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67% households suffer food scarcity in Budaka
A mother and her children taking porridge for lunch. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- Residents express urgent concerns about food insecurity, lack of access to clean water, inadequate power supply, and the need for government support to improve their livelihoods.
In several communities in the eastern district of Budaka, a silent crisis is unfolding as nearly 67 percent of households face severe food insecurity, Daily Monitor has established. With a population of 121,908 males and 159,629 females in 52,360 households, the district faces challenges due to poverty, unreliable rainfall, and inadequate access to essential services, according to the recent 2024 National Population and Housing Census.
During a field tour and mobilisation event led by the 3rd Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without Portfolio, Rukia Nakadama Isanga, at the district headquarters on Tuesday, the district chairperson Emmanuel Pajje emphasised the dire need for government intervention in improving household income and livelihood.
“The district of Budaka is regarded as one of the poorest districts in Uganda by nature of its location in the Bukedi region with an absolute poverty level of 29.3 percent against the national average of 16.9 percent,” he said.
Mr Pajje further noted that 52.4 percent of households rely on subsistence farming, which is unsustainable due to erratic weather patterns, while youth-headed households account for 10 percent. He said many communities also lack access to clean water, especially in the urban centres. Mr Pajje also pointed out the need to fulfil the presidential pledge of upgrading Budaka Health Centre IV to a general hospital and elevating Iki-Iki Health Centre III to Health Centre IV status to improve healthcare accessibility.
“There is a need for extension of the power of the national grid to government institutions, especially the newly constructed seed secondary as well as some sub-county headquarters of Budaka and Kachomo and other rural areas that are not yet served by the Rural Electricity Agency [REA],” he said.
Education
Chief Administrative Officer Richard Mugolo, while presenting a technical report on service delivery, pointed out that the education sector is in crisis, with only 963 teachers available out of the required 1,422. “The classroom standard is to have 54 learners per classroom but in most of our schools, a classroom accommodates 200 learners or more. The rate at which classrooms are being constructed is too low, with one classroom block per financial year. The current teacher-pupil ratio is 1:78,” Mr Mugolo said.
Power supply
Kabuna Sub-county chairperson David Pera noted that without power, residents struggle to improve their livelihoods. “The larger percentage of the population has no access to power and yet the presence of electricity can accelerate economic growth,” he said.
Mr Hussein Mwima, the Iki-Iki Town Council chairperson, said failure of government to compensate victims of the 1987 insurgency left many people in poverty.
“We are calling upon the government to expedite the process of compensating people whose animals were looted,” Mr Mwima said. The Budaka Resident District Commissioner, Mr Hamwada Pinto, warned parish chiefs to desist from asking for money from intended beneficiaries, saying such habits negatively impact efforts to fight poverty.
“It has come to our attention that some parish chiefs were demanding money from the communities to access the funds. This habit must stop with immediate effect,” he said. Speaking at a community Baraza in Iki-Iki Town Council, Deputy Prime Minister Nakadama urged local leaders to collaborate in tackling poverty and improving service delivery. “We should use our offices to strategise on how to fight poverty and focus on providing timely and quality services to the people,” Ms Nakadama said.
