By Dr Kato Damiano Abooki, PhD
Uganda’s farmers are in a dilemma. The rains that our grandfathers could predict have become poor and unpredictable. In March, farmers plant. In April, the crop dries. In June, floods wash it away. In Karamoja, Teso, Lango, and the cattle corridor, cattle walk ten kilometres for water, milk production drops from ten litres to two, and a farmer with two acres watches his maize fail while a water bowser owner charges 150,000 shillings for one trip of 10,000 litres.
This is no longer just a farming problem. It is a national problem.
When 80% of Ugandans depend on agriculture, and rain fails, Uganda fails. Yet while drought eats our gardens and kills our animals, we are busy fighting each other. Farmers blame the government. The government blames climate change. Businessmen blame farmers for low supply. Politicians blame each other on television. Meanwhile, the soil dries.
Drought does not know political parties. It does not know NRM, NUP, or FDC. A cow that dies in Kaabong and maize that dries in Mbale is the same loss for Uganda. The Iroko tree teaches us something. When rain fails, the Iroko does not fight other trees on the surface. It sends its roots twenty metres deep to find water. Other small trees fight for the little water on top and die. Uganda must learn from the Iroko. We must stop fighting on the surface and go deeper. We must fight drought together.
1. FOR FARMERS: STOP WAITING FOR RAIN, START KEEPING WATER
For many years, Ugandan farming has been rain-fed. That system is finished. Climate has changed. The new system must be water-keeping.
First, keep every drop. A roof of fifty iron sheets can collect 1,000 litres of water in one hour of heavy rain. With a simple gutter and a 1,000-litre tank costing about 300,000 shillings, that water can sustain goats for two weeks. That tank lasts ten years.
Second, cover the soil. Bare soil loses moisture in two days. Soil covered with mulch – dry grass, maize stalks, banana leaves – keeps moisture for ten days. It also prevents erosion. It costs nothing.
Third, work together. One farmer alone cannot afford a valley tank. Ten farmers together can. A valley tank measuring 10 metres by 10 metres by 3 metres holds 300,000 litres. It can irrigate two acres during the dry season and water fifty cows for three months. The Ministry of Water provides a 70% subsidy. The farmers share the remaining 30%. This is cheaper than hiring a bowser every week.
Early-maturing seeds from NARO that mature in 90 days instead of 120 days can also help farmers escape the dry spell.
2. FOR BUSINESSMEN: DROUGHT IS NOT ONLY A LOSS, IT IS A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
Drought creates scarcity, and scarcity creates a market.
The water bowser business in the cattle corridor from December to March is highly profitable. One bowser carrying 10,000 litres can charge 100,000 to 150,000 shillings per trip and make three trips a day. That is up to nine million shillings per month. But if you overcharge farmers during drought, they will lose their cows and next year you will have no customers. A fair price of 80,000 shillings keeps the farmer alive and keeps your business for ten years.
The irrigation business is another opportunity. A drip irrigation kit for one acre costs about 500,000 shillings to import and can be sold for 800,000 shillings. With it, a farmer can grow tomatoes in the dry season and earn an extra three million shillings. Both the trader and the farmer win. These kits should be stocked in trading centres, not only in Kampala.
The dairy and animal feed business also grows during drought. When drought comes, milk drops. If a businessman provides Brachiaria grass seeds, which need little water and produce more milk, and agrees to buy milk at a stable price during the dry season, he will get milk when others have none, and can sell at a higher price.
3. FOR GOVERNMENT: STOP BIG SPEECHES, START SMALL WATER EVERYWHERE
Uganda has written many reports about drought. But a report does not give a cow water.
Government needs to act on three practical things.
First, make the valley tank programme simple. Today a farmer must fill many forms in Kampala to get a subsidy. It should be approved at the sub-county by the LC3 chairperson and dug within two weeks. If government constructs one valley tank per parish per year, Uganda will have 10,000 new tanks in five years. Drought in the cattle corridor will end.
Second, use existing resources for emergency water. Districts have trucks. From December to March, deploy 100 water bowsers to Karamoja, Teso, Lango and Isingiro at cost price, not for profit. Delivering water creates more peace than many security operations. Water is peace.
Third, protect the sources of rain. Every swamp that is drained for a plot kills future rain. Trees call rain. This is science, not witchcraft. Lake Victoria is now 1.5 degrees hotter, which turns seasonal rain into storms. Protecting 500 metres around each swamp and planting indigenous trees like Mvule and Iroko will bring back regular rain within five years.
THE FOUR LENSES: POLITICAL ECONOMY, ECONOMICS, SOCIO-ECONOMY AND MILITARY SCIENCE
This drought must be understood through four lenses.
In political economy, drought creates a power struggle over who gets water first and who controls the bowser. When water is distributed by political connection instead of need, conflict begins. Water must be de-politicized.
In economics, drought is inflation. When maize fails, the price moves from 800 shillings to 2,000 shillings per kilogram. When cows die, milk moves from 1,000 to 3,000 shillings. One failed season can wipe out five years of a farmer’s savings. Irrigation is therefore not a cost. It is insurance.
In socio-economy, drought breaks families. The man migrates to Kampala to ride a boda boda, the woman remains with a dry garden, and children drop out of school to walk ten kilometres to fetch water. Water scarcity leads to school dropout, early marriage and domestic violence. Water is social stability.
In military science, food security is national security. An army moves on its stomach and a nation moves on food. When Karamoja has no water, pastoralists raid cows to survive. A water bowser delivered in the dry season does more to prevent cattle rustling than ten security operations. Drought is a security threat, not just an agricultural problem.
CONCLUSION
Farmers, businessmen and government are three legs of the same stool. If one leg fights the other, the stool falls and we all fall.
Political fights on television will not bring rain. Valley tanks, drip irrigation, mulching, roof water harvesting and water bowsers will.
If others cannot fight drought, I will start from my own village: one tank, one bowser, one mulched acre. If 2,000 people do the same, 20,000 farmers will be saved. If Uganda does it together, there will be no more famine.
Let us fight drought, not each other. Rain will come back to those who keep it.
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Author: Dr Kato Damiano Abooki, PhD
Email: damian.kato@iuea.ac.ug
