14 million Ugandans underfed, WFP says

With Uganda’s total estimated population exceeding 44m as of July 14, 2023, the World Food Programme (WFP) Hunger Map has showed that 14.9 million Ugandans live with insufficient food consumption. The most affected districts are Kotido and Alebtong, whose percentage population is above 40. 

The map also shows a moderately low prevalence of insufficient food consumption in Kampala, Wakiso and Mbale (10-20 percent). The rest of the districts in Uganda are between 20 and 30 percent. 

However, the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Hon Frank Tumwebaze, says the only region affected by insufficient food consumption is the semi-arid Karamoja area and that even then, the region achieved above average farm yields in the past season.

He adds that the area has only one farming season instead of two as the rest of the parts in Uganda and it continues to suffer food shortage because of this.

“The reason for food scarcity in the area is because of the weather and the nomadic nature of the people in those communities. We do not have so many farmers staying in one place to grow crops since the people there keep on moving from one place to another,” he says.

The statistics
Despite its agricultural potential and significant exports, Uganda’s food insecurity levels remain classified as ‘serious’ by the 2019 Global Hunger Index. Ugandans consume 400 kcal less than their daily need.

Malnutrition is widespread across the country; 29 percent of children under the age of five are stunted while 53 percent are anaemic and at risk of not reaching their full mental and physical potential, according to United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef).

According to the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey, 32 percent and 16 percent of women and men respectively between the ages 15 to 49 were anaemic. About 58 percent children did not meet the requirements of a minimum acceptable diet and the same percentage of the children were fed less than three meals per day, according to Uganda Bureau of Statistics. 

Why the food insufficiency? 
Uganda has a longstanding history of hosting refugees, with nearly 1.5 million, mainly from South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi currently residing in the country. 

According to Dr Muniira Mbabazi, a community nutrition scientist at Right to Grow Consortium, the causes of poor nutrition status include poor feeding and childcare practices, poverty and shortage of nutritious and diversified foods, inadequate adaptation to climate change risks, poor sanitation and hygiene practices as well as limited access to safe and clean drinking water.

“Over the years, the demographic and health surveys have indicated existing disparities in rural and urban areas for nutrition outcomes. Women in rural areas are more affected by poor nutrition and climate change compared to their urban counterparts,” Dr Mbabazi says. 

Who is affected? 
Rukia Nakagolo Namukose, a village health team member of Ibulanku sub-county in Bugweri District, says poor feeding affects a number of pregnant women and children in her community.

“Many children under five years of age are stunted because their families have no food. The parents go to the sugar plantation to work in exchange for food or a little money. By the time they return home, it is too late and the children have probably not eaten anything since morning,” she says, adding that families that have enough land to grow crops usually sell all the food they grow to get money. 

Because they are a vulnerable group, pregnant mothers need good food for the proper development of the unborn baby and nourishment for themselves. Dr Mbabazi remarks that the first 1,000 days of a child begin from the time of conception until the baby is two years old. 

During this time, proper nutrition is key and if a child does not eat a balanced diet, they are likely to get stunted and suffer from other irreversible conditions caused by several nutrient deficiencies.

Way forward 
In a bid to increase agricultural productivity in the food-scarce Karamoja, minister Tumwebaze says there are on-going efforts by the government to increase agricultural productivity in the area. 

“A total of 15 tractors were sent to Nabwiny National Research Station to help in aggressively encouraging people there to grow crops and be able to leverage on the one agricultural season and maximise food production in the area,” he says.

Namukose advises people in her area to stop growing sugarcane that takes a long time of about six years to grow and instead grow food crops that mature in three months.

Also, people in communities should be educated on the different foods that are available and how important they are to the human body. 

Families, especially in the rural areas need to have granaries for adequate food stocks to ensure food security in times of scarcity. 

Dr Mbabazi also remarks that there is an urgent need to build farmers’ capacity to respond to the ever-changing farming seasons and climate change. 

Wastage  
According to the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC), the high levels of food wastage at the different stages of the agricultural value chain in the country also exacerbate food shortage. 

Some food is lost because of poor storage and inadequate value-addition infrastructure in rural areas. Farmers lack modern drying and storage facilities for their products, and mostly rely on the sun to dry their produce. 

“Food is wasted in quantity and quality, often due to actions taken by actors along the value chain. For instance, Uganda produces a lot of fruits and vegetables for export, but about 40 percent of these are wasted, as they do not meet the required quality standards,” Dr Muniira Mbabazi, a community nutrition scientist at Right to Grow Consortium, says.