Farmers in the Teso Sub-region are turning to indigenous crop varieties to cope with prolonged dry spells, but fluctuating market prices, rising production costs and inadequate storage facilities continue to threaten household incomes and food security.
At Okunguro in Kyere Sub-county, Serere District, farmers say indigenous sorghum, locally known as Edei-Edei, has demonstrated resilience during periods of limited rainfall, offering a potential lifeline to households grappling with increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.
John Godfrey Ogwang, a local farmer, said their group began growing the traditional sorghum variety in 2024 after testing different crops in demonstration gardens and assessing their performance under local conditions.
He said the variety had shown promise in helping farmers sustain production despite prolonged dry spells, although access to reliable markets remained a major concern.
Caroline Apolot, another farmer, said one of their gardens had yielded about a tonne of sorghum, while two other gardens were progressing towards harvest despite a dry spell that lasted nearly two months.
Apolot said the group had harvested 1,842 kilogrammes of sorghum but was struggling with fluctuating prices that threatened its expected earnings.
“Even when we manage to harvest, the prices keep changing, making it difficult for us to plan and recover the money we have invested in production,” Apolot said.
She added that production costs had also increased, with ploughing an acre costing between Shs80,000 and Shs100,000, while hiring a labourer cost about Shs5,000 per day.
The farmers are appealing to the government to improve market access and introduce measures to protect smallholder producers from unfavourable prices.
Their concerns reflect wider challenges raised during the second National Agroecology Festival, held at Soroti Museum Grounds, where farmers, researchers, policymakers and civil society organisations called for greater investment in irrigation, storage facilities and markets for locally produced food.
Magreat Masudio, the national vice-chairperson of ESAFF Uganda, said indigenous crops could help communities adapt to climate change because some traditional varieties are drought-resistant, nutritious and allow farmers to preserve and share their own seeds.
Masudio said the festival provided an opportunity for farmers to exhibit traditional foods and seeds that had disappeared from some communities but were now being restored through farmer-led selection and multiplication.
She called for increased government investment in irrigation, arguing that farmers continued to suffer crop losses during prolonged dry spells despite the country's water resources.
“Farmers cannot continue losing their crops whenever the rains fail. We need investment in irrigation so that communities can produce food even during prolonged dry spells,” Masudio said.
She also urged the government to protect women's land rights, noting that women play a significant role in food production but need access to land to sustain their families and improve household incomes.
Beyond production, farmers say inadequate storage, limited value addition and poor transport infrastructure leave them vulnerable to losses, particularly when large quantities of produce enter the market at the same time.
Nancy Mugimba, the national coordinator of ESAFF Uganda, said farmers needed support to preserve their harvests, process produce into higher-value products and access reliable markets.
Mugimba said inadequate storage facilities often force farmers to sell their produce immediately after harvest, when prices may be low. This leaves them with limited returns despite the resources invested in farming.
She added that agroecology could help households diversify production so that when one crop fails, farmers can rely on other crops or livestock for food and income.
The festival also highlighted the contribution of indigenous foods to household nutrition, with farmers exhibiting local maize, beans, yams, millet and other crops suited to different growing conditions.
Dr Mary Teddy Asio, the commissioner in charge of Seed Inspection and Certification at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, said the government was working towards developing regulations to improve standards and guide agroecological production.
Asio said farmers needed training in good agricultural practices, soil fertility management and seed quality to improve productivity while protecting the environment.
She also urged farmers to report suspected counterfeit seeds, adding that authorities were training local government staff to strengthen seed inspection.
Meanwhile, Milton Muma, the immediate former chairperson of the Parliamentary Alliance on Food and Nutrition Security, called for the establishment of community granaries, regional silos and national food reserves to preserve harvests and address food shortages.
Muma said Parliament was pursuing food and nutrition legislation intended to strengthen the country's capacity to store food and redistribute it from surplus-producing areas to communities experiencing scarcity.
For farmers in Teso, however, the immediate priorities remain access to water when rains fail, affordable production costs, safe storage and reliable markets.
They say promoting indigenous crops will only translate into improved rural livelihoods if farmers can not only grow food under changing weather conditions but also sell it at prices that make farming economically worthwhile.
The two-day National Agroecology Festival, held at Soroti Museum Grounds, brought together farmers from different communities, agricultural researchers, policymakers and civil society organisations to exchange experiences on climate-resilient farming.
The second edition featured exhibitions of indigenous seeds and traditional foods, cooking demonstrations, seed exchanges and discussions on improving food security, preserving local crop varieties and increasing agricultural incomes. Farmers also used the gathering to highlight challenges affecting production, including prolonged drought, limited irrigation, inadequate storage facilities and fluctuating market prices.