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Uganda

Kaabong Drought Bulletin November 2011

Attachments

County, Lokanayona, Lodiko and Toroi of Loyoro Sub County, Kasimeri of Sidok Sub County, Lolelia of Lolelia Sub County and Lokolia of Kaabong Sub County.

November received above normal rains. The FAO assessment draft report revealed that excess rainfall during the harvest period interfered with the harvesting of sorghum/pearl millet.There was minimal yellowing and shedding of leaves among Desert dates and Neem. Mushrooms and mosses’ appearance should have been sparked off by the rains. The prediction from the Meteorological Department mentioned that December will likely receive normal (45% of chance) to below normal (35%) rainfall.

The livestock body condition remained constant at 90% because nutritious/salty pastures and water were still available. There was no livestock migration reported. The time spent by livestock to access grazing areas remained constant (1 hour) because most livestock were still at the same locations. The calves’ mortality and abortion rates could not be ascertained but the Veterinary Office reports that both should have decreased from to 4% due to ECF effects. Livestock diseases show some decrease as a result of some on going treatment within the district, these disease included ;Trypanasomiais, Anaplasmosis, East Cost Fever, Foot rot, Worms, Ticks and Mange with no incidences of CCPP and CBPP reported. No animals were brought to the markets but a few goats and cattle were sourced locally for slaughter purposes.

Borehole usage as the main water source decreased from 96% to 65% due to the high breakage rate during the month. The quantity of water fetched at households decreased from 114.1L to 89.5L (16.3L to 12.8L/person/day)which is still below the recommended threshold of 15L/person/day and this is attributed to the drying up of rain fed sources, breakage of boreholes and queuing at boreholes. The time spent to fetch water from boreholes increased from 1.2 to 1.6 hours due to mostly long queuing and sharing of boreholes with Livestock.

Mainly Cowpeas were planted during the month while threshing and harvesting of Sorghum, Bull rush and Sunflower was still ongoing. Charcoal prices remained constant at 5,000 UGX per basin due to the festive season’s demand while firewood prices could not be ascertained. The Terms of Trade for Bull/Sorghum and Charcoal/Sorghum increased while Labor/Sorghum remained constant due to reduced Sorghum prices.This implies that the Pastoralist and Charcoal selling communities are in position to purchase unit of food from the unit sale of their proceed. Households consumed mainly Maize, Sorghum and Pumpkins accompanied by Wild fruits/leaves/game, Meat, Beans and Cowpeas as a result of the on going harvests. Due to reduced food stocks among some households that had not harvested, coping strategies like borrowing food on credit from another household, reducing number of meals per day, rely on gifts of food, begging for food, consume less expensive cereals and relying on hunting for food were reported.

Households freely moved during day with 99% of households not moving freely at night due to continuous threats of insecurity and thieves across the district.