Leaders from the Acholi sub-region have appealed to the government to urgently provide food relief to communities whose livelihoods have been devastated by a prolonged dry spell that has crippled agricultural production and heightened the risk of hunger. The appeal comes amid reports of a worsening food crisis, including allegations that at least 15 people in Agago District have died from hunger-related causes following months of below-normal rainfall during the first planting season.
Thousands of smallholder farmers across the sub-region have suffered heavy crop losses over the past two months after prolonged dry conditions severely damaged staple food crops, particularly maize and beans.
Speaking at a joint press briefing convened by District Chairpersons from the Acholi sub-region in Gulu City Monday, Kitgum District Chairperson Tony Blair Toolit said the prolonged dry spell has had severe social, economic and health impacts on communities.
Toolit noted that the situation has been worsened by the invasion of elephants from the neighbouring Kidepo Valley National Park, which have destroyed gardens in Orom and Namokora sub-counties.
He warned that increasing crop failures have led to rising cases of malnutrition in parts of the district and urged the government to intervene immediately.
Agago District Chairperson Wilson Otto alleged that 15 people had died from hunger-related causes in the district between July 8 and Monday. He further claimed that 351 people were admitted to various health facilities with malnutrition between June and July this year.
Uganda Radio Network could not independently verify the claims by press time. Otto urged the government to extend emergency food assistance to the Acholi sub-region, arguing that communities have been affected by the prolonged dry spell in much the same way as those in Karamoja.
Nwoya District Chairperson Patrick Okello Oryema called on the government to further subsidize the cost of irrigation equipment to help farmers adapt to the growing effects of climate change.
Oryema said that although the government supports farmers through the Water for Production Initiative, under which beneficiaries contribute only about 20 percent of the cost of irrigation equipment, the amount remains unaffordable for many smallholder farmers.
In 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) rolled out the Micro-scale Irrigation Programme for smallholder farmers, under which the government covers between 25 and 75 percent of the cost of irrigation equipment.
Godfrey Jomo Oyet, the Omoro District Production Officer, acknowledged that the prolonged dry spell is likely to trigger food shortages across the sub-region because of declining maize production.
“In the coming months, the situation may not be all that very good because the maize, which is our major staple food here, is being affected, and that will reduce yields,” Oyet told Uganda Radio Network in an earlier interview.
According to George William Omony, a Principal Meteorologist at the Department of Meteorological Services under the Ministry of Water and Environment, the current dry conditions are expected to ease toward the end of August or early September.
The appeal from Acholi leaders comes as the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) on Monday launched an emergency food relief programme in the Karamoja sub-region to support communities affected by the prolonged dry spell.
A total of 9,419,610 kilograms of maize and beans will be distributed to 313,987 households across 480 parishes in the nine districts of Karamoja under this emergency intervention-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
