Uganda outlines drought-ready seed and irrigation measures for farmers

Uganda’s agriculture ministry is promoting early-maturing, drought-tolerant crops and expanding irrigation, Assistant Commissioner for Seed Inspection and Certification Mary Teddy Asio said at the 2026 Central Region Agribusiness Expo. Nile Post published her remarks on October 25. The expo, organised with the Eastern Africa Grain Council and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), closed the previous day at IITA’s Sendusu station in Wakiso District.

Asio said IITA and the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) developed maize, millet and sorghum varieties tested to yield with little rain or to mature early, and that the ministry was promoting them under its climate-smart agriculture programme. She said many had been given to Karamoja because they mature quickly and need little water. The report did not identify varieties or trial yields; her remarks describe the programme’s direction rather than measured harvest results.

Asio said the ministry was developing a national irrigation project that could be rolled out if the Ministry of Finance provides funding. That remains a conditional plan. Earlier small-scale equipment schemes split irrigation-equipment costs: farmers paid 20% and government 80%. The ministry acknowledged that the schemes had not reached every district. Separately, the World Bank-funded Uganda Climate Smart project was supplying irrigation systems to farmers free of charge, she said.

She said Uganda’s seed and plant-variety laws are administered through the Uganda National Seed Certification Service. One route requires variety certification; another permits quality-declared seed, a less stringent system in which farmers select seed based on traits such as disease resistance and yield. Farmers could also continue using older varieties they had found resilient to pests, disease and drought.

Tractors and other machinery remained unaffordable for many small-scale farmers, Asio said, so the ministry encouraged groups to share equipment. Officials were asking lenders to offer adequate grace periods, while growers still needed to invest in fertiliser, pesticides and quality seed. She called 12% interest high and said rates were set by lenders and market conditions. Development partners’ collateral and input suppliers’ post-harvest repayment arrangements had helped some farmers obtain credit.

IITA representative George Mahuku said the institute’s Uganda work includes breeding, biochar, biodiversity, soil fertility and irrigation, with a focus on cassava, banana and soybean and joint maize work with NARO. He said their Aflasafe biological-control product against aflatoxin had been handed to NARO Holdings for commercialisation. IITA banana breeder Violet Akech said the programme adds pest, disease and drought tolerance to familiar local varieties such as Nakitembe and Mpologoma, while conserving local varieties in field and laboratory collections.