From the team
Written by Aoife Sherry - Programmes Communications Intern, interviewing Mildred Orishaba, NOURISH Project Manager and Alir Richard Ogwal, Trainer of Trainers in the Irish Aid funded NOURISH programme.
This morning, I sat down virtually with Mildred Orishaba, the NOURISH Project Manager in Uganda, and Alir Richard Ogwal, Trainer of Trainers in the Irish Aid funded NOURISH programme. They told me that this year’s dry season has been particularly challenging. Crops have been destroyed, and many water sources have dried up.
This set the scene for our conversation about Zai Pits, a sustainable farming practice that helps to increase food production and drought resilience in arid regions across Africa. In Karamoja, participants in the NOURISH programme are being trained in this technique to help protect crops during the June dry season.
In 2025, 3,163 women and 716 men in Karamoja were trained on climate-smart nutrition-sensitive agriculture, including how to use Zai Pits. This allowed thousands of people to access more diverse and nutritious diets, even in the dry season.
What Are Zai Pits and How Do They Work?
Mildred:
A Zai pit is a type of planting basin. To make one, we dig a pit that is around ten centimetres deep and ten centimetres wide. After the pit is dug, dry grass is placed at the bottom to promote faster decomposition. Topsoil is then mixed with manure and returned to the pit, which is covered by more dry grass for protection.
The intention is to break through the hard top layer of the soil, so that water can move below the topsoil. Zai Pits are particularly useful in arid areas like Karamoja. When the rains come, water soaks into the ground and is stored beneath the soil surface. Then, when the dry weather returns, the topsoil helps prevent evaporation and keeps the water underground. In a way, the technique works like a fridge, storing and preserving what is needed for the crops.
The idea of Zai Pits came from Burkina Faso. The word “Zai” actually means hard work. This is because they are dug when the soil is at its hardest, so breaking through the top layer takes a lot of energy.
But the benefits are high. Because the pits retain water for more than a month and help to preserve soil nutrients, crops can become resistant to the dry season. We have seen much higher yields from crops planted in Zai Pits compared to crops grown without them.
You realise that we even have pumpkins? We used to not have that in Karamoja, but now we can plant everything, even green vegetables, in Zai Pits. You can see in the background of the photos that the land is very dry, but in the gardens, it remains green.
How Are Young People Learning and Sharing These Techniques?
Mildred:
We work with community structures to engage young people through an approach called Training of Trainers. We train young leaders on how to create Zai Pits, and then they go back to their communities and pass that knowledge on to others. This means that the knowledge remains in the community.
We also work with schools, training boys and girls aged 8 to 18 to live responsibly. We are teaching them about climate-smart agriculture, including how to plant crops in the Zai Pit.
We have school gardens where children have planted in Zai Pits and harvested food to help improve their diets. By introducing these ideas at a young age, we are helping to build awareness in their minds of the importance of climate-smart agriculture.
What Challenges Are Limiting Wider Adoption?
Mildred:
One of the biggest challenges that we have is that preparing the Zai Pits is labour-intensive. These pits are large, and Karamoja’s soil is hard. Many people find the work difficult, and only prepare small gardens.
However, farmers want, and need, to plant bigger gardens.
To help with this, we partnered with the Practica Foundation, which provided Zainer machines to assist with preparing the pits. Zainer machines are motorised tools that help to reduce the amount of labour needed to create Zai Pits, by digging the holes needed for planting. The team is currently looking into community uptake this year.
Changing the mindsets of people on Zai Pit planting is the most difficult thing. But we are beginning to see mindsets change.
Alir
What Could Help More Farmers Benefit from Zai Pits?
Alir:
As a farmer, I know that preparation is very important. It is much better to prepare earlier in the year, than to wait. If I want to plant ten acres of land with Zai Pits when the soil has already become hard, it is very difficult, even with a machine.
We should start preparing and planting during the current season when the soil is softer, so everything is ready for the following season. That would reduce the amount of labour needed.
Mildred:
For the Zai Pits to be more effective and widely adopted by the community, we need to get everyone on board. So, we need to do a lot of advocacy with local leaders, because they have seen the results for themselves and know that Zai Pits work. Whenever they have the opportunity, they can help raise awareness of the benefits of Zai Pits.
We are also encouraging people to form savings groups for transformation (S4T groups) so that when planting season arrives, members can borrow money from one another to buy seeds and fuel for the Zainer machines. Fuel costs have increased in Uganda by 30% between February and May 2026 and can reach up to $15 per acre of planting, which is simply unaffordable for many households.
Our goal is to help farmers move from planting for consumption towards planting as a business.
We are not there yet, but we are trying our best.
Looking Ahead
Climate-smart agriculture techniques like Zai Pits help to ensure that even the most vulnerable communities have access to a wider variety of food and a potential source of income during difficult times. Through local knowledge, community training, and innovation, farmers in Karamoja are finding ways to build resilience in the face of an increasingly challenging climate.
A special thank you to Mildred and Alir for taking the time out of their day to discuss the important work they are doing to protect food security in Uganda.
