More than 1,000 vulnerable residents in Chamkok and Kotidan sub-counties in Abim District have received emergency food relief from Feed the Hungry East Africa to help them cope with prolonged drought and worsening food insecurity.
The relief, delivered on July 19, included nutrient-rich food packages containing maize and rice, soya, meat and vegetables blended into a fortified meal, as well as dehydrated sukuma wiki and Irish potatoes. During the distribution exercise, each household representative received one package for every family member.
Speaking during the flag-off at the district headquarters, Feed the Hungry East Africa President Pastor Solomon Mwesige described the intervention as a life-saving measure rather than a long-term solution to hunger. “This is emergency relief—not a permanent solution—but it prevents people from dying of hunger,” Mwesige said. He explained that the organization works under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Office of the Prime Minister to provide humanitarian assistance, particularly in refugee settlements.
According to Mwesige, Feed the Hungry East Africa feeds about 70,000 people daily in Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement and schools and has supported refugees in Rwamwanja Settlement with food and water for the past 14 years. Mwesige said he has spent the last 18 years involved in humanitarian food assistance and began supporting communities in Kotido in 2023 with funding from friends, church members and well-wishers in Uganda and abroad. “Every outreach reaches about 30,000 people.
As long as the Lord provides, we will continue helping. It is not sustainable in the long term, but we trust God to keep providing,” he said, noting that long travel distances and occasional attempts to loot relief supplies remain major challenges. Beyond emergency food distribution, the organization is investing in long-term food security initiatives, including drilling boreholes, installing solar-powered irrigation systems, distributing drought-resistant sorghum seed and establishing a demonstration farm in Chamkok Sub-county to train farmers in modern agricultural practices. Mwesige said the programme could eventually be expanded to other parts of Abim District.
Abim Chief Administrative Officer Moses Okello welcomed the intervention, saying prolonged drought has devastated livelihoods across the district. He added that even the few farmers who planted crops suffered losses after wild animals destroyed their gardens and pledged transparency in distributing the relief supplies. Abim Resident District Commissioner Robert Adyama described the donation as one of the first major humanitarian food interventions received from a development partner alongside the Office of the Prime Minister.
He said Abim remains particularly vulnerable because of its history of insecurity and conflict and appealed to the organization to rehabilitate the water system at Abim General Hospital. District Chairperson Johnny Dewest Ariko thanked Feed the Hungry East Africa for donating food and shoes to vulnerable residents. He revealed that although the Office of the Prime Minister had allocated Shs45 billion for relief interventions across Karamoja, the first phase of government food distribution would cover Kotido, Moroto, Nabilatuk, Amudat, Kaabong and Karenga districts before extending to Abim.
Abim Member of Parliament Michael Ayepa said the district continues to suffer from the effects of past cattle raids and recurring famine, urging the organization to expand its humanitarian programme to reach more communities with limited alternatives when crops fail. Meanwhile, Speaker of the District Council Emmanuel George Otokke said Abim has the potential to become Karamoja’s food basket if insecurity is addressed. He called for greater investment in irrigation to complement emergency food relief and enable year-round food production.
One of the beneficiaries, Peter Lokiru, said the assistance would help his seven-member family survive the difficult season. He said his household received seven packs of each food item, providing temporary relief as families await more sustainable solutions. The intervention comes as many households as possible across Abim continue to grapple with severe food shortages caused by prolonged drought, repeated crop failures and destruction of gardens by wild animals, leaving thousands dependent on humanitarian assistance-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
