AFRICA/UGANDA - Northeastern region suffering famine: nearly 1 million people at risk

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) – According to a note from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) sent to Fides, there are about 900 thousand people in the region of Karamoja, northeastern Uganda, who are facing a real food crisis due to continuous rains and poor harvests of the past four years. At least 81% of the approximately 1.1 million people at risk in Uganda are living in Karamoja. The World Food Program (WFP) of the UN has planned a redistribution of food in the region for the month of April, as people have been forced to use what little remains of the last harvest. According to an estimate of the Health, Nutrition and Food Security in December 2009, it was hoped that the remainder of the harvest might cover another three months. The situation is really critical and the government has distributed food in the last two months. The second rainy season of 2009 was worse than expected and caused flooding in the eastern area of Uganda. The floods have brought displacement and damage in the districts of Butaleja and Bududa, causing 94 deaths and 260 missing in Bududa. Torrential rains have also damaged roads and transportation routes and limited travel in many areas, hampering any attempt at recovery. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 29/3/2010)