Busoga registers drop in malnutrition, anaemia

Mr Julius Twinamasiko, the national project coordinator Uganda Multi-sectoral Food Security and Nutrition Project (right) leads Agriculture State Minister Mr Fred Bwino Kyakulaga (second right) on an inspection of Walugogo Primary School demonstration garden in Iganga District on August 25, 2021. PHOTO | PHILIP WAFULA

What you need to know:

  • The project was started in 2016 after it emerged that communities were plagued by stunting and anaemia among other conditions; the project development objective was, therefore, to increase the production and consumption of micronutrient-rich foods and utilisation of community-based nutrition services in smallholder households in project areas.

Busoga Sub-region has registered a drop in malnutrition and anaemia cases following the successful implementation of a five-year project to fight the conditions in 23 Districts, including Iganga, Bugiri, Namutumba and Bugweri.

This is according to the co-implementing agency, the Uganda Multi-sectoral Food Security and Nutrition Project [UMFSNP].

The project was started in 2016 after it emerged that communities were plagued by stunting and anaemia among other conditions; the project development objective was, therefore, to increase the production and consumption of micronutrient-rich foods and utilisation of community-based nutrition services in smallholder households in project areas.

Mr Julius Twinamasiko, the national project coordinator UMFSNP in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, said in 2016, the national average stunting levels were at 30 per cent for children under the age of five years, wasting was 3.5 per cent, underweight stood at 10.5 per cent and anaemia of children between 6 and 59 months was at 53 per cent.

“In Busoga Sub-region, the rate of stunting was at 30 per cent, Tooro region was 24 per cent and West Nile was 35 per cent, which prompted the government to start the project to provide the community with foods rich in micronutrients which are needed in small quantities, but very important to the body,” he said.

Mr Twinamasiko was speaking to Daily Monitor on the sidelines of a visit by the State Minister for Agriculture, Mr Fred Bwino Kyakulaga, to monitor the UMFSN projects, including a prototype demonstration garden at Walugogo Primary School in Bukoyo Village and a prototype community demonstration garden at Bulowoza Village, both in Iganga District.

Results

“After the five years, we can now report that initially, we were receiving at least four cases of malnutrition in the health centres across Busoga Sub-region every week, but we are now receiving an average of one case per month,” he said.

He added: “The project has increased production of micronutrient-rich crops from 41 to 49 per cent, minimum dietary diversity from 45 per cent to 49 per cent and participation of women in community women activities from 36 per cent to 55 per cent.”

The Districts are also working with 20 health centres to deliver community-based health services and 100 VHTs attached to the respective schools.

Mr Twinamasiko added that overall, the project has performed well in Busoga Sub-region, West Nile, South-Western region, Rwenzori region and Bunyoro [region], attributing the success to communities’ discovery that feeding children well is very important and improves their growth.

According to the 2016 Uganda Demographic Health Survey [UDHS], anaemia in women of reproductive age stood at 41.1 per cent in Busoga Sub-region against a national average of 32 per cent, while children between 0 and 5 years stood at 63.4 per cent against a national average of 53 per cent.

Ms Anna Nyadoi, the UMFSNP Iganga District project assistant said the current UDHS hasn’t been done, but reports from health centres for cases that have been admitted for anaemia reflect a reduction. “Those reports are only for Iganga [District] and don’t give a picture for Busoga region,” she said.

Additional funding

The project was initially funded by Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme to the tune of $$27.64m [about Shs95b] under the supervision of the World Bank, while implementation was being done by the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Education and Sports and the Office of the Prime minister [OPM].

Mr Twinamasiko, however, revealed that the project has received a $7m [about Shs25b] grant to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing the total funding to about Shs120b.

“The initial funding was $27.64m [about Shs95b], but because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the funder added $7m to implement activities that were affected by the pandemic and reverse its impact,” Mr Twinamasiko said.

He added that the project, which was supposed to end in December last year, has been given a two-year extension and will now end in December 2022, and the government hopes to have it rolled out in all Districts.

At Walugogo Primary School, Mr Kyakulaga launched a drip irrigation system, one of the 300 in Iganga District and among the 3,000 countrywide, and at Bulowoza Village, Mr Kyakulaga urged the farmers to embrace value addition.