Uganda - Food insecurity (DG ECHO, IPC TWG) (ECHO Daily Flash of 23 September)

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, a total of 2.6 million people whom are living in refugee settlements, host communities, urban areas and in the Karamoja sub-region were food insecure at crisis or emergency levels during the June – August 2020 period.

2 million of them will remain facing the same levels of food insecurity during the September – December 2020 period. In addition, in Karamoja 51,758 children (6-59 months of age) are acutely malnourished.

Key drivers are multiple, including WFP 30% food ration cuts and low access to agricultural land among refugees, children are not accessing school meals due to school closures, reduced remittances, crops’ damages caused by recent floods and desert locust.

COVID-19 is an aggravating factor due to movement and borders’ closure/restrictions, and loss of employment among the informal sector.

The situation may further deteriorate due to the expected sudden peaks of new arrivals of asylum seekers related to the continued instability in South Sudan and DRC, and the likely reopening of the borders, which remain closed since March 2020.