The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
KAMPALA, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | Countries in the IGAD region, which include Uganda, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South, and Sudan, Sudan continue facing a deepening food insecurity crisis threatening the lives and livelihoods of the people in rural and urban areas.
The food insecurity and nutritional threats associated with climate change have grown more serious, widespread, and urgent.
Farmers face unpredictable rainfall, prolonged droughts and frequent pest outbreaks which significantly affect crop yields.
Persistent increase in acute food insecurity for almost six years, continues to raise an alarm with calls for urgent need for concerted efforts to curb the mounting humanitarian needs.
In August 2024, the IGAD Regional Focus of the 2024 Global Report on Food Crises revealed that 62.9 million people, or 25% of the analysed population in the seven countries were experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity in 2024.
From the report, it was evident that one million more people slide into the food crisis trap. Driving the rise in hunger are conflicts in South Sudan, Sudan and climate variability and extremes.
Almost 80% of the population relies on subsistence agriculture, livestock, and fishing for their livelihoods, making them highly vulnerable to both climate variability and market disruptions.
It is statistically evident that the region is not making sufficient progress in our commitment to end hunger, achieve food security, and improve nutrition by 2030 (SDG 2), and that it is on track on its nutrition ambitions.
Researchers have noted while food security encompasses various dimensions including availability, access, utilization, and stability it is increasingly influenced by a convergence of climatic, economic, political, and demographic stressors.
Within the IGAD region, these challenges manifest more acutely due to the region’s high dependence on rain-fed agriculture, recurrent climatic shocks, population pressure and the failures of food systems among others.
For parts of Uganda, Somalia and South Sudan, food crises are often preceded by political upheaval rather than climatic events alone. Policy think tanks had indicated that poor governance, corruption, and the weaponization of food aid have undermined humanitarian efforts, compounding the vulnerability of already at-risk populations.
IGAD’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, has over the years suggested theneed to address these interconnected issues, and addressing the root causes of conflict.
“There an urgent need for proactive collaboration to implement sustainable solutions and strengthen our resilience against the impacts of climate change. Transforming our food systems to make them more resilient and sustainable should be a top priority in our policies” said Dr. Gebeyehu.
A Strengthening Food Security and Nutrition in the IGAD Region study published by Frontiers in mid-June 2025 highlighted the urgent need for a multi-sectoral and regionally coordinated approach to enhance food security in the IGAD region.
It suggested that strategies should focus on climate-resilient agriculture, sustainable land management, inclusive economic policies, and food system innovations.
It called for a regional cooperation, targeted investments, and context-specific policy interventions are essential to reduce vulnerability and achieve sustainable food security.
The region already embarked on reform food systems. Food systems encompasses every aspect of food production, processing, distribution, and consumption. They include all the activities, people, and resources involved in feeding the global population.
Can a reform in IGAD’s food system really solve the hunger, food insecurity and nutrition existential crisis?
In December 2024, ministers from the IGAD countries endorsed the Food and Nutrition Security Strategy (2025-2034) as a critical step towards strengthening food systems resilience.
The strategy focuses on addressing the compounded challenges of climate change, economic shocks, and natural disasters threatening food security. It also aims at strengthening emergency response and enhance capacity for disaster preparedness and agricultural trade among others.
It is part of regional component of the Food Systems Resilience Program (FSRP) for Eastern and Southern Africa whose implementation is being funded by the World Bank to the tune of $3 billion.
The FSRP is built on four pillars of (re-)building resilient agricultural production capacity, supporting the sustainable development of natural resources for resilient agricultural landscapes, getting to market, and promoting a greater focus on food systems resilience in national and regional policymaking.
A core aspect of the FSRP is technology and knowledge exchange through platforms for member countries to share best practices and innovations for agriculture.
IGAD Deputy Executive Secretary, Mohamed Abdi Ware said the implementation of the new strategy will focus on crisis prevention, resilience building, and coordinated emergency responses. Djibouti’s Minister of Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Maritime Resources, Mohamed Ahmed Awaleh said the region holds the potential to feed not only the IGAD region but Africa as a whole.
“With fertile lands across Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Sudan, we have the capacity to ensure everyone has access to sufficient and nutritious food.” said Awaleh. Efforts to reforms the food systems in IGAD already took off even before the new strategy took effect.
IGAD member states were part of the September 2021, food systems summit. Uganda for instance made a firm commitment to transform food systems through a more inclusive and participatory governance framework.
A national food systems coordination committee was established under the office of the Prime Minister was established to coordinate efforts across various stakeholders. A national food system transformation was also established to guide action. The national food systems agenda has been aligned with the Fourth National Development Plan IV or NDPIV.
The Parish Development Model budget component is part of the food systems transformation being championed by president Museveni. Similar efforts are going on in the region but there is a feeling that there are still gaps in the implementation pathway.
