Pallisa Farmers Support Achola’s Move to Hold Coffee Seedlings as Rains Delay

What the report says

Pallisa coffee farmers have backed Woman MP Catherine Achola’s decision to delay releasing 10,000 coffee and cocoa seedlings until rains return, saying the current dry spell would likely destroy young plants. According to Dokolo Post, the seedlings were intended for farmers in Boliso One and other sub-counties that had already prepared gardens, but planting has been put on hold because the weather remains too dry and uncertain.

Achola made the announcement on Sunday during a church gathering at Odepai Catholic Church in Kamuge zone, where Christians had assembled to recognize catechists serving in the area. She said she chose to stop briefly on her way to a burial in Tororo and used the occasion to speak with the community. Parish priest Rev. Fr. Francis Wakida thanked her for joining the event, while local farmer William Ochom said the delay made sense because farmers could not water the seedlings properly.

The MP said the seedlings would be distributed once conditions improve and that extension workers would train farmers in clusters on coffee and cocoa management. She also used the event to encourage farmers to think beyond quick-return crops and to embrace perennial crops such as coffee. Other attendees said coffee should be supported as a long-term income source, while some farmers urged government to ease the high contribution required for solar irrigation equipment under a climate-smart agriculture project.

Achola also announced contributions to the church function, including shillings 350,000 for cement and a pledge to buy choir uniforms. The report places her remarks within her broader push for coffee growing in Pallisa, where she has repeatedly encouraged farmers to treat it as a path to household income and education support.