Farmers in Acholi advised to delay second season planting after failed harvest

What the report says

The Independent Uganda, citing Uganda Radio Network, reports that farmers in the Acholi sub-region have been advised to hold off on second-season planting because the current dry spell is expected to continue until the end of August. The warning, published July 23, 2026, follows widespread first-season crop losses across parts of northern Uganda and comes as many households had hoped to replant in July to recover food and income.

George William Omony, a principal meteorologist in the Department of Meteorology under the Ministry of Water and Environment, said recent scattered showers in Acholi are too irregular and light to support germination. He advised farmers to prepare gardens while waiting for more reliable rainfall, warning that planting now could lead to wasted seed if soils remain too dry. The ministry’s July 2026 weather update, as described by URN, forecasts below-average rainfall in much of Uganda, with northern areas likely to receive only occasional isolated rain and warmer-than-normal temperatures.

The report says district leaders in Acholi have appealed for emergency food relief as hunger concerns rise after the failed first season. Lamwo District Chairperson Sisto Oyet Ocen told journalists in Gulu City that poor harvests had left many households without food, and local leaders in Lamwo and Agago cited deaths and malnutrition cases they linked to hunger-related causes.

Omony attributed the prolonged dryness to a developing El Niño linked to unusually warm equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures. The report also notes that ICPAC has cautioned users to rely on updated forecasts because rainfall distribution across the Greater Horn of Africa remains variable. The issue is significant because Acholi’s farming households largely depend on rain-fed agriculture and normally plant two seasonal crops each year.