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The United States Government is providing food items worth $7 million to the drought-affected region of Karamoja. The assistance is expected to feed over 266,000 people. In a press release, the US mission to Uganda said; “the contribution will be delivered through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to support the United Nations World Food Program’s (WFP) emergency appeal.”

USAID/Uganda Mission Director David Eckerson said this $7 million contribution will allow the World Food Program (WFP) to continue its distribution of food rations to the most vulnerable populations in Karamoja, and complements ongoing U.S. Government support for school meals for 97,500 children.

“This U.S. contribution supports the move away from global food distributions in Karamoja and towards food assistance that rebuilds the livelihoods of the people of Karamoja,” he said.

Mr. Eckerson expressed concern over recent attacks on NGO staff working in Karamoja and noted that the continued insecurity in the region greatly limits the possibility for international assistance.

Karamoja is one of the many areas of Eastern Uganda that is heavily affected by food insufficiencies. Contrary to other areas, Karamoja registers low rainfall volumes for several years, a situation that has hampered agricultural activities in the area. Its inhabitants, the Karamajong people, are generally pastoralists, who derive their livelihood from livestock keeping for milk, blood, hides and skins and cow dung which they use to plaster their make shift huts. Without adequate water, there is no pasture for the livestock and for themselves.

Constant cattle raids by neighbouring pastoralist communities from Kenya have also greatly affected security in the area, forcing mainly women and children to flee to other urban areas like Soroti, Mbale, Jinja and a big number to Kampala. Those who have stayed back are forced to seek help from the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF). In the recent past, the UPDF has been accused of stealing cattle from the Karamajong.

One Mzee Aramutori held a one-man–protest for three days outside the Parliament of Uganda, demanding the return of his 350 head of cattle which he said were taken from him by the UPDF. On the third evening, Aramutori was escorted to Fairway Hotel, a Kampala hotel by security. He had attracted the attention of Karamajong MPs and East African Parliament MPs, two of whom had planned to spend a night with him.

The assistance provided by the US supports the Karamoja Action Plan for Food Security, which is expected to assist 76% of the population of Karamoja.

In 2009, the US contributed over $33 million to WFP Uganda. The money supported a wide range of operations including emergency food distribution in Karamoja, a school meals program, and agriculture and market support for small-scale farmers through the Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative.

Through P4P, the U.S. Government is supporting the construction of feeder roads and stores equipped with post-harvest processing machinery to help farmers access regional and international markets.  WFP itself is also increasing its local purchases from smallholder farmers, while helping to train farmer groups in post-harvest handling and value addition.

By John Njoroge