Farmers in Mubende District are increasingly embracing modern and climate-smart farming practices to protect their crops, improve productivity and safeguard their livelihoods against prolonged dry spells and unpredictable weather patterns.
Supported by the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), the shift is helping farmers adopt practices such as planting drought-tolerant seed varieties, minimum tillage, proper crop spacing, soil conservation and the use of simple planting machines designed to improve efficiency while protecting soil health.
Mubende is one of Uganda’s major maize-producing districts. However, farmers have in recent years faced increasingly unpredictable weather, including prolonged dry spells, floods and rising incidences of crop diseases.
For Zaake Solomon, a maize farmer in Mubende, adopting modern farming practices has transformed his approach to agriculture and improved his productivity.
Zaake said he previously relied on traditional farming methods and harvested about 200 bags of maize per season despite cultivating large pieces of land.
“I was initially a normal farmer who never went to school but had a love for agriculture. I used to just do farming without the knowledge of how best farming can be made easier and much more productive,” he said.
“I was so much into maize, beans and other crops, and my harvest used not to exceed 200 bags of maize per season.”
His fortunes began to change after he received training in sustainable and modern farming practices through Sasakawa.
“With the help of our CCBF, Justine, I gave a try to a new planting method using tools like the Jab Planter, which in my entire life I had never seen because all I knew was that it was merely human labour that people used to plant by hand,” Zaake said.
“When I gave it a try, planting became faster, with a Jab Planter planting over two acres of maize a day. I became very interested and put aside the indigenous way of planting.”
According to Zaake, the Jab Planter has improved planting efficiency and crop establishment by placing seeds and manure in the soil and covering the seeds properly.
“A man who used to harvest 200 bags now harvests 350 to 400 bags of maize, which has enabled me to improve my sales and made me want to establish other ventures, such as a poultry farm, which will soon start operating,” he said.
Zaake added that improved farming methods and access to better-quality seeds had also helped him cope with changing weather conditions.
“Sasakawa, through its CCBFs, gave us access to better-quality seeds, which has made our planting climate-resilient, wiping our eyes from the old days. You know, we used to cry whenever the dry spell came. Remember, it hit us so much in Mubende, but with the new farming methods, we are less worried,” he said.
Beyond crop production, Zaake said his improved agricultural earnings had enabled him to diversify into other businesses, including a poultry project. He has also acquired a tipper truck and employs about 30 workers.
“I have achieved a lot. I am now able to pay school fees for 13 children, I have bought more land, and my production capacity has risen,” he said.
Zaake described farming as an increasingly important part of his life and urged young people to protect their land rather than sell it in pursuit of opportunities elsewhere.
“I encourage youths who sell their land to go to towns to stop it and develop their land. Farming is the only way to go,” he added.
At the centre of Sasakawa’s intervention is its community-based extension model, which uses trained Commercial Community-Based Facilitators (CCBFs) to transfer agricultural knowledge and technologies directly to farmers.
Justine Katusabe Nayiga, a Sasakawa CCBF, said she works with approximately 20,000 farmers through a network of 46 agents, creating employment opportunities while extending agricultural training to more communities.
“We are working with the farmers as Sasakawa’s CCBFs. We are delivering training and a lot of skills to the farmers. I am particularly working with 20,000 farmers, with other small agents who are helping me. They are 46, so I have created employment for 46 youth,” Nayiga said.
She explained that the approach relies heavily on practical demonstrations because farmers are more likely to embrace new practices when they can see the results in the field.
“First of all, I make demonstrations because training someone from a book is not easy. So I make demonstrations, and during these demonstrations, we hold field days,” she said.
“During these field days, we train farmers in detail about what has happened on the farm. Then we make it a practice for individual farmers to adopt what has been demonstrated.”
Nayiga said farmers were being encouraged to use quality seed varieties suited to difficult weather conditions, particularly prolonged dry spells.
“First of all is procuring the seed, the quality seed, which can resist all kinds of droughts, especially because now we see the weather is changing time and again,” she said.
“Sasakawa connected us to seed producers. Then these people brought us quality seed. Here comes the seed that can sustain different weather conditions.”
She also highlighted the importance of proper crop spacing and mechanised planting in achieving the recommended plant population while reducing labour requirements.
“With planting, you need to have good spacing so that you get enough plant population for the garden, which can be supported and help increase production,” Nayiga said.
She explained that simple planting machines could improve efficiency by placing seeds and fertiliser simultaneously.
“What we did was to use these machines because we found that this planter itself can put seed and fertiliser at the same time,” she said.
