Kapelebyong district leaders, staff trained to implement major irrigation programme
KAPELEBYONG – Kapelebyong district is building the capacity of agricultural extension workers and lower local government leaders on the implementation of the Micro-scale Irrigation Programme, which aims to have more land in the country put under irrigation.
The programme is part of the Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfer Reform Programme [IFTRP] and supported by the World Bank through the Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfer Programme [UgIFT].
The two weeks training workshop being organised by the Kapelebyong district agricultural office will cover all 11 lower administrative units in Kapelebyong district.
Emmanuel Opio, the Kapelebyong district communication officer said parish chiefs and councillors are among those being trained to implement the programme.
He said the training is intended to boost the capacity of the targeted stakeholders to sensitise farmers on irrigated agriculture, agronomy, marketing and mindset change.
John William Ejiet, the Kapelebyong district agricultural officer said the irrigation programme would help move small-scale farmers from subsistence farming into commercial agriculture, which would increase production, productivity and household incomes.
He said 160 smallholder farmers in the district will be supported with either solar or diesel-powered irrigation equipment.
He said for a farmer to get the irrigation equipment, he or she must have at least two acres of land, have access to a source of water not more than 700 metres away and be willing to co-fund the purchase of irrigation equipment at 25 percent as government meets 75 percent of the cost.
According to Ejiet, the programme’s beneficiaries will be provided with additional agricultural extension support to ensure the optimum use of their irrigation investments.
Meanwhile the Kapelebyong district LCV chairperson, Francis Akorikin lauded government for extending the programme to the district, saying it will help farmers lower the operational costs in the long run, and grow crops even during the dry seasons.
The programme is led by the Department of Agricultural Infrastructure Mechanisation and Water for Agricultural Production of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries [MAAIF].
The programme is in line with Uganda’s National Irrigation Policy which aims to create 1.5 million hectares of irrigated land by the year 2040.
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, about 70 percent of Uganda’s working population is employed in agriculture which has been hit by unreliable rains resulting from erratic climatic changes.
In the Financial Year 2021/22 agriculture accounted for 24.1 percent of Uganda’s GDP and 33 percent of export earnings, according to the Finance ministry.
https://thecooperator.news/3000-farmers-to-benefit-from-shs-15bln-irrigation-project-in-pakwach/
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