Solar-Powered Irrigation Scheme Restores Hope Among Kaliro Farmers 

In Kaliro district, where fields once cracked under the weight of long dry spells and harvests shrank with every passing season, a new sound now fills the air: the rhythmic hiss of sprinklers, the hum of solar pumps, and the renewed excitement of farmers who no longer farm with fear. Here in Buseru village, Gadumile Subcounty, Kaliro District, the Butambala Solar-Powered Irrigation Scheme is quietly redrawing the boundaries of possibility.

The scheme pulls water directly from Lake Nakuwa, driving it through solar-powered pumps and releasing it into fields that once depended entirely on unpredictable skies.

Launched only this year by the Ministry of Water and Environment, the project already anchors 32 farmers, even though the entire village has just 150 households. What used to be a dry landscape of one-season farming is turning, slowly but unmistakably, into a green zone of year-round cultivation.

From Surviving Seasons to Planning Futures

For years, families in Buseru planted only once, sometimes twice if the rains were kind. When drought struck, hunger and debt came in its wake. But irrigation has shifted the community’s centre of gravity.

“We now plant throughout the year,” says Sharifah Nakisige, a 30-year-old landlord, mother of three, and one of the earliest champions of the scheme. Her garden, once dry and timid, now thrives with cabbages, onions, and tomatoes.

“When we started, we had targets,” she says softly. “Improve our livelihoods, educate our children, and increase earnings. Today, all my three children are in school. This project has saved us.”

Sharifah and fellow farmers have earmarked land for a community school, a dream fueled by the fact that the nearest primary school is 8 kilometres away and the nearest secondary school is 20 kilometres from the village.

“We don’t want our children trekking those distances forever,” she says. “We can build our own future now.”

Seeing Possibility in Water

At 56, David Nabyoma, the LCI chairperson and head of the farmers’ association, carries the weight of the village’s old memories, and its new hope.

“Drought used to cripple us,” he says. “When the scheme came, everything changed. With constant water, we harvest even in the hard months.”

In the first season, David grew tomatoes, enough to pay tuition for his son at university. For him, that alone is proof that the village’s story has turned a corner.

“People are earning. People are planning. Even the dream of the community school? It’s real. We have land already.”

In her modest compound, 48-year-old Jennipher Mbyeiza, mother of ten, tends to her vegetables with a steadiness shaped by years of struggle.

“Before, what I harvested was only enough to survive,” she says. “Now there is plenty, and the market is always there,” she explains before adding, “My children are studying. We have food. We can plan ahead. That is what matters.”

A Saving Culture That Holds the Village Together

Beyond farming, the scheme sparked something just as important, financial discipline. Every member saves UGX 3,000 every Friday. The SACCO has already accumulated UGX 3 million. Loans come at 5% interest, payable in three months, a gentleness unheard of in commercial lending.

This discipline has not only protected farmers from exploitation but has also united the community around shared purpose.

Guiding the Roots

Every week, Nicholas Kayongo, the Ministry’s irrigation support officer and scheme operator, moves through the scheme inspecting crops, advising farmers, and keeping pests at bay.

“We train them on resistant varieties, crop rotation, soil health, everything,” he explains. “Their commitment is strong. They save every Friday. They attend training every week. They want to grow.”

According to Eng. Ernest Sonko, the Nexus Green (contractor) engineer, the irrigation system runs entirely on solar. 40 solar panels, a submersible pump, and a lazor sprinkler system that distributes water block by block.

“It is 100% solar,” he explains. “No fuel, no grid power, just clean energy supplying farmers with reliable water every day.”

Women who once rationed water now plan harvest calendars. Men who feared the sky now trust the sun. Children who walk kilometres to school may soon learn in a school built by their own community.

As the sprinklers hiss across the fields, the message is clear, Buseru has moved from surviving to dreaming.