By Chris Woo
Nearly 50% of farmers at the Tochi Irrigation Scheme in Oyam District have abandoned their plots, citing numerous challenges. This was revealed during a recent stakeholders’ meeting with the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, held at the scheme.
Agnes Linda Auma, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, highlighted several issues affecting the project, including a lack of knowledge among farmers and local leaders about the scheme and the destruction of rice crops by rats. She urged farmers who had abandoned over 900 plots to return as new interventions are being planned.
Benson Dilla, the LC5 Chairperson of Oyam, appreciated the government for initiating the scheme but called for a law regulating the buying and selling of seeds and other agricultural inputs. He emphasized the need for government action to safeguard farmers’ investments.
Despite these challenges, some farmers remain resilient. George Okello, Chairperson of the Tochi Irrigation Farmers’ Cooperative Society, noted that a few farmers are still earning up to 21 million shillings annually from their crops. However, he called for improvements, including better access roads, toilet facilities, milling services, induction training, and access to Parish Development Model (PDM) funds to enhance farmers’ financial capacity.
The Tochi Irrigation Scheme was launched in 2016 with a 40 billion shillings investment from the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Agriculture. However, challenges persist, requiring urgent intervention to ensure the project’s sustainability and farmer participation.
