Africa-Press – Uganda. When John Okiring grew rice in Limoto Wetland in Pallisa District, he could barely make a steady income from the crop.
In order to make ends meet, Okiring, 42, had also to fetch water from the wetland and sell it to food kiosk owners in Pallisa Town Council on a daily basis.
However, this changed last year after he joined a group of 82 farmers, who quit growing rice to fish farming.
Last week, the farmers had their first harvest in which they made sales of Shs43m from the eight fishponds with 47,000 fingelings at Limoto Wise Use Demonstration Site in Limoto Village, Bolliso 1 Sub-county.
The project also has 10 fish cages with a capacity of 2,500 fish, each making 25,000 fish stocked in the cages.
Mr Siraji Gasyodo, one of the farmers and a leader of the group, said the earnings have enticed them to invest more in aquaculture.
“We are Shs43m rich as a group in less than eight months. This is a good business because we anticipate harvesting more in the second harvest,” he said.
The beneficiary farmers say the money will be deposited into their Sacco to capitalise it so that they are able to lend out more money to its members and invest in other ventures. The fish ponds were constructed by the Ministry of Water and Environment through the concept of wise use of wetlands.
The wetland restoration programme is funded by the government in partnership with Green Climate Fund and United Nations Development Programme.
Mr Ismail Gasuza, a farmer and the area LC1 chairperson, said they were encouraged to embark on fish farming by President Museveni after he visited the demonstration site in 2019.
“Since then, the locals have been willing to leave the wetland if supported with profitable livelihood projects,” he said.
The locals in Pallisa informed President Museveni during his visit of how they work for their stomachs only. This is how the President got the word Nkolera Kida Kyonka, a Lugwere word meaning working for only the stomach.
The wetland that is on Tirinyi-Pallisa road is shared by the districts of Pallisa, Kibuku, Budaka and parts of Butebo.
Mr Wilber Okiring, the chairperson of Limoto Trading Centre, said they have sensitised the locals to embrace lucrative enterprises to fight household poverty.
“We want to get rid of poverty because it’s rampant here. We no longer want to be spectators,” Mr Okiring said.
During the launch of Parish Development Model in Kibuku District last year, President Museveni called upon all Ugandans, especially the 39 percent who live from hand-to-mouth, to embrace the model.
Mr Richard Omongole, the fisheries officer of Pallisa, said the project should accommodate more farmers.
“The farmers have embraced the project because they were actively involved in the feeding, maintenance of the ponds, slashing, refilling of the water and also supervision,” he said.
Mr Muhammad Samuka, the district natural resource officer of Pallisa, said they are optimistic that farmers will start to voluntarily vacate wetlands.
“The government is committed to promoting fish farming and horticulture, where we get water from the wetland and give to the people through irrigation technology,” he said.
The Resident District Commissioner of Pallisa, Mr Magidu Dhikusoka, said the progress is a sign that people can make use of the wetlands to get more money rather than growing rice.
Mr Patrick Okotel, the manager of water for production in the eastern region, said they are encouraging people to relocate from cultivating in wetlands in order to fight climate-related effects.
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