Food insecurity to worsen in Karamoja
Dec 28, 2008
FOOD insecurity in Karamoja will worsen in 2009, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. Karamoja is a drought-prone region.
FOOD insecurity in Karamoja will worsen in 2009, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. Karamoja is a drought-prone region.
WFP said the focus of the humanitarian community would be mainly on Karamoja because of its tenuous food situation, exacerbated by the widespread failure of the latest harvest, with yields about 30% of the expected output.
The agency said prospects for improved food security and nutrition were poor as the region was facing its third successive failed harvest.
Karamoja has one main harvest season annually in August-September.
“We are catering for about 700,000 people, but this number is expected to go as high as 950,000,†said Stanlake Samkange, the WFP country representative.
“Many places in Karamoja did not harvest anything because of the worsening climatic conditions. Harvests have been around 30% while other areas have recorded even lower rates. WFP will soon launch an emergency operation to assist about 900,000 people for almost a year.â€
Karamoja remains the poorest and most marginalised part of the country. It is caught in a cycle of natural disasters, conflict and limited investment, which perpetuates underdevelopment and hunger.
Musa Ecweru, the disaster preparedness and refugees minister, said: “The situation in Karamoja is bad, malnutrition is going up mostly in children and the elderly.
“The crop failure is not the only problem of food insecurity in the region; a disease known as Peste des Petits Ruminants has also wiped out half the number of goats that always served as their buffer in situations of crop failure.â€
He said the Government had recently dispatched food for up to 400 people who were in a “real dire situation†in Morukajore village in Nakapiripirit district.
The WFP said the humanitarian community was contemplating changing its approach by focusing on the underlying factors responsible for underdevelopment in the region.
A survey conducted in August and September found global acute malnutrition rates of 10.5% in Kotido and 2.7% in Moroto districts in Karamoja (10 percent is considered the emergency threshold). “We need to address issues like water irrigation and water catchment mechanisms because much of the water that Karamoja gets ends up in other areas of the country,†Samkange said.
He added that food deliveries would cater for half the people’s needs.
“We want to close the gap by improving people’s productivity. We also see food deliveries as an opportunity for other agencies. They can be used to communicate with the people on issues such as sanitation and nutrition.
“We have added a bar of soap to all food rations because we believe that when we improve hygiene, we shall largely improve nutrition security.â€
IRIN
WFP said the focus of the humanitarian community would be mainly on Karamoja because of its tenuous food situation, exacerbated by the widespread failure of the latest harvest, with yields about 30% of the expected output.
The agency said prospects for improved food security and nutrition were poor as the region was facing its third successive failed harvest.
Karamoja has one main harvest season annually in August-September.
“We are catering for about 700,000 people, but this number is expected to go as high as 950,000,†said Stanlake Samkange, the WFP country representative.
“Many places in Karamoja did not harvest anything because of the worsening climatic conditions. Harvests have been around 30% while other areas have recorded even lower rates. WFP will soon launch an emergency operation to assist about 900,000 people for almost a year.â€
Karamoja remains the poorest and most marginalised part of the country. It is caught in a cycle of natural disasters, conflict and limited investment, which perpetuates underdevelopment and hunger.
Musa Ecweru, the disaster preparedness and refugees minister, said: “The situation in Karamoja is bad, malnutrition is going up mostly in children and the elderly.
“The crop failure is not the only problem of food insecurity in the region; a disease known as Peste des Petits Ruminants has also wiped out half the number of goats that always served as their buffer in situations of crop failure.â€
He said the Government had recently dispatched food for up to 400 people who were in a “real dire situation†in Morukajore village in Nakapiripirit district.
The WFP said the humanitarian community was contemplating changing its approach by focusing on the underlying factors responsible for underdevelopment in the region.
A survey conducted in August and September found global acute malnutrition rates of 10.5% in Kotido and 2.7% in Moroto districts in Karamoja (10 percent is considered the emergency threshold). “We need to address issues like water irrigation and water catchment mechanisms because much of the water that Karamoja gets ends up in other areas of the country,†Samkange said.
He added that food deliveries would cater for half the people’s needs.
“We want to close the gap by improving people’s productivity. We also see food deliveries as an opportunity for other agencies. They can be used to communicate with the people on issues such as sanitation and nutrition.
“We have added a bar of soap to all food rations because we believe that when we improve hygiene, we shall largely improve nutrition security.â€
IRIN