Apac coffee farmers turn to mulching and irrigation as dry season intensifies

23 September 2026, 4:33 pm

By Ayoo Rabecca Marcy & Daniel odongo

Coffee farmers in Apac District and Apac municipality are adopting mulching, irrigation and other climate-smart farming practices to protect both young and mature coffee trees as prolonged dry spells threaten production.

The farmers say rising temperatures and changing weather patterns have increased the pressure on coffee production, forcing them to adopt new methods to keep their crops healthy during the dry season.

Opio Sam Okuta, chairperson of the Coffee Farmers Cooperative and Marketing Association, said farmers are increasingly relying on mulching and irrigation to prevent their coffee trees from drying out.

“During the dry season,we advice coffee farmers do mulching and irrigation to maintain the coffee crops,” Okuta said.

He was speaking during a project inception meeting organised by the Women of Uganda Network, WOUGNET, at Judins Hotel in Apac Municipality.

Agricultural Extension Worker Anna Grace Akite also urged farmers to embrace irrigation, saying changing climatic conditions require farmers to adjust their traditional farming practices.

Akite cautioned farmers against selling coffee to middlemen at low prices, advising them to use digital platforms to identify better markets and improve their earnings.

She also encouraged young people to take up coffee farming and urged women and youth to join savings groups to access affordable loans while waiting for their coffee harvests.

Farmer Edam Peter called for greater community efforts to encourage young people to enter coffee farming, warning that many of the current farmers are ageing and may eventually lack the energy to continue farming.

The WOUGNET meeting brought together farmer groups from Chegere Sub-county and Arocha Division under a digital technology project aimed at strengthening coffee production and market access.

The initiative comes as the government promotes increased coffee production, particularly in northern Uganda, as part of efforts to boost household incomes and coffee exports.

However, farmers continue to face challenges, including limited knowledge of modern farming practices, inadequate access to irrigation and increasingly unpredictable weather conditions.