By Fr Gabriel Angella MCCJ
There is a lot of talk about hunger in Karamoja but the actual problem is food insecurity. The dire poverty coupled with the fragile security in the region is causing wide spread-food insecurity
It is important to note that whereas hunger is a feeling that one can have when they do not have food, food insecurity is the consistent lack of food to live an active and healthy life. The key word is “consistent”.
THE STATISTICS
According to (Uganda Bureau of Statistics [UBOS], 2017), Karamoja is known to be the poorest sub-region in Uganda. The area is semi-arid and it receives between 400mm – 1000mm of rain annually. The mainstay of the people is pastoralism and agro-pastoralism. Over 60% of the people own livestock (Food Security and Nutrition Assessment [FSNA], 2017). Armed inter ethnic conflicts centred on livestock rustling are very common. Close to 60.8% of her population of 1.37 million is living below the poverty line compared to the national average of 26.2%. The Human Poverty Index (HPI) ranges from 56-65.3 for all districts of Karamoja compared to national poverty index of 27.69. The youth account for over 75% of the population. 80% of the youth are unemployed due to lack of education and marketable skills (UBOS, 2017, National Security Agency [NSA], 2016). The literacy rate currently stands at 12%. In the district of Kotido, Kaabong and Karenga, 67% or more of household heads have had no education at all and 78% or more of mothers have had no education compared to the national average of 13% (UBOS, 2011). This has a negative connotation on a child’s nutrition status and household sanitation and hygiene (FSNA, 2017). Karamoja also has the poorest health indicators in the country (Ministry of Health [MoH], 2020): Infant Mortality Rate is 105/1000 compared to the national average of 76/1000; Maternal Mortality Rate is 438/100,000 compared to the national average of 435/100,000; Under Five Mortality Rate is 174/1000 LB compared to the national average of 134/1000 LB; HIV prevalence is at 3.2%, compared to the national average of 7.2%; deliveries in health units are less than 50%; Chronic Malnutrition (stunting) levels are high at 45% compared to 33% at the national level; The overall prevalence of global acute malnutrition is 13.8% but highest in Kotido District (18.5%). Severe acute malnutrition is 2.9% (FSNA 2017). The prevalence of underweight is 27.7%, with higher levels registered in Kotido District (33.1%). Stunting in the sub region is at 32.6%, higher in the district of Kaabong (40.5%).
THE ARGUMENT
These scientific facts about Karamoja continue the song of severe poverty that has been sang since time immemorial. One then asks, since then, what has changed? Is Karamoja poor or it is being made poor? Is Karamoja hungry, or it is being made hungry? Why can’t the government, with all its structures, think about a lasting solution to the dire situation and food insecurity in Karamoja? It is decades that Government and United Nations through World Food Programme and other Non Governmental Organisations have been distributing food in Karamoja. However, whereas these distributions have to some extent saved lives in the short run, they have not solved and will never solve the problem of food insecurity in the long run. What these institutions need to understand and take seriously into their projects is that Karamoja’s problem is not hunger but food insecurity. Hunger is one of the effects of food insecurity. We ought to treat the cause, otherwise, we will never solve the problem.
THE CAUSES
In Karamoja, the impact of the ongoing average to below average food and livestock production over the last two years, coupled with the currently fragile security situation are causing widespread food insecurity. According to Dr. Lochap Paul, the Executive Director of Caritas Kotido, all the nine districts of Karamoja sub-region are classified in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis), with 41% of the population analysed (518,000 people) facing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above). Around 90,000 people (7% of the population analysed) are classified in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency), while 428,000 (34% of the population analysed) are classified in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis). The food insecurity situation in the region has continued to increase, with the population in IPC Phase 3 or above increasing from 27% in June 2020, to 30% in April 2021 and to 41% in April 2022. The increase is attributable to the protracted effects of the below average 2021 and 2022 main harvests, combined with a dry spell in December 2021 – March 2022 and October 2022 to March 2023 that led to livestock losses and fuelled increasing cattle raids and insecurity in the region.
Low availability and the global historical conjuncture have sustained increasing food insecurity since 2019/20. Households facing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) have large food consumption gaps and can only meet their minimum food consumption requirements after employing crisis and emergency coping strategies. In fact, most of these households (about 48%) have depleted their essential livelihood assets, including consuming seed stocks to cope with the situation.
Inadequate access to food is leading to an increasing number of acutely malnourished children in the region. People, especially the youth have resorted to negative coping mechanisms. The elements at high risk in all the districts are the elderly, orphaned and vulnerable children, widows, PWDs and persons living with HIV and AIDS. Between May and June 2022, there was the invasion of the African Army Worm which destroyed huge chunks of plantations of main food crops like sorghum and maize, leading to decreased production and increased food insecurity.
Another problem is of wildlife (elephants and buffaloes) which destroy gardens. Karamoja has got Kidepo National Park, Matheniko-Bokora Game reserve and Pian-Upe Game reserve. Karamoja is practically covered by wildlife. Herds of elephants and buffaloes are very destructive and even dangerous to human beings. These wildlife pose the problem of lack of access to enough land for farming. It should be noted that much of the land in Karamoja has been gazetted by government for wildlife and prisons; up to 60%, according to Karamoja Development Forum (KDF). This leaves the Karimojong with little land to cultivate, which is destroyed by animals without compensation from government. Lack of access to land for farming, means a lack of a key resource for producing food crops.
This deprives the local people of the resource they desperately require to grow food crops and vegetables for survival. The ultimate outcome is poverty and social instability, worsening food insecurity. Another problem is that livestock numbers have diminished in Karamoja due to water and pasture stress, diseases and rustling. Protected kraals have become the epicentre of spread of most Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) due to lack of sanitary measures.
Diseases, such as TBDs, CBPP, CCPP, Trypanosomiasis, Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) among others have been reported. PPR, which had been controlled in the sub-region, was recently reintroduced from other parts of Uganda through the government’s goats’ restocking programme in July 2022 in which over 76,000 goats were brought into the sub-region.
Furthermore, households also still suffer secondary effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, including loss of employment, which continues to affect income generation and access to food. These factors cumulatively frustrate the efforts to increase food production. There is also the problem of “financialisation” of food crops. As soon as the Karimojong harvest food in their fields, they sell at a cheaper price in order to get money for other literally short term joys, drinking, etc. Traditional parties and celebrations become many and by this, they end up consuming all the harvest before the year is even half way.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE
Karamoja’s problem of food insecurity is caused by a vast variety of factors, ranging from; climatic, social, environmental, to political. These problems therefore require an integral approach solution. Government can for example come up with an irrigation scheme for Karamoja, rather than using the artificial dams which are not helpful.
