Hunger strikes university students

“I became thin, pale and developed ulcers,” Bint-Juma says. Many other university students have harrowing tales of hunger. Antonette Nambi, a final-year student of education at Makerere University, says hunger has left her stressed, dizzy and frequently suffering from headaches. She says the constant hunger affects her concentration in class. “It makes it difficult to engage meaningfully with lecturers when you are hungry. This also puts us at risk of poor academic performance,” Nambi says.

University students in a lecture room. Some students miss lectures due to hunger.