Greenwire: The Ugandan government is close to finalizing a long-term irrigation plan in response to severe droughts affecting the nation’s food production.
Officials last year asked the ministries of agriculture and water and environment to develop a 25-year master plan on the feasibility, approach and cost of irrigation schemes. The ministries this month will submit the plan to the Cabinet, which in turn will send it to Parliament for approval.
The plan will show which areas can be used for irrigation in each of Uganda’s 81 districts, according to Richard Cong, commissioner for water for production at the Ministry of Water and Environment. Areas will be categorized based on proximity to permanent water bodies.
Uganda has suffered eight major droughts in the past 40 years, and reliance on rain-fed agriculture has been exacerbated by weather patterns.
A major hurdle for irrigation development is cost, which is outside the means of citizens. The government will take on the cost of moving water from major bodies to irrigable land and then will cover 40 percent of the remaining burden. Farmers will cover the other 60 percent, which will depend on the technology most suitable to individual farms. The most practical system, according to Cong, is the $500 Ecologics pump.
Communities will need guidance and reorganization for the master plan to work, and some officials are concerned the plan won’t actually come to fruition.
“Our country is very good at developing good policies that are never implemented,” said Stephen Ochola, Soroti district chairman. “My strong recommendation is that when that policy is passed it should be implemented. Does it make sense for my district, for instance, to continue relying on nature when it is surrounded by water?” (Richard M. Kavuma, London Guardian, Jan. 25). – EL