Uganda

Much like refugees, Ugandan smallholder farmers lack farming skills, handling techniques and access to services such as credit and insurance. Storage facilities are often inadequate to protect harvested crops from pests, moisture and mould, which results in losses of up to 30 percent. In the northern and eastern regions, and particularly in Karamoja, rain scarcity can exacerbate food insecurity, forcing families to sell off their assets, take their children out of school or resort to environmentally harming practices to secure food. 

While the poverty rate declined from 31 percent in 2005/2006 to 19.7 percent in 2012/2013, impetuous population growth has meant that the absolute number of poor people has not decreased.

On average, nearly half of all Ugandans consume less calories than they need every day. One in three school children have no food to eat during the school day.

Inadequate diets are a root cause of persisting nutritional problems which undermine the health, growth and development of Ugandan children. Stunting affects more than one quarter – 29 percent – of children under 5, with rates climbing up to 40 percent in the Tooro region. Anaemia rates stand at 52.8 percent at the national level, with much higher peaks – up to 70 per cent – in the Acholi region.

The World Food Programme (WFP) in Uganda maintains an agile emergency response capacity, while supporting the Government to host the growing number of refugees, address the underlying causes of food insecurity and malnutrition, and strengthen the national social protection system.