Uganda’s agricultural sector, the backbone of its economy, faces increasing challenges due to water scarcity, particularly in dry regions hard hit by climate change.
As freshwater sources dwindle, farmers seek alternative solutions to sustain their crops and livestock. Although under-exploited, desalination holds significant importance in the promotion of climate-resilient agriculture.
Desalination is simply a process of removing salt from water making it fresh to be used for various purposes including crop and animal production or domestic use. However, it’s a subject that’s given little attention by individuals, government, local and international Non-government Organisations.
In districts like Rakai and other parts of the country with vast salty water sources, investing in desalination technologies can play a critical role in addressing water shortages and further unlock Uganda’s full agricultural potential.
“There is little hope for our crops to flourish during the dry spell in the absence of fresh water to irrigate them. The water we have is salty and often affects crops,” said Siraje Wasswa, a tomato farmer in Katovu B village in Kacheera sub-county.
Although it’s not their ideal solution, the farmers find themselves using the available salty water on their crops which compromises productivity in terms of quantity and quality.
According to Wasswa, they began experimenting with different crop varieties to identify ones that could withstand the salt content in the available water sources.
“In 2020, when there was a severe drought and water shortage, we created a small demonstration garden and planted various vegetables. We irrigated them with saline water,” he says, noting that while others withered and dried completely, the tomatoes, red onions, cabbages, and carrots thrived.
We established that some farmers tap runoff water and mix it with saline water to dilute the salinity content but this is temporary.
While so many farmers tend to avoid saline water for irrigation, Francis Byabikyengire, one of the renowned large-scale coffee farmers in the sub-county, argues that he uses it due to a lack of an alternative.
“Using salty water carries a high degree of risk mostly for large-scale farmers,” he stressed.
Resty Musimenta, William Kabeni, and Joseph Byaruhanga manage a five-acre tomato and cabbage field. Their trick is simply choosing high-quality seeds, understanding salinity levels, and planting a lot of crops.
“Just in case the crops are largely affected, you can still harvest something,” said Musimenta.
According to Byaruhanga, water trucking is sometimes the best option for large-scale farmers who have over 20 acres to protect their plantations from drought.
Yusuf Lule, another large-scale tomato farmer, owning more than 20 acres, hires water supply trucks from the Lyantonde district to fill his reservoir with fresh water for irrigation.
“Maintaining water trucking is expensive given the cost and size of the plantation or livestock,” he said, adding that there are those complex situations during a severe drought when the reservoirs dry out and they don’t have funds to hire water trucks.
According to Lule, they are sometimes compelled to use the available saline water on the crops, which typically harms sensitive crops like greens and vegetables.
The farmer explained that he spends over Sh10 million on the tomato project in the rainy season but incurs Sh18 million during the dry season due to the additional costs. “But after all the handwork, the low market price is disheartening,” argues Lule.
Other sub-counties
The same problems as Kacheera affect the town councils of Lwentulege, Mweruka, Dyango, Kibaale, Lwamaggwa, and Rakai, as well as the sub-counties of Kansankala, Dwaniro, Kagamba, Kyarurangira, and Kiziba.
Lake Kijanebarola serves as the primary water source and reservoir for the sub-counties, and despite its salty water quality, it has managed to sustain the local populations for decades over the years.
In Lwentulege TC, three communities- Kakenke, Mweruka, and Kiyumbakimu, are battling with a lack of fresh water on the one hand and a saline water issue on the other.
James Tumwesigye, is one of the affected maize and Irish potato farmers in Kakenke village, they have no alternative but to use expensive means such as pumping water from L. Kijanebarola or buying it from vendors.
From a vendor, a 20-litre Jerrican of freshwater ranges from sh1,000 to sh2,000 (USD0.27 and USD0.54) due to the difficulties in obtaining it from remote communities.
“Saline water has serious impacts on the crops. The crops take longer to mature than those that are irrigated with freshwater, he said.
Stalled Multipurpose Water project
The Ugandan government launched a multimillion-dollar bulk water project at Kiyumbakimu village in 2012 to supply water for domestic use, crop irrigation, and animal consumption, and to address the district’s water crisis.
The water reservoir/dam project was budgeted to cost sh17 billion (about USD4611393.78). It was intended to be completed in two stages (construction and supply).
Several communities in Lwentulege, Kagamba, Ddwaniro, and Lwamaggwa were to benefit from it, with funds from the governments of Uganda, Austria, and the European Union.
At least sh8.5 billion (about USD2305697) was allotted for the construction’s initial start. However, because of its high salt content, the project did not fulfill its original purpose.
Nevertheless, it has been stuck in phase one of construction for ten years, turning into a white elephant and dashing all dreams of farmers, locals, and pastoralists to endure the effects of climate change.