Smallholder farmers in the seven countries remain trapped in a cycle of low productivity. They lack access to essential resources and support systems needed to improve their yields. Lack of access to finance has being singled out as the major barrier. They cannot afford inputs or invest in modern farming techniques.
Kenya’sPrime Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Musalia Mudavadi speaking at a Financing Food System Summit in Nairobi May acknowledged that the financing systems in the region are not aligned with the potential of the smallholder farmers to produce food that can be traded across the borders.
“Capital flows bypass stallholder farmers, overlook women producers or they are structured in ways that reflect the seasonality, risk profile and diversity of the agricultural sector,” he stated. He suggested the need for a shift from transactional to transformational financing.
“One that does not just react to crisis but anticipates opportunity. Financing that unlocks land, labor and local knowledge. Not in silos but a part of the coherent strategy for sustainable, inclusive agricultural transformation” Kenya has embarked on de-risking rural finance through credit guarantee schemes and scaling-voucher systems to reach rural farmers.
What can be done to scale up food systems?
Clarice Bugo-Kionge, Heifer International Kenya director suggested the need to attract youth in agriculture.
“We see young entrepreneurs creating mobile platforms connecting farmers to the market, creating precision agricultures tools, agriculture tool using AI and designing creating climate smart agriculture tools that build resilience. These are not distant dreams, these are profitable, scalable and profoundly impact-driven solutions already transforming lives,” said Kionge.
The UN in 2019 said except for Djibouti, the proportion of the population aged less than 25 years in IGAD is more than 48 percent and peaks at 67 percent in Somalia and Uganda.
From Koinge’s experience, the need to build capacities of the youth and ensure that they have access to land can propel food systems.
“If those were there, they would significantly inspire youth into agriculture. Smallholder farmers will embrace technology if the tools are affordable. The youth are still thinking about the hoe that was used at home. I’m still challenging the private sector who will dare to give the youth those opportunities to test their innovations”
Need for political will
Researchers Chris Béné and Abdul-Rahim Abdulai from the CGIAR Initiative on Sustainable Healthy Diets through Food Systems Transformation (SHiFT) have argued that achieving food systems transformation is possible but will depend on food systems politics.
They argue that politics is at the center of creating and maintaining current unsustainable food system trajectories.
In that direction, Ethiopia has been singled out as one of the success stories having transitioned from a net importer to an exporter of wheat.
A combination of government-led policies and innovative farming techniques has driven this transformation.
Key interventions include the expansion of irrigation infrastructure, the introduction of high-yield wheat varieties, improved access to fertilisers, and a focus on mechanised farming.
Ethiopia has a 15-member inter-ministerial steering committee charged with charting and implementation of the food system transformation agenda.
It is the second platform next to the cabinet. It is co-chaired by the ministers of agriculture and health thereby linking food production and nutrition under the Food, Care and Health framework.
A participatory and CSO inclusive process
There is a feeling that civil society actors and environment groups are usually left of such discussions. Agnes Kirabo, the Executive Director of food Rights Alliance (FRA) in interview a collective action across government actors, the private sector, and civil society is needed to achieve a transformation toward food and nutrition security.
“People think that it is only governments that need money. We also need money because we are the forefront of mobilizing the people whose produce food. If we are going to have mutual accountability, the people should come in to contribute competently.” she said.
Kirabo has advocated for a human rights-based lenses in food policy formulation and implementation. “No person deserves to be fed. Whatever the discussion, we to create an enabling environment for the people to feed themselves adequately on healthy, nutritious and sustainable diets. Because it is about the people. It is about their food so they must be at the center” said Kirabo.
Reform Food distribution systems
Experts have said apart from wars, climate change and its impacts on food production, the food distribution system in the IGAD region needs to be realigned.
There is feeling that there is more food to go around in the region but how to deliver the food at an affordable price is the challenge .
“The problem is some countries find it a lot easier to hold of it than others. What we see is the lack of policy incentives to move us towards a more equitable sustainable production and how to get food to those who might need it and to ensure that food is affordable” said Agnes Kalibata, the President of the Alliance For Green Revolution (AGRA)
“The way we feed ourselves, our ability to access food. That is not in question but there is the issue of distribution. Then there is the challenge of the environment. The impact of our systems on our environment” observes Kalibata, who served as the UN Secretary General’s envoy to the 2021 UN food systems summit.
She suggests that the private sector can be provided opportunities through polices and interventions to advance input systems- from fertilizers, better yielding and quick maturing varieties, climate or index insurance and inclusive financing. “
The issue of diversity of food is something that businesses can help us with. How do we help by pooling the diversification of food? Countries should look at what is broken in their diets, what is broken to the food system perspective”
Other experts have suggested the need to improve productivity and incomes on the farm through agricultural research and development, extension services, farm mechanization and technology adoption such as information and communications technologies.
They have said the need to increase investment to build and maintain infrastructure for irrigation, electricity, rural roads, cold chain and storage to reduce post-harvest losses as paramount.
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