Tackle food insecurity

Yesterday, Uganda joined the rest of the world in celebrating World Food Day. However, for Uganda, it was a sad reminder of what has not been done. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, the body that holds Uganda’s data, three out of every 10 people go without food every day. 

At the same time, statistics from the recent census show that only 54 percent of Ugandans are food secure, while 46 percent are still challenged in access to food. 

In Karamoja, over 60 percent of the households are going without a meal a day.

Why is this happening when 80 percent of Uganda's land is arable? Why are we cultivating only 35 percent of the land, leaving the rest idle? 

The Ubos estimates that about 68 percent of Uganda's working population is employed in agriculture. How come they cannot produce enough food to feed the country?

The country has 17 million hectares of arable land. Still, only 5 million hectares are utilised, according to the data. 

In contrast, up to 70 percent of arable land in northern Uganda remains unused, according to data from the Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development. 

This is where leadership must come in and change the trajectory.

In July 2022, the Minister of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries, Mr Frank Tumwebaze, told the President about the need for deliberate interventions to boost food security in the country, which informed the President’s directive to have the whole government led by the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance implement strategic interventions in large-scale food production, with a special focus on Karamoja.

The President directed concerned officials to provide the identified entities such as Uganda Prisons, National Enterprise Corporation, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, and big farmers in northern Uganda and other areas, with agricultural machinery, seeds, fertilisers, and irrigation equipment.

Therefore, two years later, the country should be informed of the progress made on this large-scale food production, the projections, and the way forward. 

The Ministry of Agriculture as well as the Office of the Prime Minister should come in and help people utilise God’s gift to Uganda; the rivers and lakes for irrigation and the arable land available. 

At a time when Uganda should be a food basket for the rest of Africa, it still has people going without food. More needs to be done.