UGANDA: Risk of starvation in Karamoja region

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ABIM, 27 July 2011 (IRIN) - Several districts in Uganda will need urgent relief aid to mitigate the risk of starvation following poor rains that have affected this year's harvest, the Minister for Disaster Preparedness warned. Most of the affected districts are in Karamoja where the situation was particularly unique because crop failure and a prolonged drought had aggravated the region's food crisis, Musa Ecweru said. "Arrangements are under way by government to deliver enriched food supplements to help feed close to 2,000 severely malnourished children in that region," the minister told IRIN on 26 July. Fifteen districts have been tagged a red-zone area (at risk of starvation if there is no urgent relief intervention) by the government, including Moroto, Napak, Kotido, Amudat, Kaabong, Nakapiripirit, Abim (all in Karamoja), Amuria, Katakwi, Adjumani, Arua, Koboko, Moyo, Yumbe and Bulambuli. Karamoja has the lowest levels of human development in Uganda. Only 30 percent of the people have access to safe water; only 11 percent are literate and nearly 80 percent experience some degree of food insecurity, according to UN data. According to Lydia Wamala, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) public information officer, the agency is providing relief food for 140,000 people in extremely vulnerable households in the region. "WFP has a community-based supplementary feeding programme and a therapeutic feeding programme aimed at reaching an estimated 67,000 and 3,000 malnourished children, respectively, this year," Wamala said. Local leaders say the situation is deteriorating, with many families already on the move in search of food. Adome Lokwii, chairman of Kotido district, said except for a few villages in the western part of Kotido, the whole district was badly affected by drought. The villagers in the west were getting food from neighbouring districts that were in a better condition. "This is a very dangerous period because crops like maize have failed to sprout; people have nothing to eat," Lokwii said. Moroto chairman Peter Ken Lochap said unless food aid was delivered on time, the population should brace for tougher times ahead. Even grazing land for pastoralist communities was becoming scarce as the rains were inadequate. Ecweru said his ministry was taking measures to ensure funding for those in need of food in the affected areas. However, he did not say how much the government needed for the intervention. An agriculturalist warned farmers against selling their produce. Jackson Lakor, an officer in northern Uganda, said farmers should preserve the little harvest they had to guard against depleting their food reserves. "If they sell their food, what will they eat?" she asked. "They should understand that they have to keep some stock to feed their families." ca/js/mw � IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.IRINnews.org