Isingiro district is a district in Western Uganda whose ecological system is prone to chronic drought with its bare hills and rangelands. The district has been grappling with a severe drought for several years, causing significant hardship for the population. The prolonged droughts have led to food shortages and famine-like conditions, severely impacted the local economy, threatening the livelihoods of farmers and the district’s position as a food producer.
This has resulted in widespread crop failures, livestock losses, and displacement of families seeking food and pasture. For example around 2016, Isingiro, a district, once a major matooke producer, faced a serious food crisis, with families relying on relief supplies from the government and humanitarian agencies.
Hence it is evident that climate change has led to significant economic losses in the district and neighboring areas. A survey conducted in 2024 on the Economic impact of climate change among smallholder livestock farmers surrounding Lake Mburo National Park in Kiruhura and Isingiro districts showed that the Total Gross Output from Agricultural Enterprises (TGOAE) per H/h was USD 17,382.3 and USD 1,722.8 respectively, of which 83.8% was from cattle milk output in Kiruhura and 67.6% was from crop output in Isingiro. In Kiruhura and Isingiro the economic cost (EC) due to drought per H/h was USD 10, 202.7 and USD 1,001.8 respectively which was 58.7% and 58.1% of TGOAE respectively.
In Kiruhura, 83.5% of EC losses was caused by milk losses and 96% by crop losses in Isingiro. The frequency and amount of milk and food consumed per day by children and adults in Kiruhura and Isingiro districts were drastically reduced during drought periods. This is an economic trend that the country leadership must study and design appropriate interventions to mitigate the adversities of climate change on agricultural productivity and the environment.
In Uganda today, Agriculture remains Uganda’s main stay with over 60% of the population deriving their livelihood from the sector. Yet over 60% of the farming households are small holder farmers engaged in subsistence farming. Most of these farmers possess a few acres of land that is used mainly for food production.Â
Because of lack of inputs like fertilizers and limited knowledge in best farming practices, most of these small parcels of land have become almost barren. The President’s flagship program of the 4 acre model has encountered similar challenges because most small holder farmers are grappling with food production amidst challenges of soil exhaustion, vagaries of climate change, pests and crop diseases and environmental degradation.
Recently, Advocates for Equal Justice Initiative, a national human rights organization that works to promote the protection of environment in Uganda, with the generous support from Global Greengrants Fund, conducted numerous field outreach visits in the district of Isingiro and specifically in the parishes of Kabuyanda, Birere, Kashumba and Masha.
In these communities, the small holder farmers are grappling with the vagaries of climate change, yet the majority still depend on rain-fed agriculture, lack of extension services, face high input costs, all which hinder their productivity. The other common denominator we observed among small holder farmers in Isingiro district is low soil fertility due to land degradation, inadequate access to fertilizers, and unpredictable weather patterns that pose serious economic and environmental issues.
Government must therefore escalate its interventions in Isingiro district. There is need for communities to urgently adopt sustainable land use practices that enhance biodiversity protection and promote environmental conservation. Climate change adaptation and mitigation measures should be applied to help Isingiro farmers adapt to the changing weather patterns. Government must also support agricultural extension services to build farmers’ knowledge and adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices which promote improved resilience and productivity.
Climate-smart agriculture is an integrated approach that can help communities in Isingiro district to adapt farming practices to a changing climate while also addressing the need for food security and sustainable development. This helps in improving soil management, managing harvested water for agriculture, diversifying crops and managing livestock and in turn this helps to boast food security for communities in the district while contributing to climate resilience and environmental protection.
Currently, the Government of Uganda is working on a World Bank-supported project in a place called Kabuyanda in the drought-prone Isingiro district called Irrigation for Climate Resilience Project. Â The overall objective of the project is to provide farmers in the project areas with access to irrigation and other agricultural services, and to establish management arrangements for irrigation service delivery.
This project, if prudently implemented, will be vital in providing the much-needed water for irrigation in Isingiro areas with unreliable water sources to increase agricultural production and farmer’s resilience to climate change. Thanks to the support from Global Greengrants Fund, Advocates for Equal Justice Initiative is now working with the local leaders and communities in Kabuyanda to ensure that the project is implemented in a manner that respects the rights of local people in so far as their land, livelihood and environment protection are concerned.
The writer is a Lawyer and the Executive Director of Advocates for Equal Justice Initiative
stuartoramire@gmail.com.
