In the lush agricultural landscape of Northern Uganda, irrigation has long been seen as a lifeline for farmers facing increasingly erratic rainfall patterns.

Under the Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers Programme (UgIFT), the government introduced micro-scale irrigation projects to boost agricultural productivity and enhance food security. The initiative was seen as critical to uplifting rural farmers and protecting them from the ravages of climate change.

However, several years into the micro-scale projects, the results have been far from satisfactory.

Mr Patrick Olanya, a resident of Lagwayi Village, Pader Town Council in Pader District, said the projects were envisioned to empower them as smallholder farmers with affordable irrigation technologies.

However, he says, they have become a symbol of unfulfilled promises. “One of the issues troubling the micro-scale irrigation projects is the inconsistent flow of funds from the central government. The delays, coupled with allocation of insufficient funds, severely affected the projects,” Mr Olanya said.

• Read More