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Introduction
Uganda suffers from high levels of food insecurity. As per the 2022 Global Hunger Index, food insecurity in Uganda is classified as ‘serious.’ Despite the country’s potential in agriculture and significant exports, and decline in child wasting, stunting and mortality over the years, malnutrition is widespread – 29 percent of children under the age of 5 are stunted and 53 percent are anemic and are at risk of not reaching their full mental and physical potential. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, the annual inflation rate for the year ending February 2021 was 2.3%, which increased to 3.2% in February 2022 and 9.2% in February 2023. As a result, the prices of essential food staples remain persistently elevated. Uganda produces more food than it consumes, yet access to nutritious food in the country is limited.
According to a report from UNICEF adolescent girls and women in Uganda struggle to access nutritious diets, and poor nutrition is passed down through generations. Despite Uganda’s recorded GDP growth of approximately 6.3% in 2022, the surge in commodity prices following the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine, limited extension services, especially for women, climate change impact, and limited access to inputs remain pressing concerns, disproportionately affecting women and children.
What causes food insecurity in Uganda?
The causes of food insecurity in Uganda are multifaceted – increasing climate vulnerability, political situation, gender inequality, rising conflict, increasing food prices, the prevalence of livestock diseases, poverty, landlessness, lack of education, and high fertility rates are some of the main causes of food insecurity.
Dependence on Agriculture and Climate Vulnerability: Agriculture, forestry and fishing account for 27% of the country’s GDP with about 68% of Ugandans employed in agriculture. The fact that most Ugandans depend on agriculture as a main source of income makes them highly vulnerable to food insecurity as the sector is plagued by challenges such as climatic uncertainties, recurrent droughts, and the scourge of diseases and pests. The situation is made worse when various regions within the country face food shortages due to severe weather and massive crop failures.
Gender Inequality: In Uganda, food insecurity is a greater problem for women and female-headed households. Although an estimated 77% of women are engaged in agricultural work as compared to 67% of men, yet gender norms impact women’s engagement and productivity in farming. Gender inequality, especially financial inequality based on gender causes food insecurity among women in Uganda. Many banks limit their access to financial credit or bank accounts due to women's lack of access to collateral and limited credit information 8% less likely to be approved for loans than men and are more likely to obtain smaller loans, largely due to a fear of debt.
The Ukraine Conflict: The Ukraine crisis led to the rise in cost of healthy diets for Ugandan households, this was primarily driven by increasing prices of edible oils. It was observed that the crisis has much more impact on diet quality of the people than in their household incomes for poverty. There is a widening gap between households’ consumption levels and what is required to achieve a healthy diet, caused by higher food prices. Although this global crisis may not have a huge impact on Uganda’s overall economy, its adverse effects on poverty and food insecurity is likely to be more pronounced.