At least 16 people have died of starvation in the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda, the country’s government has said, with the deaths occurring in recent weeks. Uganda’s prime minister, Robinah Nabbanja, said her office would seek cabinet approval on Monday to ensure additional food supplies to the affected area; if approved, more grain would be bought and quickly distributed in the disaster-hit region.
According to local farmers, there has been very little or no rain in the region since April this year, usually the start of the sowing season. For lack of rain, vast fields of maize, sorghum and soybean have dried up, completely dashing hopes of a good harvest, and the fall in agricultural production has raised fears that the food crisis will worsen.
According to experts, climate change, irregular rainfall, deforestation, overgrazing and crop diseases play an important role in the recurring food crises in the Karamoja region, putting the local population at risk of famine and malnutrition every year.
The government has already begun distributing emergency food aid. Experts have stressed arrangements for more accurate weather forecasting, investment in irrigation, and the development and wider cultivation of drought-resistant crop varieties.
Uganda’s semi-arid northeast has faced severe food crises several times in the past. A report by the country’s government human rights body said more than 2,200 people had died of starvation and starvation-related illness in northeastern Uganda in 2022. At that time, the then foreign minister, Henry Okello Oryem, faced widespread criticism for calling those who died of starvation “foolish,” claiming that people could grow their own food given Uganda’s fertile land and favorable weather. His remark sparked intense debate across the country.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report