Women inclusion could be missing link in national feeding

Uganda has embarked on various projects in both the public and private sectors to sustain food production for a growing population of about 34.9 million.

However, a report published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation indicates a shortfall in feeding that leaves 23 million Ugandans hungry.

Even as women account for 80% of the labour for food production globally, the proportion of arable that they can access in Uganda is low and could make a case for what the Pearl of Africa is missing.

Indeed research exposes many loopholes and this year, studies by experts show how the undoing for a country that is not under desertification could be hidden in women's roles and contribution.

While the gender question remains answered below optimum and the debate on inheritance, land ownership and domestic violence seem "off the shelf" for lawmakers the hunger levels could raise more attention to a resource that now has a downward trend in availability.

According to the 2013 National Bureau of Statistics figures, available agricultural land in Uganda already showed a decline from estimated 99,703.1 square metres in 2005 to about 91,151.8 square metres in 2010 and the situation keeps getting worse with urbanisation and many more factors.

In your copy tomorrow, Her Vision highlights the facts hidden between the lines of policy and customs with a look into real life stories of what the main producers cannot easily access.