UgIFT can unleash Uganda’s potential

The Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfer (UgIFT) Micro-Scale Irrigation Programme is nearing its conclusion in Financial Year 2023/2024, having achieved significant milestones.

 For example, since its launch in 2019, the programme has been expanded to 130 districts, received over 48,867 expressions of interest, at least 17,992 farm visits have been  made and more than 1,000 contracts have been signed. Irrigation equipment have been installed in more than 2,000 acres of farmland. But what sets UgIFT apart from similar programmes, and what lessons can development actors learn to unlock Uganda’s untapped irrigation potential?

One key lesson is mitigating the absence of operational support for farmers, a major cause of the failure of most government agricultural programmes. This is because suppliers often discontinue their involvement after delivering equipment to the field and, at best, only train farmers on how to install and maintain them.

 UgIFT, however, engages district agricultural engineers to support beneficiaries during and after the project’s completion. This approach enables farmers to actively participate in and sustain irrigation practices even after government support ends, ensuring long-term sustainability.

Similarly, Uganda’s liberal market means that farmers are vulnerable to unscrupulous dealers selling substandard products. However, UgIFT prioritises equipment suppliers with a proven track record, particularly those based in targeted localities. These suppliers are readily available, possess a contextual understanding of the area, and already have a good rapport with the farmers. Their proximity also eliminates the need for farmers to incur costs in accessing spare parts from distant locations.

Meanwhile, our smallholder farmers face significant challenges in accessing the necessary finances to meet the high capital costs associated with adopting irrigation. However, UgIFT’s strategy of providing a 75 percent subsidy to the capital and engaging district local governments in mobilising co-funding and allowing for phased payment options has proved effective in facilitating irrigation adoption by less-resourced smallholders. The novelty of this approach has been in reducing the financial burden on farmers and additionally strengthening their relationship with financial institutions, thereby enhancing access to crucial financial resources.

Smallholders have also had limited awareness of the benefits of irrigation. UgIFT addresses this by setting up demonstration sites in enrolled districts, increasing awareness, and providing farmers with hands-on experience to understand the practical value of irrigation in terms of crop yields, water efficiency, and overall agricultural productivity before committing resources to adopt it.

Also, procurement processes of funded irrigation programmes typically exclude farmers, limiting their control and ownership of equipment. UgIFT, however, involves farmers in all procurement stages, building trust, and transparency, and inspiring ownership. The programme’s results-oriented approach, with specific targets set by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries, also ensures rigorous monitoring and evaluation, improved service delivery, and targeted support to farmers.

Meanwhile, UgIFT’s Irritrack digital platform has also solved the challenges of technical efficiency, evidence-based decision-making, and effective monitoring and evaluation which affect most government projects. This digital solution resolves the issue of inefficient capture and analysis of vital soil, climate, and water information often encountered during irrigation project development, enhancing the customisation of designs to align with specific local and individual farmer interests.

UgIFT also promotes innovation and technological adoption through soil moisture sensors and farmer field schools. This enables farmers to access accurate information about irrigation timing and water requirements, eliminating guesswork and increasing success in agricultural enterprises.

Similarly, UgIFT’s farmer field schools, by bringing farmers together to share experiences and collectively, address challenges in irrigated agricultural production, foster collective responsibility, and facilitate shared prosperity which is the core of government agricultural projects.

Mr Joshua Enyetu is a registered irrigation engineer - Akvo International. [email protected]