Climate Smart Agriculture: Hope for Food Security in a Changing Environment

By Sarah Mawerere

Agriculture is the backbone of Uganda’s Economy. However, productivity is being threatened by climate change. Over 70% of Ugandans depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, it is important that land productivity is well sustained. To guarantee sustainability and productivity, Uganda has adopted the climate Smart Agriculture technology as a Sustainable Land Management Strategy to address challenges of land degradation.

A Soil Scientist who has been in-charge of sustainable land management program in eastern Uganda Francis Ogwang says high pressure has been mounted on land making land lose nutrients.

“Land is becoming more fragile, nutrients can no longer be kept in the soil, the soil can no longer hold the water, bringing in the concern to conserve water and food in the soil. In soil science we call it nutrient banking and water banking. When you have water and food in the soil, then you can be sure of the harvest.” Francis said.

Climate-smart technology is using improved ways to keep our land and continue using it for sustainable livelihoods. The technology comprises planting improved seeds, water harvesting, soil conservation, and knowing how to adapt to changing weather and protecting the environment”.

Uganda adopted this technology as a Sustainable Land Management strategy to address challenges of land degradation. The Program’s outgoing Coordinator, in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Stephen Muwaya highlights the program.

“We developed what I would call the climate smart agriculture program for Uganda. This program is intended to help us scale up climate smart agriculture countrywide. The most important thing that we are looking at is; how farmers are adopting it to ensure that the crops are resilient enough to overcome the negative challenges of climate change.” Stephen Muwaya stated.

It is now ten years since the launch of the programme, we visit Bugiri district in Busoga-eastern Uganda, where there has been severe land degradation. Since the adoption of climate smart agriculture technologies the land has begun to recover.  James Moses Bakalikwira is the Bugiri District Agriculture Officer.

“Due to Climate change, many people are now adapting to Climate Smart Agriculture in this district; which is contributing to increasing food security. We are also looking at increasing food production and productivity as well as rejuvenating arable land and reducing fragmentation which is a big issue. So Climate Agriculture practices are helping those farmers to at least reap from the small pieces of land that they have. Over 220 farmers are now practicing this technology” Moses Bakalikwira said.

Farmers who have adopted Climate Smart Agriculture techniques are moving smart meaning; they put in practice the ways of adopting to climate change and they gain out of this. This farmer Asiko from Bugiri describes how it works.

“My name is Asiko Margaret, Bugiri. I grow maize, potatoes, beans and others.  “These approaches help us to grow food even when the season is not reliable. Before, we used to depend only on rain and we could use our land the usual way not knowing that climate change is here. But now we have the skills to keep our land with water and nutrients in it.  I use water to irrigate my vegetables and I plant drought-resistant seeds.  For maize, we know how to plant in a permanent basin. These methods help me harvest more maize and we get what to feed my family, and even sell some produce, despite the changing climate. It’s like farming in a smarter way, using knowledge and tools that protect the land and give good yields.” Asiko described.

Elizabeth Nandutu a farmer from Bulesa-Bugiri, explains how climate smart agriculture has helped her beat climate change effects to improve her production.

“We are in Climate Smart Agriculture, we have realized that this method of agriculture is doing well. Because we are now planting in a small garden but the yield is now increasing.  And we hope that we shall continue being in climate smart agriculture so that we can change the community as well as the members.” Elizabeth explained.

Another Farmer in Nsongwe Village Kayigwa Moses demonstrates how he makes a basin for planting seed.

“We are digging a basin….sound effects. A basin has to be 35 cms long, then the depth; we break the hard core of the sub-soil If you have any animal manure you can put in, then put soils back, half fill the basin, then you select good seeds 6 to 8 for beans , then you put them scattered . With Maize, we put 3 seeds; put one here, another one in the middle and another one here then cover. Conventionally, I had got 470 kgs of maize intercropped with beans, I got 68 kgs of beans.] When climate smart agriculture was introduced, the first season we realized 1516kgs of maize. We use a hoe which has ever been used; we don’t use a brand new hoe because we are very much interested in minimum tillage. If we use a new hoe you find that we have dug a very big basin.” Moses demonstrated.

Another method of climate smart agriculture to demonstrate is the use of rip lines which some farmers have adopted.  Silver Oboth is a farmer and Chairperson of Ndifakulya -Kapyanga farmers’ cooperative society located in Bukaye village, Bugiri district.

“We acquired two methods of rippers. The oxen driven ripper and the tractor ripper; these help a lot in maintaining minimum tillage when we are preparing land for planting. A ripper is actually a dug line where we plant seeds. So this is an oxen ripper that is attached to oxen, which are cows that pull a ripper for digging that line called a rip line. And in the process, the ripper puts soil on both sides. After the rip lines are made, we put manure in those rip line which we make ourselves from dung. So some soil on one side of the rip line is used to cover the manure, then we put the seed using our hands; only one seed of maize every after 25cms in the rip line. And from one line to another line we measure 75cms. Even if our pieces of land have become small, the techniques of climate smart agriculture our production increases so our incomes. In addition, we have increased our food production for our families and we are now food secure. In the past before we learned these technologies, this land had lost value and we were not reaping anything much.” Oboth stated.

Oboth however said, the tools are not enough.

“: The challenge is that the tools we use are too few to cater for all the members and to cater for those who come to hire them. We just hire a tractor to use this ripper. We hire a tractor at 60,000/- per acre which is costly for many farmers here. The oxen ripper does only 2 acres a day and yet the oxen ripper does 8-10 acres a day. Also, some farmers do not afford buying improved seed, and yet local seeds do not give much in this. Others need to change their mindset and attitude. All these challenges have affecting the wide promotion and scaling up of climate smart agriculture.”Oboth argued.

Francis Ogwang- sustainable land management in eastern Uganda, said different techniques have been adopted to conserve the soil for sustainable use.

“We have this program meant to really conserve water and conserve the soil farmers are taking up because they are already realizing it.  In the Elgon, we are doing it, on the hills we have the contour bands and the terraces, there is the planting of the woodlots. And then in the low-lands; that are the Busoga area, we are majorly employing Climate Smart Agriculture which involves the permanent planting basins, and then we have rip line, cover crops, crop rotation, agro- forestry, all those are aspects of Climate Smart Agriculture, all those are aspects of really mitigating climate change in this era.” Ogwang said.

The Bugiri district Agriculture Officer Bakalikwira continues to say that although the technologies are adopted by the farmers, there are still some challenges, like lack of resources for the technical teams to do wide sensitization and awareness, lack of equipment like rippers and fertilizers. He however said, there is more effort towards upscaling the smart agriculture.

“We acquired a ripper to help the district farmers to ease planting; however, this needs a tractor, which we cannot afford acquiring as a district to serve over 200 farmers and more.  Also, rendering extension services to the many farmers is a challenge but means are devised to acquire a tractor.” Bakalikwira said .

Listen to the full story in the audio below: