H.E Vice President Jessica Arupo with FAO Representative Dr. Antonio Querido inspect a newly complete animal water drinking point during the handover ceremony in Katakwi District.

With funding from the Norwegian Government and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), FAO is helping farmers in Uganda's Lango and Teso subregions build resilience to climate change shocks.

Farming communities in Katakwi and Kaberamaido have been supported with two small-scale hydrant irrigation systems to help them cope with erratic rain patterns. The two hydrant irrigation systems cover over fifty acres of farmland, potentially covering more through mobile hose pipes. The systems comprise solar-motorised water pumps and a pipeline network that enables water distribution for up to three kilometres.

 During the commissioning of the system in the Amolatar district, Dr Antonio Querido, FAO Representative in Uganda, encouraged farmers and the community to take good care of the facilities and make effective use of them, saying that this would boost production and productivity, ultimately improving their incomes and livelihoods.

“Listen to guidance from the technical team so that this system can last long. We want this system to help transform your lives,” he told the excited farmers. Irrigation systems in Uganda are still a rarity, especially among small-scale farmers in rural parts of the country. Most of these farmers still depend on increasingly unpredictable rain cycles, often exposing them to longer-than-usual dry spells.

Revamped valley tank

Unreliable rainfall affects not only crop farmers but also pastoralists, who are affected by the risks attributed to climate change, especially extended drought periods. To help pastoralists in Katakwi district cope with long periods of drought, FAO has given a much-needed new lease on life to a valley tank in Toroma to provide drinking water for livestock. Improvements to the valley tank included water collection trenches, a siltation basin, an inlet canal, and a spillway. To improve animals' access to water, a water reticulation system covering the installation of a pump unit, reservoir tanks, and water was installed. The revamped valley tank has a capacity of 7,000 cubic metres and can support about 1,500 cattle and 1,000 small ruminants per day through a dry spell lasting up to four months.

Community hatcheries

In Uganda, like many parts of rural Africa, indigenous chickens are raised on a free-range production system. While free-range chickens are viewed as healthier, they are also notorious for poor hatchability.

To build the resilience of poultry farmers in response to the non-infectious and infectious factors that lead to poor egg hatchability, FAO has built two community hatcheries in Kaberamaido and Katakwi districts in the Teso subregion of Uganda. The hatcheries are part of a community-based breeding programme (CBBP) which aims to create a large gene pool from which breeding hens and cocks can be selected.

Jessica Alupo, Uganda’s Vice President, graced the hatchery launch in Katakwi district. She commended FAO for opening the first-ever community hatchery in the district and urged the district production officials, as well as the government agricultural research apparatus, to complement FAO’s efforts by expanding on the hatchery.

“In Teso and other parts of Uganda, indigenous chickens are more than just birds in a homestead. They have a symbolic meaning attached to them – they are a foundation to a better livelihood because it is from chickens that many farmers aspire to bigger animals such as goats and cows, which lead to better socio-economic prospects for their families,” said Rt Major Jessica Alupo, Uganda’s Vice President.

‘The hatchery is a big step in the right direction…I am very happy to learn that this is a community hatchery. As the community and the local government, we should use this facility maximumly,’ she said. She emphasized the crucial role of the local poultry industry in the district, highlighting its potential as a pathway to wealth and transformation for smallholder farmers.

“Through poultry, our people can progress from buying a goat to a cow to a house to securing education for their children and achieving overall transformation,” she said.

Poultry in Uganda has enormous potential. The demand for poultry meat and eggs continues to rise to meet the feeding demand. The two community hatcheries are equipped with incubators that can hatch up to 900 chicks per batch, allowing each hatchery to produce a maximum of 9,600 chicks annually. Within the remaining 16 months of the project, at least 18,000 chicks are expected to be hatched and distributed to 750 women in Kaberamaido and 1,090 women in Katakwi, with each woman receiving at least nine chicks. Upon the project's completion, the hatchery management will be entirely handed over to the beneficiary communities.

FAO is collaborating on these initiatives with the World Food Programme, Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organisation, the Ministries of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Water and Environment, and district local governments.

These interventions align with FAO’s strategy of supporting the 2030 Agenda through the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind.