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.
Established in 2019 by 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, resulting 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.
The investment was made possible through the Results-Based Financing (RBF) Programme implemented by Equity Bank Uganda in partnership with Energising Development (EnDev) Uganda and GIZ.
Through targeted incentives to solar system suppliers, the program improves the affordability of quality renewable energy technologies for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The automated water delivery has reduced the need for manual labour at Opla Nursery, allowing workers to focus on seedling care, quality management, and nursery operations. As a result, plant survival rates and seedling quality have improved.
The business has also experienced substantial growth from approximately 50,000 seedlings to about 200,000. Correspondingly, peak season revenues have risen from around Shs 20 million to approximately Shs 30 million.
Located along a busy roadside, Dopla Tree Nurseries now supplies seedlings to non-governmental organisations, institutions, and individual farmers engaged in reforestation, fruit production, landscaping initiatives and home designs.
The nursery has also become an informal training site where Ocen mentors youth and women in nursery management and seedling propagation techniques, contributing to local skills development and livelihood. He currently has 12 trainees.
Ocen plans to install an additional solar irrigation system and solar-powered security lighting.
