Friday, 10th July, 2009 from NEW VISION
OVER two million people in North, Eastern and West Nile are at risk of starvation, the Uganda Red Cross has announced. The agency yesterday stated that Kitgum, Katakwi, Bukedea, Kumi, Soroti, Amuria, Koboko, Adjumani, Nebbi, Arua and parts of Kibaale are the worst hit areas. Michael Nataka, the Uganda Red Cross secretary general, yesterday attributed the famine to prolonged draught, out of season planting, the ripple effect of the 2007 floods that ravaged Eastern Uganda and changes in weather patterns. The statement follows an evaluation tour of the affected areas. “In some areas where farmers planted early, the crops were thriving. But you find in the same village crops are withering in other gardens because people planted late,” Nataka stated. “The region has never recovered from the flooding, which affected the cycle of storing seeds. There is also lack of adequate information about the weather. People are relying on seasons that have since changed.” Children, elderly, sick and the children-headed households are the worst hit individuals, according to Nataka. Accordingly, the agency has launched an emergency appeal for sh5.6bn to feed 50,000 people. The Red Cross plans to raise 3030 metric tones of food to provide relief in the hunger-stricken areas. Well-wishers may deposit monies on Standard Chartered Bank account number 0108213406906 while others may contribute food in kind. The Red Cross, however, noted that the deaths recorded in the affected areas were not as a direct result of hunger. For example, in Adwari, Lira district six people who succumbed to HIV/AIDS and another four who died of old age had been attributed to hunger. The URCS chairman, Tom Buruku disclosed that should the local appeal not hit the target, they would turn to international organizations and donors. Describing the appeal as a “fire-fighting approach”, he demanded that the Parliament discusses the National Disaster policy that was formulated last year. “There is a need for a long-term plan to address these issues,” he observed, adding that an appeal for funds would be needed every year if nothing was done. URCS, he added, had provided its store in Ntinda, a city suburb where the donations in kind would be stored before dispatch. Deputy Secretary General, Dr. Bildard Baguma said that they would first focus on the worst his areas before rolling out to other areas.
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