Uganda gets Shs31 billion for nutrition

The World Food Programme has said it has invested up to $14 million (about Shs31 billion) this year to fund nutrition programmes in Uganda.
The money is particularly benefiting nutrition programmes in Karamoja, Acholi and South western Uganda where cases of malnourished children are high.

“Food security and proper nutrition are closely linked,” Mr Stanlake Samkange, the WFP country drector, said yesterday. “WFP’s traditional emergency support to disaster-affected populations, combining nutrition with agriculture is a key part of WFP’s efforts to help the government eradicate hunger.”

High risk
Although Uganda produces large amounts of food, many people lack iron, Vitamin A and other essential micronutrients, without which children cannot have fully productive lives and pregnant women are at risk of death.

The result of this has been a high malnutrition rate especially among children under the age of five in Uganda. Statistics from the Ministry of Health show at least 38 per cent of all Ugandan children under the age of five are stunted as a result of malnutrition. Another six percent are wasted, meaning they have low weight for their height while 16 per cent are under weight-meaning that they have low weight for their age.

The report shows that this poor health status of children in Uganda is also accounting for the high infant and child mortality rates currently at 76 and 137 deaths for every 1,000 live births respectively.

“While this year WFP will spend over $9 million on more traditional programmes including the school meals’ programmes aimed at addressing food insecurity in the Karamoja region, it has also made important longer term investments in nutrition security in line with Uganda’s National Development Plan,” Mr Samkange said.

He said WFP works closely with the government, the UN Children’s Fund and the World Health Organisation on nutrition programmes.