Even the dream of desalinating water and supplying it for home consumption remains unfulfilled.
At first, the dam was roughly one kilometer long and 200 meters wide, but it has since eaten into private property, damaged crops, and moved a few homes.
District Chairman
The presence of rocks in the district causes all subsurface water to be salty, according to Samuel Kaggwa Ssekamwa, chairman of the Rakai District.
The district leader explains that they are looking for the best alternatives to utilise the stalled dam.
Ssekamwa emphasises that the technique to cleanse the saline water is expensive given the small resource envelope, even though the district suggests desalination as the best choice.
FAO
Predicting the future, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has advised countries like Uganda to boldly invest in desalination projects, which would use idle salty water sources to boost agriculture amid climate change.
“Investing in technologies that can make saline water fresh will enable farmers to deal with the harsh effects of prolonged droughts and unpredictable rainfall,” Martial Bernoux, the Senior Natural Resources Officer in the Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Environment at FAO, said during COP29, in a session organised by World Greed Economy Organisation (WGEO) in Baku, Azerbaija.
Bernoux further stated that as an organisation, FAO focuses on ensuring the availability of water in the right quantity and at the right time when it’s needed to sustain agricultural and community needs.
“Regarding the salinity challenge, we need to find ways to have access to fresh water for irrigation, for animals, and people,” he said.
Desalination Technologies
Globally, desalination technologies such as reverse osmosis (RO), electrolysis, and solar-powered desalination, are emerging to be potential solutions to Uganda’s water scarcity challenges.
The reverse osmosis process uses semi-permeable membranes to filter out salt and impurities and is the most widely used globally due to its efficiency.
However, the high energy demands of RO systems may make it difficult for farmers in the affected regions like Rakai since electricity access is so limited.
Therefore, renewable energy options, such as solar-powered desalination units, could be looked at to address the challenges.
Desalination plants and equipment range in size and cost, with the typical ones costing between sh9,000,000 (about USD2473.17) and more, which residents, farmers, and pastoralists cannot afford.
Role of Government, Policy Frameworks
The government policy ensures a crucial role in scaling up different desalination technologies. Uganda’s Water and Environment Sector Strategic Plan (2018–2030) further acknowledges water scarcity as a major challenge but makes minimal mention of desalination.
According to Mike Zizinga, an area reporter, there’s a policy gap that needs to be filled urgently because even boreholes were abandoned for producing salty water.
Douglas Muhirwe a resident of Kiyumbakimu village has suffered the salty water fate and advocates for the creation of incentives such as tax breaks for companies and other entities to invest in desalination projects and also offer subsidies for farmers to adopt this kind of technology.
Calls to Redirect PDM Money to Irrigation
Farmers in Rakai and other districts in the Greater Masaka Region, have urged the government to redirect funds from the ongoing Parish Development Model (PDM) to largely invest in affordable irrigation technologies to enable them to combat prolonged and recurring droughts.
PDM was designed to create wealth, employment and increase household incomes, but the farmers argue that while sh100 million (USD27192.14) is allocated to address individual farming needs, it fails to address the widespread challenges of water scarcity that hampers agricultural productivity.
They believe community irrigation systems funded by the government would be more effective in addressing farmers’ challenges and boosting production.
Although Rakai district benefits from the World Bank-funded microscale irrigation projects under the Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfer Program (UgiFT), the farmers say these projects have been limited to a few individuals who meet the strict preconditions.
The program helps smallholder farmers purchase and use irrigation equipment to increase crop production and adapt to climate change.
National Irrigation Policy
According to the National Irrigation Policy, Uganda has one the highest irrigation potential in the world with over 15% of her surface area covered by freshwater resources.
The sum of the external and internal renewable surface water resources (the average annual river flow generated from precipitation) in Uganda amounts to 43.3 billion cubic meters per year, while the dependence ratio (a proportion that originates outside the country) was about 69% as of 2013.
It highlights that the present utilisation rate of the internal renewable water resource is low (2.8%). The utilisation rate of the entire renewable surface water resources stood at 0.01% as of 2013.
“If the full irrigation potential was to be exploited, the demand for water would be increased by over 400% by 2030 translating into a usage rate of renewable surface water resource of 0.05%,” it indicates.
Aware of both the challenges and opportunities, the government has elaborated this Policy to direct the implementation of irrigation interventions to ensure optimal use of available land and water resources for agricultural production and productivity to contribute effectively towards food security, wealth and employment creation, and export promotion.
This policy is in line with Uganda’s international commitments including the Sustainable Development Goals, and Agenda 2063 as well as the Vision 2040 notes that: “Uganda aspires to transform agriculture from subsistence to commercial agriculture through both mechanisation and introduction of modern irrigation systems”
This story was produced as part of the 2024 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organised by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.
