A farmer in Agago District has earned Shs4.5 million from three-quarters of an acre of tomatoes, demonstrating the potential of irrigation farming as communities struggle with prolonged dry spells and unreliable rainfall. Titus Okello, a farmer in Tee-Ogwang Village, Parabongo Sub-county, said he earned the money after starting tomato farming in the second season of 2025, despite losing part of his crop to heavy rains.
Okello said he expects to earn more than Shs10 million from his current crop after expanding his tomato garden with the help of a government-supported micro-scale irrigation system. “This time I think I will get more because I have planted more. I expect more than Shs10 million. I want to plant more this October,” Okello said.
He said access to irrigation had changed his farming prospects after years of struggling to earn enough from his large piece of land because he lacked a reliable source of water. “I have a large piece of land, but I have not been earning well from it,” he said. “Now that I have got support from the government, I want to work hard so that in two or three years there should be an improvement in my life and that of my children,” he said.
Okello is among 14 smallholder farmers in Agago district who have benefited from government-supported micro-scale irrigation systems. The farmers are growing tomatoes, onions, cabbages, eggplants and other crops despite prolonged dry spells that have affected food production in the district.
Agago has recently faced serious food and nutrition challenges, with health facilities recording 351 cases of severe malnutrition, according to district officials. During a joint monitoring exercise of the irrigation projects, district officials said the systems were helping farmers continue production during periods when rain-fed agriculture would otherwise be difficult.
Okello said the experience had convinced him that farmers needed to adapt to changing weather patterns by investing in irrigation and quality planting materials. “There is a myth that tomatoes do not do well here, but that is a lie. Tomatoes do well depend on the variety you have planted,” he said.
He urged farmers to research varieties suitable for their area instead of choosing cheap seeds, saying quality planting materials could significantly improve yields. He also said farmers should adopt improved cabbage varieties to reduce losses from diseases such as cabbage rot.
Lanyero, a beneficiary who joined the irrigation project in the 2023/2024 financial year, says income from vegetable farming has enabled her to diversify her livelihood by acquiring a small maize-milling machine. The machine provides her with an additional source of income and has also made it easier for her to meet school fees and other household expenses for her children.
Lanyero, a resident of Pampara Village in Agago Town Council, said she earned Shs6.9 million from tomatoes within the first three months of joining the project, while other crops, including onions and garden eggs locally known as tula, earned her an additional Shs3 million.
She said the income from her produce has also enabled her to employ two men to help with work in her gardens.
David Ochieng, the Agago District irrigation project focal person, said all 14 farmers who received the latest irrigation systems were actively using them. He said the district had faced challenges with some irrigation equipment, including the limited number of sprinklers supplied by some contractors and the high cost of drip irrigation systems.
He explained that the district insists on raising water-tank stands to three metres because much of Agago has flat terrain, requiring sufficient water pressure to operate the irrigation systems effectively.
“Here our terrain is flat. It is not like West Nile or Eastern Uganda where you can put the tank on a hill and get strong pressure through gravity,” Ochieng said.
He said co-funding by farmers remained a challenge, with some beneficiaries struggling to meet their contributions because of competing household expenses, including school fees. The Micro-scale Irrigation Programme supports smallholder farmers through a cost-sharing arrangement in which government contributes towards the purchase and installation of irrigation equipment.
Ochieng said Agago District received Shs618 million under the programme in the 2023/24 financial year, of which Shs464.3 million was spent on operations, administration, extension services, demonstrations, farmer field schools, farmer support and monitoring.
He said the district was processing another 27 beneficiaries for the current financial year.
Morris Ocana, the Assistant Resident District Commissioner of Agago, urged farmers to use irrigation to increase production and improve household incomes despite changing weather patterns.
He encouraged the beneficiaries to demonstrate the benefits of irrigation to other farmers in their communities.
Ocana said improving household incomes would require farmers to commit more time and effort to agriculture.
The Micro-scale Irrigation Programme is implemented by the Department of Agricultural Infrastructure, Mechanization and Water for Agricultural Production under the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.
The programme is part of government’s efforts to expand irrigation and reduce farmers’ dependence on rain-fed agriculture. It is aligned with Uganda’s National Irrigation Policy, which seeks to increase irrigated land to 1.5 million hectares by 2040.
Under the programme, government contributes between 25 and 75 percent of the cost of irrigation equipment, depending on factors including the distance from the water source, terrain, soil suitability and acreage. Government’s contribution is capped at Shs7.2 million per acre, with farmers expected to meet the remaining cost through the co-funding arrangement-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
