The heat wave has created a negative impact on the farming sector in many ways.

Crops, such as coffee, are drying up faster, cassava and other root crops are showing signs of exhaustion due to the fast-dwindling water.

If you keep livestock, they certainly need more water to drink while animals, such as pigs, are directly watered to cool down their bodies.

Unfortunately, most farmers have no water to save their crops or water their livestock. Meanwhile, the first rainy season of 2024 is starting soon.

While the water is about to start falling, over 95% of it flows into valleys before drying into the soil. The flooding around most of the river valleys, including Katonga, Rwizi in Mbarara and Namwasa in the Rwenzori, was largely a result of the fact that there is hardly water harvesting in the country.

For years, the use of rainwater has been and is still low, despite the heavy rains received. Focus has instead been on metered water systems regardless of their overhead costs.

While this is attributed to convenience, it is, in the long run, way too expensive compared to harvesting rainwater. There is no small catchment area in rainwater harvesting, what matters is the rainfall intensity.

One can have rainwater harvesting systems efficiently working regardless of structure design, shape and size. Plan to harvest as much water as possible.