Uganda cabinet is seeking at least 52 billion Ugandan shillings (14,504,880 USD) to provide food and water relief to the vulnerable population facing starvation due to widespread food shortages according to a report by the Daily Monitor.
The East African nation’s food security is getting worse with the number of people facing starvation growing from 1.3 million people in November 2016 to 1.58 people in January 2017.
“And this situation requires urgent government intervention before it goes out of hand, we are going to provide food and water from February to May this year,” said Uganda’s Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (MAAIF) Mr Vincent Ssempijja
26% of Uganda’s population of 41,652,938 is facing food insecurity, they are employing insurance strategies and are unable to afford some essential non-food expenditures, according to a cabinet statement on the strategic policy action on food security in the country prepared by the government’s multi-sectoral team made up of authorities from the ministry of agriculture, Animal husbandry and fisheries, Ministry of water and environment, ministry of trade, industry and cooperatives, Ministry of finance, planning and economic development and Office of the Prime Minister.
The statement further stated that Shs 10 billion (2,789,400 USD) of the Shs 52.6 billion (14.5USD) has been received and will be used towards providing food and water relief to the vulnerable households and that the balance will be provided later in phases.
“The government has assessed and is aware of the magnitude of food security in the country, is taking corrective actions, will continue monitoring the situation and provide regular updates and we are urging private sector and individuals to invest in irrigation and get involved in farming,” reads the statement
Uganda has set aside 8.475 trillion Ugandan shilling (2,364,016,500 USD) to deal with the food security in the country for the next four years.
“Hon speaker Climate Change is real and it is affecting agriculture and food production, the risk of hunger, malnutrition and poverty are projected to go very high if we do not invest in climate change mitigation interventions,” the statement dated Feb 14 reads in part.
The Disaster preparedness state minister Musa Ecweru blamed the food shortages on unpredictable weather as a result of climate change and drought over the last about six months which has badly affected agricultural production particularly.
