Micro-irrigation is rewriting Uganda’s agricultural story
With bumper harvests now virtually guaranteed with every season, these farmers have gained the financial confidence to diversify into poultry, food businesses and village savings groups.
Noel Muhangi. (Courtesy)
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OPINION
By Noel Muhangi
In his recent State of the Nation Address, President Yoweri Museveni highlighted Uganda’s remarkable journey under the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government, noting our proud graduation into a lower-middle-income economy. While the address covered vast economic milestones, allow me to draw your attention to the irrigation component — a strategy the President rightly noted is “stabilising agriculture.”
In his address, the President credited the Government’s partnership with Nexus Green, a British group, in establishing solar-powered irrigation networks across districts like Ngora, Serere, Bukedea, Amolatar, Kwania, Apac, Kassanda, Masaka and Mukono.
As someone tracking these developments closely, I wish to say the footprint of this solar revolution stretches much further. Nexus Green has quietly but effectively constructed over 450 small-scale irrigation and domestic water schemes. From Agule and Toroma in Katakwi, to Mbale, Tororo, Kaliro, Iganga, Kamuli and Luuka, the farming landscape is changing. The same transformation is happening in northern, central and western districts, including Pader, Oyam, Nebbi, Lira, Pakwach, Rubirizi, Bushenyi, Mbarara, Kalungu and Lyantonde, among others.
The quantifiable evidence seen in these districts: Increased crop yields, new income streams and higher household earnings due to reliable water access, is what matters most. This is wealth creation in action, proving that communities can successfully transition from subsistence to commercial farming (agro-industrialisation) thanks to the President’s constant reminders.
The miracle in Nakasongola
To truly understand the impact of this presidential vision, one needs to look at the Kaduuba ‘Kisa Kya Mukama’ solar-powered irrigation scheme in Kansiira parish, Nakasongola district. Historically, this area carried a grim reputation for being dry, hard to farm and even harder to live in. Rains were unreliable, Lake Kyoga’s waters fluctuated unpredictably, and farming was less of a livelihood and more of a gamble.
For the 24 farming households directly benefiting, the project feels like divine intervention. It is why they named their group Kisa Kya Mukama — the Grace of God.
Agnes Nabalwana, a mother of nine and the group’s secretary, testifies that the project has brought both economic and emotional relief.
“Before this project, we farmed for survival, not income,” she shares. “Drought would kill everything, and school fees were a constant struggle.”
Today, Nalubwama cultivates three acres and harvests three to four seasons a year; a feat that was an unimaginable dream just two years ago.
Crucially, the Ministry of Water and Environment did not just drop off equipment; they have actively taught these farmers modern agronomy, pest management, soil health and crop rotation. This goes beyond only irrigation; it is climate change adaptation.
With bumper harvests now virtually guaranteed with every season, these farmers have gained the financial confidence to diversify into poultry, food businesses and village savings groups.
President Museveni’s message of embracing modern, resilient agricultural practices is no longer just a policy speech delivered in Kampala — it is a living, breathing reality in our villages. Through these micro-solar schemes and many more schemes constructed by the Ministry through Water for Production Regional Centres (West, East, Central, Karamoja, North), Uganda is finally breaking the chains of weather-dependent farming, one green acre at a time.
The writer is a senior public relations officer at the Ministry of Water and Environment