Infonile Exhibition Actuates Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices, Brings Climate Change Adaptation Hope to Northern Uganda

BY AMBROSE OKWANGA

“I learnt different farming practices from the district officials, agro-input dealers and also from different stories displayed by journalist,” recalls Sarah Akullu, a 37-year-old farmer, a resident of Oketkwer village, Otara parish, Aromo Sub County, Lira district.

Akullu, a member of Okio Cooperative society, is among hundreds who attended the exhibition on climate-smart Agriculture organized by InfoNile at Aromo sub county headquarters, in Northern Uganda’s district of Lira.

“When our cooperative society was invited to be part of the exhibition I thought it was the usual farmers training but on reaching the ground I saw different pictures of different farmers who are practicing climate-smart Agriculture being displayed by journalists and I was impressed. We were taken through different climate resilient practices” Akullu adds.

Akullu says they were using their cooperative just for lobbying for seeds, seedlings and other agro-inputs from government and other private partners but not for building climate change resilience, adding that this made her to think that Agriculture can never be a good source of income.

Akullu and her invited group members got convinced that they can still improve their income through agriculture by embracing Climate-smart Agriculture. “I started believing when I looked at the pictures and videos of farmers who are doing very well through climate-smart agriculture” Akullu explains.

From there She adds that the best thing that she learned from the exhibition is when the district agricultural officer, Patrick Alip told them about the danger of climate change and how to survive in it as farmer. “From the district agricultural officer’s talk, I learnt best practices like irrigation that can help a farmer during dry season, planting perennial crops, planting vegetables that one can easily water during the dry season.”

She now says that after the exhibition, she started growing eggplants, cabbages, tomatoes and also has one hectare of Cocoa.

Akullu is reaping big from her farming activities on one hectare. In three months, she says that she earns an average of 3,000,000 Uganda Shillings (about 843USD), and this has enabled her to buy a motorcycle, pay school fees, started produce-selling business and she is now in the process of acquiring a plot of land in the nearby trading center.

Learning and Walking the Talk

The exhibition at Aromo Sub-County grounds was an important platform for bridging the gap between modern climate-smart practices and the everyday realities of farmers. It provided farmers with practical demonstrations such as on soil conservation, water management, and improved seed varieties that directly relate to current farming challenges such as drought, unpredictable rainfall, and declining soil fertility.

Akullu says the knowledge she gained from the exhibition has transformed her life because for more than a decade she was engaged in farming practices but had nothing to show for it.

To the farmers, Akullu opines that they must change their mindset and adopt climate-smart agriculture practices because climate change has come to stay. “In our cooperative society, we have made it a policy that each and every member should adopt climate smart agriculture practices like Drought tolerant and early maturing crop varieties, crop diversification and intercropping, agroforestry, irrigation system among others because we have realized that for a long time we have been getting less from our pieces of land,” she explains.

 

One member of Okio cooperative society who also attended the exhibition, Scovia Apio says she conceived an idea of growing cabbage and tomatoes and identified one of the exhibition’s participating companies -Agrisole a company dealing in Agro-inputs as a supplier of seedlings.

She also says that she learnt the centrality of irrigation in farm yields boosting and responding to the effects of climate change.

“I saw a photo of one farmer from Aromo sub-county who is using irrigation system and after I approached that farmer for information on the irrigation system and where to buy it from. Today, I use that irrigation system,” Okio explains.

She is now growing tomatoes, green papers, cabbages, cocoa and onions. She says that her average earning now stands at an average of 2,000,000 (about 562 USD) every quarter.

Apio added that before adopting climate smart practices she used to get an average of 600,000 (about 168.93USD) from her two hectares garden of maize and soya beans per season. “After adopting some climate-smart agriculture practices, I realized that what I was earning from farming would not sustain my family development plans because I used to dig a large garden but the return was very little” Apio explains.

This revenue has enabled her to diversify into piggery and goat rearing.

Apio notes that the information from the climate-smart agriculture exhibition has inspired them to strengthened their cooperative society – after learning that unity under farmer not only supports their growth but also enhances the ability to lobby government for support.

She appeals to the government to start partnering with Infonile to continue supporting farmers, as they are willing to embrace climate-smart agriculture practices, but this is hindered by the knowledge gap and financial difficulties.

“Government should subsidize irrigation equipment to make it affordable. Also, Infonile should organize such exhibitions more often to enable us farmers get as much information as possible,” Apio recommends.

 

Tonny Blair Acala – a 46-year-old farmer from Ogeo A’ village, Apua parish in Aromo sub county notes that despite already practicing irrigation agriculture he was still farming seasonally like many others. “The InfoNile exhibition helped me realize that there is much to do and I have since changed my way of growing tomotoes and water melons to get better yields,” Acala explains.

After the exhibition, two agricultural companies identified Acala’s potential, followed him at home where they organized a demo for different crops. This has so far helped hundreds of farmers in Aromo sub county.

Beyond knowledge sharing, the exhibition created valuable linkages between farmers, agro-input dealers, researchers, and local leaders. This is critical because it means that farmers are not only exposed to new technologies but also connected to the support systems they need.

Agro-Input Dealers Benefit Beyond the Exhibition

The photo exhibition at Aromo sub county grounds did not only benefit the farmers, but the agro-input dealers as well. Serogal Atia, an agronomist with Agrisol Uganda Limited who took part in the exhibition, says that the InfoNile Climate-Smart Agriculture Exhibition opened up a wider market for agro-input dealers. “As a result of our participation in the exhibition, we are receiving farmers from across Aromo sub-county who come to buy our products, while others visit us for consultations. The exhibition gave us a chance to meet and interact with farmers from different groups and capacities. I collected several contacts, and later we organized a farmers’ field day with them, which provided us with very positive feedback,” Atia adds.

A Brighter Future on the Horizon

A study conducted by the ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries in 2015 shows that Lira district has 37.91% of households utilizing cover crops for climate-smart agriculture. The same study shows that 16.69% of households in Lira employ reduced tillage, and 6.00% practice no-till farming, meaning that 6.28% of households in Lira use artificial drainage methods for crops.

On Irrigation, this study reveals that on average, 6.28% of households in Lira owned land and irrigated their crops.

Andrew Odongo, the Assistant Agricultural Officer for Aromo Sub-County in Lira district, says the rising number of farmers adopting climate-smart agriculture is largely due to the knowledge gained from the exhibition. “We are impressed by how many farmers have embraced climate-smart agricultural practices after the exhibition. People have realized that growing crops like tomatoes, cabbages, and watermelons is far more profitable than relying only on cereals,” Odongo observes.

According to Odongo, “while farmers are embracing climate-smart agriculture, challenges still persist such as limited knowledge on chemical use, the presence of counterfeit seeds on the market, and the high cost of quality seeds.”
Odongo now wants InfoNile to continue with the climate-smart agriculture initiative not only in Lira district but across the entire Lango sub region as they have seen the impact on the farmers and it is reducing on some of the bad practices like wetland degradation.