Agriculture is a key sector that significantly contributes to the national economic development, poverty reduction and livelihoods of the farming communities

It is a sector that enables food and nutrition security for the majority of Ugandans

However according to the 2018 report from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), climate change is a reality and has adversely impacted agriculture and other natural resource.

The report states that over 96% of farming households in Uganda depend on rain fed agriculture making them highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change and variability.

Climate change distorts the length of rainy seasons making the farmers uncertain on when to prepare land and when to plant crops.

This shift in rainy seasons negatively affects water availability for agricultural production leading to reduced crop and pasture yields.

The foreseen challenge is meeting the growing population’s food demand which calls for increased food production amidst a changing climate.

However, Uganda’s farming systems are not sufficiently developed to adequately adapt to or cope with the impacts of climate change.

This trend is the same for the Western part of the Country particularly the Districts of Kikube and Kagadi in Bunyoro region.

This is what Climate smart agricultural scientists discussed during the National launch of the Integrated Mechanism for Protection and adaptation to Climate Change threats (IMPACT) project for the districts of Kikube and Kagadi.

Seeds of Gold interacted with the scientists and stakeholders and below are the details.

Background

The project Programme Manager Gerald Tumwine explaining the background of the entire project notes that, this is a project that will run for five years with funding from the Austrian Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology.

The money worthy 1,971,083 Euros is co funded with the Jane Goodall Institute in Uganda and the project will be implemented in collaboration with Ministry of Water and Environment and the leadership of the local government in the two districts.

The executive Director Jane Goodall Institute Dr James Bwamukama explained the background of the institute saying Jane Goodall came to Africa in the 1960s and settled in Gambia sensitizing Africans about the importance of Chimpanzees as a natural resource.

That time there was plenty of forest cover but in the 1980s when she moved across Africa including Uganda, the natural forest cover was dwindling and affecting farming communities due to climate change effects.

It is until 1977 that Dr Jane Goodall and colleagues formed the Jane Goodall Institute in the USA to help address the challenge of climate change in natural resource management including agriculture.

In Uganda the Institute was started in 1991 focusing on Biodiversity and conservation of human biodiversity but the current project is focusing on promoting climate smart agriculture.

Others are protecting natural based livelihood, reducing dependency on the environmental practices, restoration of degradable forests, wetlands, efficient energy use, enhancing water security by building resilience against rain fall patterns and raising climate change awareness among others.

Reasons for the Project

Tumwine explained that 60% of the catchment in Bunyoro region especially the two selected districts experiences water scarcity due to the prolonged drought periods.

The rain fall projection indicate shift in rising seasons by 15- 30 days with rising temperatures of 0.133 degrees Celsius to 0.24 degrees Celsius per decade.

The population growth in the catchment is 5.5% contributing to high demographic pressure

Citing the World Bank figures of 2023 it is indicated that 24% to 39% of the population is in the Nkusi river catchment running through the districts of Kibaale, Kakumiro, Kakube and Kagadi in the Albertine region.

The available water supply for humans and agriculture for the area is 1,095.08 cubic meters per person per year well below the recommended 1,700 cubic meters.

The forest cover declined by 75.2 % between 1995 and 2017 and wetland cover declined by 70.3% from 1995 to 2017.

Riverbank degradation is accelerating soil erosion, increasing sediment loads in rivers. Soil loss is currently at 69,800 tons per year and is projected to rise to 292,600 tons per year by 2024.

The overall goal of the project is to build resilience of both communities of the River Nkusi catchment and the ecosystem they depend on, to the negative impacts of climate change.

The Outcomes and deliverables

The scientists expect to restore the forest cover, wetlands and riverbank ecosystem around the catchment.

The communities especially those practicing agriculture have diversified livelihoods and will be sensitized to respond to and recover from climate.

Deliverables

The deliverables include the communities working with five sub catchment management committees to enhance engagement and suitability.

Others are operationalisation of the wetland management plans in the five catchment areas.

Restoration of 1,765 hectares of degraded river banks and forest zones in river Nkusi catchment as well as restore 3,990 hectares of woodlots and agroforestry and this will be done through lifeline tree planting.

Another deliverable is that the team will train 4,000 farmers in the catchment area about climate smart agricultural practices including providing them with climate resilient inputs.

About 10,000 farmers will be supported to access micro irrigation schemes and fourteen thousand households will receive timely information every quarter about climate change through early warning systems. 

Communities will be engaged in climate change related awareness through community radio stations about three thousand school children will be educated on climate change education, through demonstration gardens of various crop species

Others are training 7,500 household in improved cook stove production and five community groups equipped to market produced brickets.

There will be twenty five improved water sources rehabilitated to benefit 4,500 households

Climate smart agricultural practices

Dr Peter Apell the programme director at Jane Goodall Institute explained that his team has performed similar programmes with the help of the Austrian government since 2017 and this is a continuation of the same.

In the previous programmes which were implemented in the districts of Hoima, Masindi, Bulisa, Kibaale and Kyangwali refugee settlement camp over ten thousands benefited from adoption of improved agriculture technologies. The same will apply in the two selected districts.

This time the focus is on adoption of climate resilient crops such as Maize, beans, green vegetables, fruits and livestock namely goats and cattle which are tolerant to drought.

In terms of assorted crop seeds, the parent seed is obtained from the National Agricultural Research Organisation (Naro) which is distributed to the farmer groups who multiply the same and keep in the community seed banks.

Farmers who contribute a recommended amount of seed will obtain the same during planting season.

Best practice for adoption

Farmers will be sensitized to adopt conservation agriculture by practicing crop rotation, intercropping, mulching and reduced tillage of the land.

They will be sensitized to adopt agroforestry through tree planting which can also be planted at the water basins, application of manure as well as planting drought-resistant crop varieties.

Others are integrated soil fertility management by applying compost manure in the farms and water harvesting techniques to improve resilience to changing weather patterns and enhance productivity while mitigating climate change. 

The scientists in collaboration with Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) will provide early warning information to the farmers where in each session data will be shared on specific plant species.

According to Dr Apell those who listen to information on radio and weather alerts on their phones usually succeed and attain better yields.

The scientists have set aside about Shs250 million to implement the climate smart agriculture initiate.

Part of the initiative will be to drill boreholes for farmer groups which they can use during dry spell to irrigate their crops.

Farmers will be expected to plant over 6 million trees with 77% survival rate and bore goats will be distributed to farmer groups in the two districts.

Ongoing initiatives from the two districts

Ms Ann Mugisha is the Natural Resources officer Kikube district and she explained that in as far as prolonged dry spell is concerned it is real in her district.

This can be attested by farmers in Kyangwali refugee settlement failing to harvest maize last season because it was affected by drought.

The district has to device means by supporting alternative livelihoods where farmers living around Bugoma forest reserve were given bee hives to engage in bee keeping instead of encroaching on forest reserve.

Honey processing equipment has been installed for Kikube community at the town council headquarters where farmer groups come to process their honey for onward marketing.

Meanwhile in Kagadi farmers are encouraged to practice agroforestry by allocating land both for crops and tree planting. They mainly grow pine and Eucalyptus but many are also growing natural trees for their own woodlot

Farmers have also adopted first growing crop varieties especially legumes that grow within a period of three months