Bukwo drought-stricken farmers had taken bank loans
Jul 09, 2009
IT is midday, but 45-year-old Gilbert Chalangat, a father of eight and a resident of Bukwo district, has not had breakfast and is also not sure of lunch.
By Gerald Tenywa
IT is midday, but 45-year-old Gilbert Chalangat, a father of eight and a resident of Bukwo district, has not had breakfast and is also not sure of lunch.
He stares at the treacherous sky, which has denied him the much needed main to nurture his maize crop now drying-up in the garden.
“I do not know whether we will get any food today,†says Gilbert Chalangat.
His wife is carrying a one-year-old baby, but because of starvation, the miserable looking baby does not crawl.
The mother’s hand kept on wiping away houseflies as the baby blinked, opening its white big round eyes. But hunger is like a silent robber, which has taken away the happiness and charm from the baby and other youngsters who had gone out to play and had got tired.
When the youngsters returned, their mother had no food to give them.
Chalangat makes ropes to get money to provide for his family, but the ropes, which go for as little as sh100 each, do not have ready market since most of the herdsmen have kraals.
His tiny piece of land where he had planted maize on about a half acre, is just one of the gardens in the district that has dried up because of drought.
Chalangat is one of the 70,000 people living in Bukwo in north-eastern Uganda that was in the past described as a food basket for eastern Uganda.
Francis Epido, the acting district agricultural officer, said the farmers had bought improved seeds using loans from Centenary Bank.
In Bukwo, there are no mango trees. Even the wild trees have not produced any fruit, leaving the hunger-stricken people without options for food.
IT is midday, but 45-year-old Gilbert Chalangat, a father of eight and a resident of Bukwo district, has not had breakfast and is also not sure of lunch.
He stares at the treacherous sky, which has denied him the much needed main to nurture his maize crop now drying-up in the garden.
“I do not know whether we will get any food today,†says Gilbert Chalangat.
His wife is carrying a one-year-old baby, but because of starvation, the miserable looking baby does not crawl.
The mother’s hand kept on wiping away houseflies as the baby blinked, opening its white big round eyes. But hunger is like a silent robber, which has taken away the happiness and charm from the baby and other youngsters who had gone out to play and had got tired.
When the youngsters returned, their mother had no food to give them.
Chalangat makes ropes to get money to provide for his family, but the ropes, which go for as little as sh100 each, do not have ready market since most of the herdsmen have kraals.
His tiny piece of land where he had planted maize on about a half acre, is just one of the gardens in the district that has dried up because of drought.
Chalangat is one of the 70,000 people living in Bukwo in north-eastern Uganda that was in the past described as a food basket for eastern Uganda.
Francis Epido, the acting district agricultural officer, said the farmers had bought improved seeds using loans from Centenary Bank.
In Bukwo, there are no mango trees. Even the wild trees have not produced any fruit, leaving the hunger-stricken people without options for food.