For decades, Ms Raleh Tiko, a farmer of Okavu village in Logiri Sub-county in Arua District has been stuck to the use of traditional methods of farming, hence she could attain losses at the end of every season.
The future was bleak for her because she would spend more money in the farming process than the profit. She has been stuck to weeding her coffee once, failed to provide nutrients for it, not sprayed it against pests and diseases, hence realizing low profit.
‘I didn’t know how to do mulching, post-harvest and use of organic inputs. But since I received training, I have realized that I am gaining some profit,’ she said.
Tiko is a coffee grower in Logiri. After following the agronomics, Tiko has been able to earn more money from coffee.
‘I had been earning Shs 1 million a season. But last season, I got Shs 2 million. This money helped me to pay school fees for my children,’ she added.
One of Tiko’s children had dropped out of school because of school fees. She mainly depends on coffee growing as a source of income. All is not lost for Tiko because she now aims at earning Shs3 million a season, which money she said would enable her to meet other pressing needs.
Most small holder farmers have in the past been using traditional farming methods and so, realised low yields. But as farming is being promoted as a business, the farmers such as Tiko are now reaping the benefits of embraCing good agronomic practices.
Equally, Mr Ezekiel Onyutha of Gonyobendo Village in Erussi Sub-county in Nebbi District, said: ‘I want to buy more land because I am now getting the required money from onion growing. I have realised improved production since I am using the right seedlings, good practices.’
His target is to reap Shs28 million in the next two years because of the abundant market of the Onions. To attain this, Mr Onyutha plans to increase the land size, start a piggery project to generate more income.
Another farmer, Mr Jimmy Adoroti of Logiri Sub-county in Arua District, said: ‘I was given five grammes of tomato seeds which made me realise Shs1.3 million in the first season. In the second season, I earned Shs2.6 million. I converted the money to business.’
Mr Adoroti recounts that: ‘I bought 3 tons of maize from Masindi and sold it in Arua City and earned Shs6 million. This has helped me to pay school fees and now I am planning to build a decent house from what I will earn in the next season.’
Some of the farmers have also adapted to irrigation, especially those in Onion and Tomatoe production. They no longer rely on rainfall and are able to produce all seasons.
Why small-holder farmers matter
The world’s smallholder farmers produce around a third of the world’s food, according to detailed new research by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).
It says, five of every six farms in the world consist of less than two hectares, operate only around 12 percent of all agricultural land, and produce roughly 35 percent of the world’s food, according to a study published in World Development.
Therefore, farmers in Nebbi and Zombo are well-positioned to tap into the lucrative market for the Onions, Tomatoes, especially in the neighbouring South Sudan and DR Congo that relies heavily on goods from West Nile. The boom in cross border trade also is an opportunity for the small-holder farmers in the two districts.
But the farmers are being hindered by bad roads linking Sub-counties to the markets.
During the close-up of the project on November 25 at Hotel Le Confidentiel in Arua, Mr Aggrey Chombe, the Executive Director for Agency for Community Empowerment, encouraged farmers not to give up by doing self-learning to improve on farming.
‘Do agriculture as a business and become independent because once a project ends like this, you should be able to continue. You should continue repairing those community roads where you can easily transport your goods to the markets,’ he said.
The game changer
The Project Officer at the Agency for Community Empowerment (AFCE), Mr Muddy Oyikuru, explained that the Power of Voices project started in January 2021 to December 2025, where 1,388 farmers were trained, including 665 females and 723 males.
The aim was to empower and to introduce value chain crops in the region with each partner in the consortium such as Uganda Agribusiness Alliance (UAA).
Oxfam Uganda, Southern and Eastern Africa Trade and Information Negotiations Institution (SEATINI) Uganda, Eastern and southern Africa small scale farmers forum (ESSAFF), and Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), was assigned a particular role to improve on the knowledge and value chain crops in the three West Nile districts, of Arua, Nebbi and Zombo.
Mr Muddy however, stressed that one of the issues farmers have reported during the implementation of the project is the poor roads.
‘The biggest problem here is poor roads, which have really given farmers a setback in improving their livelihoods through farming,’ Mr Oyikuru said.
The Programme Manager for Oxfam, Ms Pauline Apolot, said there was a need for farmers to continue being exposed to good agronomics to overturn losses. ‘Those exposures are good because you need to learn best practices in order to attain more yields and income for your families.’ She noted that they would continue working with the district leadership to link farmers to the markets and ensure that the roads linking to markets are motorable.
Hindrances
Head of Programs Development, Quality and Management, at Uganda Agribusiness Alliance (UAA), Ms Mariam Akiror, noted that the initial aim was to link farmers to the buyers, but because of the terrain of the area, even after linking farmers to the buyers, the hindrance to the road access has been a big challenge to the farmers.
She added that, Much as UAA is trying to link farmers to the buyers, there is still need for government intervention to improve on the road access for farmers in the regions.
The Nebbi District chairperson for production, Mr Francis Owonda, said they would continue monitoring the existing projects of the farmers to ensure continuity. ‘We also ask the government to enhance the budget for extension workers to help farmers adapt to modern farming methods,’ he said.