New USAID plan seeks to address Uganda's food insecurity

The United States, through its Feed the Future project, has launched a new Uganda food security strategic plan amid famine and hunger concerns in some parts of the country.

The new Global Food Security Strategy County Plan and Results Framework for fiscal years 2023 to 2027 uses a broader food systems approach in efforts to reduce global poverty, hunger, and malnutrition.

This country plan, which provides a framework for U.S food security and nutrition programming in 42 districts, was launched at Sunrise Agro Processing and Farming Ltd, Lira City, on Wednesday.

Under this ambitious intervention, the Ugandan government in collaboration with stakeholders and an American agency, will aim to improve natural resource management, strengthen agricultural markets, increase consumption of nutritious food, and promote resilience of households and communities.

Mia Beers, the United State Agency for International Development (USAID) Deputy Assistant to the Administrator in the Bureau for Resilience, Environment and Food Security, said since 2022, the global pandemic, climate crisis, high energy and fertilizer prices, and protracted conflicts have exacerbated food insecurity.

According to her, many African nations disproportionately bore the brunt of the above unprecedented phenomena, rendering 33million food insecure.

“Uganda is a regional food supplier and has primarily bimodal rainfall, the country has been subjected to repeated weather shocks, resulting in poor harvests and exacerbating food insecurity,” she said while launching the Uganda Global Food Security Strategy Country Plan.

She added: “A recent report found that roughly 1.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Uganda, particularly in Karamoja and refugee hosting districts. The work you all do in Uganda will contribute to our ambitious global target - to reduce poverty and stunting by 20 per cent.”

Dr Patrick Kumakech, director of research at Ngetta Zonal Agriculture Research and Development Institute, noted that over expansion of commodity trade has indirectly proportionately decreased nutrient availability to the local communities.

“So, the best approach would be, as we promote these other commodities for trade, we also focus on encouraging the farmers to diversify their food production and consumption,” he remarked.

A staggering 733 million people, equivalent to one in eleven globally, faced hunger in 2023, according to the latest United Nations report.