Nayiga said maize planted using the technology had performed relatively well despite the dry conditions experienced in the area.
“This maize came up fairly well. Besides the drought that we have passed through, the maize sustained that time,” she said.
She added that minimum tillage was another important component of the climate-smart farming approach.
“These machines, the planters, help us conserve the soil when we are using them. We conserve the soil by applying minimum tillage. This means the soil is maintained well, with less disturbance to its structure, allowing the maize to grow well,” she said.
Another farmer, Izidolo Bikanshobera, 47, from Kabulamuliro Village in Madudu Sub-county, said regenerative agriculture had helped him cope better with prolonged dry spells and improve his earnings.
Bikanshobera said he previously planted various crops across his land but changed his approach after receiving training in regenerative agriculture. He subsequently began focusing on coffee production.
“I was initially planting everything on my land, but after training in regenerative agriculture, I decided to focus on coffee, which I started four years ago. I can visibly say that I have some of the best coffee in the whole sub-county,” Bikanshobera said.
He said the knowledge he acquired had changed how he responded to dry conditions and improved his agricultural earnings.
“Before adopting regenerative agriculture practices, I used to complain so much about the dry spell. But the knowledge I gained has lifted me from 20 per cent to 80 per cent, with my production earnings rising from a Shs1 million earner to now a Shs8 million earner,” he said.
Bikanshobera added that he had shared the knowledge with other farmers in the district, helping them explore more sustainable farming methods.
“I now share the knowledge that has worked for me with many other farmers, about 36 in the district, as I train them on how to adopt regenerative agriculture, which has also changed their way of farming,” he said.
He reported that his coffee production had increased from 300 kilogrammes to 500 kilogrammes, while the improvement in his earnings had enabled him to acquire more livestock and land.
Robert Anyang, Country Director of the Sasakawa Africa Association, said climate change was forcing farmers to abandon practices suited to previous weather patterns and adopt methods that conserve soil and water.
“The climate has been a problem. In the olden days, we were told to plant at 75 by 60. Things have changed. Water is less. Floods, droughts and diseases have increased because of climate change,” Anyang said.
He said farmers needed to adopt practices that would help them maintain production even when rainfall became unreliable.
“By adopting new practices, using less land, using less flowering systems, like doing zero tillage, like planting drought-tolerant seeds, are the things that can make our farmers survive,” he said.
Anyang emphasised that maintaining healthy soils was central to building resilience against climate-related challenges.
“The soil is the key. If we do not keep the soil healthy, we have no place to plant,” he said.
“Farmers must adopt those soil practices that improve organic matter in the soil and also conserve water. Those are the key practices we want farmers to adopt, because the water is not there anymore. If it is there, it is flooding. If it is not there, it is drought.”
Adoption remains a challenge
Despite the reported benefits, Nayiga said one of the main challenges was persuading more farmers to adopt the recommended practices after receiving training.
“The biggest challenge I find when training farmers is that adoption differs. You can train people, but they may fail to adopt what you are saying. That is why I do demonstrations,” she said.
She urged farmers to embrace available agricultural technologies, arguing that simple machines could reduce labour, save time and create employment opportunities for young people.
“My advice is: let us make sure that we utilise the innovations, the simple machines that are available to us, so that we create employment and make agricultural work easier,” Nayiga said.
She added that the machines could help farmers reduce unnecessary expenditure while achieving the recommended plant population and improving productivity.
“They save time. They create employment for the youths who are operating them. They also save farmers from overspending on what is not needed in their gardens. Lastly, they help farmers achieve the maximum plant population needed in their gardens,” she said.
Anyang said Sasakawa’s long-term goal was to ensure that farmers, communities and local institutions could sustain the approaches even after development organisations reduced their involvement.
“From five bags to 20 bags. That should be your motivation to adopt practices. At the end of the day, some of these practices have been promoted through Sasakawa-led CCBPs. We don't want to own them. We want the country to own them,” he said.
He added that the results demonstrated the potential of the approaches to continue delivering benefits beyond the direct involvement of development organisations.
“But it has shown it can work. And any innovative things that work with that excellent support will be sustained after most NGOs have pulled out,” he said.
The experiences of farmers in Mubende highlight the potential of climate-smart and regenerative agriculture to improve productivity, diversify livelihoods and strengthen resilience against unpredictable weather. However, expanding these benefits will depend on sustained farmer training, access to quality inputs, wider adoption of appropriate technologies and continued investment in soil and water conservation.