FEWS NET Watch Alert for Uganda, published Feb 2 2007UGANDA Food Security
Watch February 2, 2007IDP return efforts pose new assistance challenges; unseasonable rains, food assistance bring relief to KaramojaRelative
security in northern Uganda has increased internally displaced persons (IDPs) access to food and other productive resources. However, slow implementation of government led return plans and unmet
benchmarks in the peace process, such as the failure by combatants of the Lord's Resistance Army to move into demobilization areas in southern Sudan as established in the cease fire agreement, have
kept many IDPcs from completing their return home. IDPs moving toward their homes now find themselves in areas with inadequate access to basic services, and targeting them for humanitarian
assistance in new spontaneous locations is difficult. If IDPs are unable to return home, their limited access to cultivatable land and low productive capacity will engender a need for continued
assistance, including food aid, through much of 2007. Persistent difficulties accessing basic services, including water and healthcare, may negatively affect their utilization of any available
foods. Figure 1. Population in need of food aid
Source: WFP, Graphics: FEWS NET January 2007A below normal 2006 unimodal crop harvest caused by drought across Karamoja region resulted in low household food stocks and poorly
supplied markets ? especially for sorghum, the staple in the region. Low market supplies have increased commodity prices, limiting access to food for more than 50 percent of households that do
not own livestock and cannot utilize animal products to purchase cereals. For households that do own livestock and maintain their herds in the region, recent unseasonable rains in parts of
Karamoja have ensured adequate access to pastures and water and enabled some local populations to access milk and other livestock products. In addition, the World Food Programme (WFP) has begun
distributing half rations (fifty percent of the minimum daily energy requirement) to 500,000 drought affected people in Karamoja region. WFP's pipeline is reportedly well sourced for these
distributions - 23,000 MT in total - and they will continue until the next harvest in July 2007. Although a low level of civil insecurity continues (road ambushes, banditry), most recently due
to disarmament of the Karimojong, humanitarian access remains relatively stable in Karamoja. Incidence of cholera, resulting from flooding in Kitgum and Pader districts in November 2006,
has reportedly declined due to the ongoing implementation of control measures. Incidence of livestock diseases, including Foot and Mouth Disease, is also low due to continued implementation of
vaccination, treatment, and quarantine measures, and livestock quality in the region is reportedly normal. Control measures for Banana Bacterial Wilt Disease are
ongoing. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) issues periodic Watches when there are indications of a possible food security
crisis. Decision makers should pay increasing attention to the situation highlighted in this Watch, and prioritize preparedness and contingency planning measures to address the
situation.
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