Vegetable and staple food production in refugee settlements in northern and midwestern Uganda
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Uganda lies almost completely within the Nile Basin. It has monomodal and bi-modal rainfall patterns, that is, one rainy season and two rainy seasons, respectively. Its vulnerability to climate change, especially poor rainfall and long dry spells in the northern region, is affecting food security. The influx of refugees has exacerbated these challenges. Hunger, conflict and insecurity have uprooted many people from neighbouring Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Rwanda, Somalia and South Sudan over an extended period. Uganda is now the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, with almost 1.4 million refugees. Over 1 million are South Sudanese, 80 percent of whom are women and children under 18 years. This large influx of South Sudanese refugees constitutes a major challenge across all sectors. It has created a substantial increase in the demand for food, including affordable sources of protein such as meat and eggs. The impact on the agriculture sector is particularl y worrying as this is the main source of income and livelihoods for many rural communities in the hosting districts, especially the poorest and most vulnerable communities. FAO, in collaboration with resource and implementing partners, began coordinating interventions in 2012 in some refugee settlements to address the emergency food and nutrition security and livelihood concerns of South Sudanese refugees. It provided planting materials and inputs for small-scale vegetable, staple food and poult ry production, along with training in entrepreneurship and animal husbandry practices. The initiative, scaled up in 2014, aimed to improve the food, nutrition and income security of both refugees and host communities.