Uganda Government patterns with EU to eradicate food insecurity in Karamoja

 

The Government of Uganda has patterned with the European Union to solve the problem of food insecurity in Karamoja.

Following a classification of about six districts as districts in food crisis with 30 per cent of the population (361,000 people) faced with high levels of acute food insecurity in the region, the Ugandan government with its EU counter parts have launched a program to deal with the crisis proactively.  

Priya Gujadhur, FAO’s deputy representative in Uganda said that the project is not about a reactive response but a proactive response to predict the food security shocks and provide information in a timely manner so that the communities and government can take the right action to prepare for the shocks and reduce their impact on the communities, households, lives and livelihoods. 

“We are working with the Government of Uganda to build an effective early warning system for Karamoja that will predict in time food security shocks and then support government and communities to prepare accordingly,” Priya said as she emphasized the importance of strengthening the capacity of national and local stakeholders.  

The Pro-ACT programme is aimed at preparing local communities for food security disasters like famine, drought and malnutrition before they happen such that by the time such problems strike, households already have the necessary resources to help them get through that period on top of strengthening shock response systems through early warning patterns and assistance that enables households to reduce their risk.

The European Union in partnership with United Nation’s World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) have launched a €4 million (Shs 16.69 billion) Pro Resilience Action project (Pro-ACT) to improve how Karamoja responds to food security shocks

With the exception of Amudat, Karenga and Nakapiripirit districts that are in food stress, all the other districts have been classified to be in food crisis. Overall, the food security situation in the region has deteriorated with the highly food insecure population increasing from 27 per cent in June 2020 to 30 per cent in March 2021. 

Households faced with high acute food insecurity have large food consumption gaps and can only meet their minimum food consumption requirements after employing crisis and emergency coping strategies. Children in these households are also facing high levels of acute malnutrition due to inadequate access to food.