Equity Bank Empowers Nursery Expansion and Green Livelihoods through Solar Irrigation in Lira

In Boroboro Parish, Gwengbar area of Lira City, Dopla Tree Nurseries has grown from a small backyard enterprise into a significant local supplier of tree seedlings. The transformation has been driven by the adoption of solar powered irrigation, enabling the business to increase production while supporting climate-resilient farming in northern Uganda. Established in 2019 by micro entrepreneur Daniel Ocen, the nursery initially operated with limited resources. With no start-up capital, Ocen relied on manual labour and watering cans to irrigate seedlings. Maintaining tens of thousands of plants under Lira’s hot and unpredictable climate proved both labour intensive and inefficient. Workers frequently travelled long distances to fetch water and inconsistent irrigation resulted in seedling losses and limited production capacity. In early 2025, Ocen adopted a solar powered irrigation system after learning about the technology through a Tulima Solar field agent. Following a site assessment, the company installed a system comprising two solar panels, a high-capacity pump, and a piping network that distributes water directly to the nursery beds.