Half a Million People Face Acute Hunger in Karamoja, Oxfam Says
Oxfam reports that nearly half a million people in Uganda's Karamoja region are facing acute hunger due to climate shocks and poor harvests. The government has initiated an emergency food relief program to address the crisis.
Why it matters
This highlights the severe impact of climate change on food security in vulnerable regions and the necessity of humanitarian intervention.
Nearly half a million people in Uganda’s northeastern Karamoja region are facing acute hunger after successive climate shocks, poor harvests and rising food prices eroded livelihoods, aid agency Oxfam said on Thursday, warning that urgent food and water assistance was needed.
About 473,000 people, nearly one in three of those assessed in the region, faced Crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse between April and July this year, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis cited by Oxfam. Of those, about 41,000 were in Emergency conditions.
“People in Karamoja are not just running out of food, they are also running out of options,” Francis Shanty Odokorach, Oxfam’s country director in Uganda, said in a statement.
“Climate shocks and long-standing inequalities, including low investment in education and water infrastructure, have steadily stripped away their ability to cope.”
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