By. Damba Rogers.
Farming in Uganda being rain-fed which sometimes causes frustration mainly when seasons change, Ugandan farmers are now being advised to always use modern technologies as they practice farming if they are to register constant yields.
Daniel Omodo Momondu, the acting team leader climate change
and disaster resilience, UNDP Uganda offices advises reveals that they are
promoting and supporting climate smart agriculture and for this, they are
encouraging planting of short maturing crops, embracing water harvesting
technologies and this is being promoted by the ministries of water and
environment as well as agriculture.
This is mostly done in high land and lower areas they are
encouraging water harvesting and solar water pumping through the building
resilient communities and wetlands echo systems and associated catchment
project.
Omodo further mentions that most of the farming communities
in the country have started castigating the sun yet just a few weeks back, the
country has been experiencing heavy rains which have provided water. He
expresses worries that all that water has been lost and now farmers are crying.
But with the technologies mentioned above, UNDP is trying so
hard to see that farmers in the country transform from depending on water to
facilitate crop and animal farming to using technologies to facilitate their
activities.
A 2015 water survey carried out by the water and environment
ministry, makerere university school of environment science among other
development partners reveals that 90% of uganda’s water is just wasted putting
only 10% to use. The statistics worried the researchers being that uganda’s
backbone is agriculture which depends on water and mainly rain water.
Uganda as a country, receives two rainy seasons a year but
most of the rain water which moves upto more than 1000mm is wasted.
Omodo assures us that in communities where they are implementing
their resilient project, farmers have fully embrrassed modern technologies to
harvest water for future domestic and commercial use.
The development partners note that if Ugandan farmers can embrace
modern agriculture technologies, then they will start registering improved
yields just like it is in areas where the building resilient communities and
wetlands echo systems and associated catchment project is being implemented.
However, the technical advisor, climate change at the German
development cooperation (GIZ) John Kasiita Ssemulema is urging the private
sector to start investing more in importing and selling modern technologies to
farmers, and in this way they will be able to combat effects of climate change
as they go on with their daily agriculture activities.
Uganda being vulnerable to climate change effects, this has
continued to affect the back bone of this great nation which in the short and
long term will translate into poverty.
The 2017/18 world bank report indicates that Uganda lost
between 4 to 12 percent of her GDP to insufficiencies in the agriculture sector.
It is estimated that only 2% of uganda’s cultivated land is irrigated. This now
calls for more action from all parties.
END