Feature: Uganda cocoa farmers opt for irrigation as dry spell persists

Moving away from the sweetness of the chocolate off the shelves at a grocery store, cocoa farmers in Uganda are facing the wrath of a long dry spell that is scorching their crops.

As the rains take time to come, farmers in the central district of Kayunga have opted to irrigate their plantations to avoid having low yields from the crop they call their 'cash cow'. Sounds of fuel powered water pumps engulf villages as farmers irrigate their gardens. They collect water from a nearby swamp on pickup trucks loaded with tanks.

DRY SPELL

Henry Lwanga, a cocoa farmer in Kasawo, central Uganda told Xinhua in a recent interview that he has lost over 15 percent of his newly planted cocoa trees due to the long dry spell.

He also added that the already grown trees are also not doing well as they have few pods compared to the times when there was a lot of rain.

"Due to this climatic changes, we used to expect rains in March, April, May up to June. And in September, October and part of November but now rain has delayed. Since September the drought has extended into January, we don't know when rain is coming," Lwanga said.

"Every year after heavy rains, we usually expect bumper harvest but when there is little rain, the harvest also goes down. About 15 percent of the trees have gone or are dying. The bigger trees are also affected," he added.

At the fermenting and drying center at Kasawo trading center, most of the drying tables were empty.

The meteorological department has warned that the country should brace itself for tougher times as this year the dry spell is going to be longer, leading to poor crop harvests.

Government has suspended the distribution of seeds to farmers because of the dry spell.

Farmers like Lwanga who are seedling producers have been left with no option but to devise ways of surviving the spell.

Government has embarked on a series of starting up irrigation schemes across the country.

Some farmers have however opted having their own small irrigation schemes as they wait for the government schemes.

Lwanga has purchased pipes that will be used to get water from a nearby swamp. He already owns a water pump and a pickup truck.

"We have about 50 acres of land here, it is very expensive to do irrigation which is not planned. Never the less when I retired, I asked for my gratuity and pension so I managed to purchase irrigation equipment to bring water to my plantation. At least I will get something," Lwanga, a retired civil servant said.

The farmers who cannot afford setting up their own irrigation system, are waiting for governments schemes.

'CASH COW'

Cocoa is ranked as among the high value export after coffee, fish and tea in Uganda.

A 2015 report by Swisscontact, a non-governmental organization showed that about 26,412 metric tons of cocoa were exported by December 2015 fetching a total export earnings of 72.5 million U.S. dollars, slightly higher than the Ministry of agriculture figures which showed that the county earned about 67 million dollars in 2015.

According to Swisscontact, studies have showed that cocoa offers opportunities for increasing domestic incomes and foreign exchange earnings.

"We have been getting some good money from cocoa. Cocoa is very precious. One hundred kilograms of cocoa is 800,000 shillings (230 dollars) compared to coffee at 60 dollars per 100kg." said Lwanga. Endit