe that was the spirit of micro-scale irrigation.”
She says that such programmes do not need to be implemented in phases, stating that “to me…[it] should be a continuous activity so that farmers will be able to utilise the opportunity.”
With many farmers facing challenges accessing climate information, the meteorologists warn against over-relying on traditional rainfall predictions, emphasising that they should instead use the quarterly weather forecast releases provided by the Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA).
Omony George William, Manager, Weather Forecast at the Department, notes that traditional rainfall prediction does not account for climate change and viability, which is unreliable.
“We always advise these people not to rely on the normal rainfall patterns of the past; scientists give predictions based on climate change and viability,” he adds.
“Hanging on hope.
Despite the setbacks and anticipated food security concerns arising from the sub-region, many farmers are not giving up. They have now resorted to different local solutions, such as using ‘crop boosters’.
Akello Alice, a 63-year-old vegetable farmer in Amola village, Paminyai sub-county in Nwoya district, has reverted to using SuperGro and Bhishma to improve crop yields.
Super Gro is a liquid organic agricultural surfactant and crop booster that helps water and agricultural treatments penetrate soil and plants effectively, while Bhishma is an organic herbal insect repellent designed to eliminate destructive crop pests.
“I can’t afford irrigation to support my garden, so I spray SuperGro to support my vegetables. It provides moisture to them so that they don’t dry.” She explains, tending to her cabbage and green pepper garden.
“It is cheap because I don’t have money to use other measures,” she narrates.
In addition to using SuperGro, Akello is also using animal manure collected from her poultry and goat farm to maintain soil fertility.
“It is not labor-intensive; it is always reliable and cheap, and it has helped to improve the quality of my production,” Akello shares.
In other communities, some farmers are using bottle irrigation and mulching as adaptive measures to climate change shocks.
Eng. Anywar, an agriculture climate-smart expert, urges rain-fed farmers to prepare early to benefit from the early rain at the onset of the planting season.
“Let us prepare our gardens early and utilise the early rain, those who used the first rain, the ones harvesting maize now,” he says.
This story was done with support from Northern Uganda Media Club (NUMEC).
