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Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | New Energy Nexus Uganda, a global aims to support 1,500 small holder farmers in Northern Uganda through financing mechanization equipment.
The Productive Use of Renewable Energy for Agriculture program is targeting small holder farmers in Acholi Sub region to embrace mechanized agriculture, especially irrigation, milling, and drying of agricultural produce.
Joy Musimenta, the project officer at New Energy Nexus Uganda says that the program intends to provide financing for farmers to access mechanized equipment in order to address their irrigation, milling, and drying needs.
“Most of our small holder farmers are unable to access equipment because the equipment is expensive and have high interest rates,” says Musimenta who was meeting farmers in Patiko Sub County, Gulu district on Friday.
She explained that the program is structured in a manner that farmers can access the equipment after paying 10 percent of the cost and pay back the rest of the money quarterly after producing and selling.
“A famer does not earn income monthly and that is why a different repayment model must be created for them to facilitate fair repayments. With our model, a farmer can have time to produce, sell and then repay the loan in quarterly installments,” she said.
Musimenta explains that the organization is partnering with Northern Uganda Tractor Owners, Operators and Farmers Association-NUTOFA, Tulima solar, a solar solutions company and Mercy Corps, a non-governmental organization to reach farmers in organized groups.
“We are partnering with NUTOFA because they already work with organized farmer groups while Tulima Solar has solar equipment. We pay cash to Tulima solar and then the equipment is given to the farmers. The farmers then pay back the loan on quarterly basis at an annual interest rate of 14 percent,” said Musimenta.
Robert Acac Okok, the Chairperson Northern Uganda Tractor Owners, Operators and Farmers Association (NUTOFA) Savings and Credit Cooperative Society (SACCO) Limited says high interest rates being demanded especially by commercial banks is limiting farmers from accessing mechanization equipment.
“I have been telling many actors including the commercial banks that any interest rate above 14 percent does not change the life of a small holder farmer. The beauty of this program is that the farmer is able to access these services at 14 percent per annum and the structure of the loan is that a farmer pays back on quarterly basis. We strongly believe that the farmer will get money from what they are going to do and be in position to pay back the loan,” says Okok.
Christine Amony, the chairperson of Bedo kwiri pe yot farmers’ group says the group of 34 members has always been manually irrigating their vegetable garden but that the task if tedious.
“We usually fetch 10 jerrycans of water in the morning and another 10 in the evening to irrigate our cabbage and tomatoes. Failure to irrigate leads to withering of the plants, but the work is too tedious, and that is why we cannot produce on a large scale,” says Amony.
She however says that they intend to scale up production of vegetables from two acres to at least four acres when they access irrigation equipment.
Concy Atim, a member of Pawel Angany farmer group in Patiko Sub County says they usually take a break from agricultural production during the dry season because of a lack of irrigation equipment.
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