Irrigation program uplifts farmers in Maracha District

Publication Date: 
Friday, July 18, 2025

 Maracha District is registering tremendous results in the implementation of Micro-scale Irrigation Program.  Farmers are reporting improved productivity since they embarked on using the irrigation equipment received under the cost sharing arrangement of the program, with government bearing the biggest cost of co-funding.

The Micro-scale Irrigation Program is led by the Department of Agricultural Infrastructure Mechanization and Water for Agricultural Production of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF).

The program supports farmers in purchasing irrigation equipment through a matching grant scheme, in which the cost of the equipment is co-financed by the farmer and the government.

Mr. Felix Jokindo, a farmer in Alikua Sub-county had the equipment installed at his farm late last year, has gained the confidence to diversify in cropping to include onions, tomatoes, okra, watermelon, cabbage, and maize to his cocktail of crops  due to the limitless bounds  in planting.

“The first benefit I have got, without this equipment I would not grow crops during the dry season,” he says.

Jokindo says the rapid growth in his farm has been propelled largely by the money he injected from the co-founding for equipment.  He reveals he has set sight on further growing the production in folds explaining the reason behind the decision he has taken to reinvest most of the profits.  

Aside from the increase in the monetary returns, the installation of equipment has come with nutritional benefit for his family, witnessed by the establishment of a kitchen garden for vegetables.   

“I have my kitchen garden, my wife picks the things from here and she takes them home,” he remarks.

Jokindo says the equipment at his farm has not been fully installed, and pleads with the district and the contactor to fast-track the process for him to reap the full potential of the scheme.

Mr. Marlon Feeta, a progressive farmer in Nyadri-South Sub-county used to earn little from his coffee and cocoa plantings due to the vagaries of the sun heat, but that has changed with the acquisition of the irrigation equipment.

“Underneath the cocoa and the coffee I am spraying water and if you check they are looking glittery,” he shares with a buoyancy of a good harvest.

During the visit to his farm he treated me to a salad of tomatoes and onions from the plenty he had harvested and stored awaiting delivery to the market.  

The rewards of using the equipment have trickled beyond Feta’s farm to also his homestead in form of eased water access.  

“My family used to get water from the stream for washing clothes and other things but now I am using the water from irrigation.”

Partly due to the irrigation equipment, Feeta’s farm has become a demonstration site where several eminent organizations send farmers for learning visits, he says this has earned him a bigger platform to share his farming ideas.  

To him the biggest challenge that he is battling with is of transport to get his produce to established markets in West Nile.

Mr. Amos Asibo, a youthful, young brother of Feta who helps him with farm work, says he has become engaged with farming uninterruptedly in contrast to the past when off season he was idle.

He adds he has benefited from the equipment given to Feeta to also eke a living for himself.  

“I have planted cocoa and coffee, I work with him in horticulture, when he is not there I help with the farm work,” Asibo says.

The program caps the support to 2.5 acres (1 hectare), thus it is expected to benefit mainly smallholder farmers interested to transition from mainly subsistence to more commercial agriculture.

Mr. Justus Eyotia, another farmer in an interview said he now feels remunerated for his efforts and investments after obtaining the irrigation equipment.

“Before I received this scheme, my production level was very low, equally my income level was very low, after receiving the equipment I started planting off season,” says the farmer operating in Oluffe Sub-county.

He says most people don’t plan for their agriculture undertakings which affects the budgeting and production level in the end scaring them off farming.

“One hidden challenge with all farmers is lack of planning, farmers don’t plan their work, they just see someone planting tomatoes, tomorrow you just wake up you want to start planting tomatoes. It is not good you should start with planning,” he advises.

Eyotia encourages farmers to always be optimistic in the light of the many challenges that encompass farming. 

“Production is about challenges, at time we get challenges in marketing, if you produce at the time of plenty you see that marketing becomes a problem.”

He suggests farmers in West Nile work collectively to improve the quality of their output to counter the bias that produce from other parts of the country is of superior quality which shrinks their market.

“We are trying to improve our production and use the best practices to increase our market,” he states.

Government will pay between 25 percent and 75 percent of the total cost of the irrigation equipment, but with a maximum contribution of UGX 7.2 million per acre.

This implies that the farmer may pay between 2 million and 8 million Shillings per acre depending on the nature of the farm and the irrigation equipment that they choose.

A visit to the farm of Mr. Aquiliano Ezabo in Alikua Sub-county, an extension worker with Maracha District Local Government and also a beneficiary under the Micro-scale Irrigation Program reveals he is putting the equipment in to good use looking at the flourishing crops at his farm.

Ezabo guides fellow farmers to explore different chemicals to treat resistant diseases and pests.

In the absence of speedy extension services, Mr. Jimmy Oceni, an official with East-West Seed International, an agro-input dealer firm, highlights farmers should use a mobile application, Plantix, to easily diagnose diseases and also get customized solutions.

“Most of the famers have smartphones, if you don’t have knowledge on any diseases there is an application, you can download it from the internet.”

He also counsels them to always be eager to enhance their knowledge by sharing experiences amongst themselves and also be inquisitive in knowing the latest in regard to crop production.

“We are all learners, there is no one who can claim to know more than the other, there are people who know more than me. When I interact with such people I am able to get more ideas,” he says.

The Principal Assistant Secretary Maracha District Local Government, Mr. Cornelius Atrici appreciates government for this initiative to increase land under irrigation, but cautions farmers against acquiring the irrigation equipment and making it lay idle.  

He observes some farmers have received the equipment but have not utilized it, calling it a waste of government’s investment.

He encourages the farmers to insure their irrigation equipment and production against any unforeseen eventualities

Senior Agriculture Officer,Ms. Janet Enzaru advises farmers to adopt good harvesting practices to avoid taking produce to the market laced with chemicals, which dissuades customers and poses a danger to human health.

She appeals to the farmers to be in touch with the sub-county extension staff and the district technical staff for any assistance.

The Micro-scale Irrigation Program is in line with Uganda’s National Irrigation Policy which aims to create 1.5 million hectares of irrigated land by the year 2040.