Uganda: Utilfredshed med ”have-tvang” i tørkeramt region

“Why must it be cassava and potatoes and not one cow or goat?” wondered Chriz O’gwang, a resident of the Karamoja town of Moroto, in a lively Facebook discussion of the obligatory garden initiative.

“But why is everyone forcing us (Cattle keepers) into agriculture? Agriculture is just a side dish to pastoralism,” echoed another member of the Karamoja Development Forum group, Angella Godfrey.

Although experts have been making this point for years, the government’s policies in Karamoja remain rooted, according to many who work on development there, in the misconception that cattle-raising is unsustainable and that growing crops there is a viable way to avert hunger and reduce poverty. 

Starting this year, all households in Karamoja, which is home to around 1.2 million people, will have to grow cassava and potatoes “to improve food production and ensure that people have food to eat even during the dry season”, State Minister for Karamoja Affairs Barbara Nekesa told IRIN.

“Food insecurity has been responsible for the low development in the region. You can’t develop a place where there is no survival. To ensure this region develops, we must address the food insecurity first,” she added. 

“It’s a very good move by government, and I strongly support it as a leader,” Margaret Aleper, a member of parliament in Karamoja, told IRIN.

“The cassava and potatoes can thrive very well in Karamoja with low, normal and abnormal rains [wet and dry seasons]. Everybody must support this idea, as it will go a long way to solve the food insecurity in Karamoja,” she said.

According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, 2013’s main harvest in Karamoja was expected to be 30 to 50 percent lower than average because of poor rains. “Humanitarian assistance needs are likely to increase to nearly half a million people by February.”
The World Food Programme said it planned to give food assistance to 155,000 people starting in February, sooner than usual because of the earlier onset of the annual lean season.

But the agency said an acute lack of funds could affect this plan as well as regular Karamoja programmes such as a food-for-work scheme with 390,000 beneficiaries, school feeding for 100,000 children, health and nutrition programmes for 38,000 mothers and young children, and supplementary feeding for 25,000 malnourished children.
 
In the initial stage of its support for the garden project, the government will provide some 4,000 oxen, 2,000 ploughs and 14,000 hoes to households across Karamoja’s seven districts.
Dozens of dams and numerous boreholes and irrigation systems are being planned. 
 
“The government, through my office, will increase investment in this area and will require all the development partners to support this initiative,” said Nekesa.

Doubts