Uganda, March 16 -- James Mugerwa, a mixed farmer in Kabembe, Mukono District stared out at his land, a grimace twisting his weathered face. The once fertile fields stretched before the retired extension worker, now a patchy expanse of tired, cracked earth.

The rains had failed them again, and the memory of last year's meagre maize harvest sent a pang of worry through him. Mugerwa is a Ugandan farmer, one of millions facing the harsh realities of a struggling food system.

According to the World Bank, in Uganda, more than 60 percent of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods.

However, traditional farming methods, coupled with erratic weather patterns due to climate change, have resulted in declining soil fertility, r...