Concern as WFP cuts food ratio for refugees

The refugees in Bidibidi refugee settlement in Yumbe District have raised concern over the reduction of food ratio by the World Food Program (WFP) saying it's a violation of their rights.

Speaking to the Monitor on Monday, Mr Gift Data, a refugee in Bidibidi Zone II settlement said, the reduction in the food ratio is affecting them a lot urging authorities to address the issue. He said each refugee currently gets 4kg of maize grain and 1kg of beans for a month yet it can’t last for even two weeks.

"This issue of food cuts is affecting us seriously in the settlement and this is a clear indication that our rights are not being observed. We are told to be self-reliant but the environment in which we are settled is not favourable to make us self-reliant," he said, adding that some of his colleagues have started going back to South Sudan.

Mr Morris Lupai, another refugee said, the poverty levels among the refugees have gone high and that they can no longer afford basic needs.

"We have spent about six years in the settlement and the land is no longer fertile for enough food production. This has made things worse resulting in cases of violence and theft among others," he said.

Mr Richard Acidri, an official from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) said, World Food Programme, the lead agency in food distribution is constrained by funding challenges and yet they have many war-torn areas to take care of.

"It's true that we have the challenge of food but we encourage the refugees to work hard and live in harmony with the host community and through peaceful coexistence, they can access land from them. We want the refugees to be self-reliant because we have bypassed the emergency period," he said.

He said OPM has opened up block farms with the support of the livelihood partners to make sure that farming activities continue to increase crop production.

Mr Abdulmutwalib Asiku, the Yumbe district chairperson, said the food cut has equally affected the host community because they also depend on the food distributed in the various camps.

"The local community have been benefiting from the food distributed in the settlements. When the refugees came n in 2016, each person was receiving 14kg of maize grain, later it reduced to 8kg but as of now, the food ratio has reduced to 4kg which is for a month," he said.

WFP responses

The World Food Program (WFP) country representative to Uganda, Mr Meygaga Abdirahman earlier told the Monitor that they need US $200 million (about Shs736 billion) to secure and supply food to refugees currently hosted across Uganda.

"This year alone, we are talking about roughly $200 million. We are talking about the huge funding required to feed over 1.4 million refugees. The budget to feed refugees in Uganda significantly climbed up following the huge influx of refugees from the neighbouring countries in the past year," he said.

“It's a big responsibility for the international community to continue to feed and provide assistance to the refugees. We are providing food and cash assistance to almost 1.5 million refugees, almost 950,000 refugees are in the region of Acholi, West Nile and some in the North West," he added.

He however acknowledged the huge funding deficit that the organization is currently immersed in.

"Of late, we have been facing financial constraints with the global crisis in high food prices as a result of the Rusia-Ukraine war. So, it's difficult to mobilize resources. We have to reduce some of the food ratios and this is obviously in consultation with the authorities and with partners and donors," he said.

Mr Abdirahman noted that they are now switching their approach to equip the refugees to be able to produce their food to supplement the ratios.

"We are trying to move more towards the resilience program so that these people will take care of themselves and become self-reliant. We are hoping that there will be a permanent solution," he added.

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