Government’s economic empowerment programmes in Dokolo District are coming under pressure as prolonged dry spells, erratic rainfall and hailstorms undermine agricultural production, leaving beneficiaries struggling to recover funds and sustain their livelihoods.
The challenges emerged during an oversight visit by the Ministry of Economic Monitoring on Wednesday to assess the implementation and impact of the Parish Development Model (PDM), Emyooga and cattle restocking programmes in the district.
Farmers told the monitoring team that unpredictable weather had destroyed crops, increased the cost of livestock feeds and reduced household incomes, threatening the sustainability of government interventions whose success in the district largely depends on agriculture.
Mr Ivan Ochol, a farmer in Kyegere Parish, said he invested heavily in maize but harvested only a fraction of what he expected after inadequate rainfall.
‘I planted maize on my two acres. I bought improved seed because I wanted a good harvest. I bought eight packets at Shs25,000 each. After planting, some rain came and I hoped things would be better. However, it rained little and then sunshine came,’ he said.
Ochol noted that the poor harvest had affected many farmers, who were also struggling with low market prices.
‘We buy seeds expensively and yet buyers give us very little money, at Shs400 per kilogramme, claiming the maize was not good because of climate change,’ he said.
The effects are also being felt by beneficiaries who have diversified into livestock enterprises.
Paul Orwol Joshua, a Senior Six leaver rearing chicken to raise money for university, said rising feed prices had made poultry farming increasingly difficult.
‘Because of climate change, the price of maize bran has gone up. In order for you to feed your chicken well, you must buy it. One bag of maize is costing Shs200,000, yet initially it cost Shs100,000,’ he said.
Mr Orwol said the high cost of feed had already caused him losses.
‘For a student like me to buy a bag gets hard, yet I must feed the chicken. Because of the prices and climate change, I have been greatly affected. I have lost quite many chickens because of feeds,’ he revealed.
PDM recovery threatened
Dokolo North County MP Joseph Jones Ogwal said the weather shocks had undermined the ability of PDM beneficiaries to generate income and repay the funds.
‘This year, we have had less than 30 rainfall days from the beginning of the year. We also had hailstorms which affected some farmers. So basically, it was a double disaster, all induced by climate, and most of our farmers basically lost everything,’ he said.
Mr Ogwal, who is also a member of Parliament’s Committee on Climate Change, said government economic inclusion programmes needed to factor climate-related risks into their design.
‘PDM needs to be restructured to take care of externalities like climate change, which is normally not factored into the planning and yet it comes up to affect the outcome. So this is one area for review and also redesign of the programme,’ he explained.
He added that some cattle restocking beneficiaries had diversified into other ventures but were also being affected by the climate crisis.
Dokolo Woman MP Sarah Aguti said farmers had lost crops after the first rains failed, while government-supported coffee seedlings had also been affected by prolonged sunshine.
She called for greater investment in irrigation to reduce farmers’ dependence on increasingly unreliable rainfall.
‘This is not sustainable. It cannot even push the coffee which is given and programmes like PDM and cattle restocking. I urge the government to improve on irrigation so that our people do not only wait for rain to come,’ she said.
The Minister of State for Economic Monitoring, Ms Sandra Santa Alum, noted that the ministry was compiling challenges and recommendations emerging from its field monitoring exercises.
She said the findings would be consolidated after consultations with stakeholders and used to identify gaps affecting the programmes.
‘So, at the end of it all, that’s when we shall sit down as leaders and see the challenges that we are facing and how best we can really fill in the gaps so that these programmes realise the intended outcome,’ she said.