Charcoal for food in hunger-hit Karamoja 

“The situation is very bad and this has worsened from July,” Kotido District Chairperson Mr Joseph Komol said as he warned that “delayed response from government will see people die from hunger in the Karamoja Sub-region.”  

From July, the region in North Eastern Uganda has experienced a growth in hunger related problems with several farming starving, local leaders said. 

“It’s only those able to burn charcoal now that take to the trading centres and exchange to get food for families,” Jean Longole, a native in the region said. 

Daily monitor December 6 visited some more than 15 families in Kaboong District and found that most homes had only a single or even no meal daily.

Betty Nacuka, a mother of seven in Kaabong Town Council rallied government to rescue the situation. 

“This is not the first time Karamoja is hit by hunger. The current situation seems to be worse- even with the current insecurity and a prolonged dry spell,” she said.

The insecurity, Nacka says, halted agricultural production. 

"No one could move to the gardens because cattle rustlers were everywhere and killing people. People could not go to their gardens to work," she told Daily Monitor on Monday. 

Kaabong District chairperson Mr Jino Lokol said locals turned beggars have now abandoned homes and moved from villages to towns. 

Of the nine districts that make up Karamoja Sub-region, only Abim is fairly safe in-terms of food security, according to some many local leaders. 

“Some people are even running to Kenya to find some food. This is shocking,” he said observing that “the situation is not different from what's happening in Kotido District.”

Without necessarily disclosing the quantity, Mr Lokol told Daily Monitor that all the food which was recently distributed by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) is finished and was not enough for the many affected families.