By Jurugo Emmanuel Ogasto
Uganda Farmers Association has urged refugees to take advantage of the ongoing off-seasonal rains to prepare their land for the planting season as reductions in food ratios continue.
The statement was made during the donation of farm tools by Ugandan farmers in conjunction with the Office of the Prime Minister West Nile on Wednesday in the Agojo refugee settlement in Adjumani district.
Akwedriku Joel, the coordinator of refugee affairs, said December, January, and February were generally characterized by sunny, dry, and hazy conditions over most parts of Uganda.
“Now the issue is that there are some occasional rains that normally occur during this season (off-seasonal rains). These have been experienced in most parts of the country since January 14, 2023,” he said.
Joel urged the farming community to take advantage of this period and prepare their land.
“The farming community can take advantage of the current rains to carry out land preparation in anticipation for the first seasonal rains of the March to May season,” he said.
Meanwhile, Manyiel Abraham appealed to refugees to always take advantage of rain to avoid over depending on the government of Uganda and UNHCR.
“Our problem is that we like complaining, but we don’t want to take advantage of the rain,’’ he said.
“Let’s try to make use of the small lands the host community has given us,’’ he added.
Clara Masimo, a block leader who also volunteers for farmers in Uganda, appealed to women to engage their partners in crop production to avoid gender-based violence at home.
“We always fight because of hunger at home; let’s talk to our men about doing farming together with us,’’ she said.
Over the past four years, refugees living in Uganda have complained of the low food ratio distributed by UNHCR, but farmlands have never been allocated to farmers.