Unpredictable rainfall and prolonged droughts have left families in Karamoja struggling to find food, pushing malnutrition rates beyond emergency thresholds.
The Sky Forgets Its Promise
Severe malnutrition affects over 1,000 children under five annually in Moroto Referral Hospital's Nutrition Ward, highlighting a critical health crisis in Karamoja, northeastern Uganda. Across this region, half of all households struggle daily with food shortages, while malnutrition rates have reached alarming levels beyond emergency thresholds. Survival for many families depends on rain-fed agriculture, yet inconsistent rainfall and extended dry periods depleted their food stores.
Rural communities in Karamoja have maintained their traditional practices of pastoralism and small-scale farming through generations. However, recent shifts in climate patterns, coupled with armed cattle raids, have made these age-old practices increasingly difficult to sustain. Their situation mirrors worldwide patterns where environmental changes disrupt food production and push communities to adapt their traditional ways of life.
Local experiences in the region show how unpredictable weather affects farming communities and amplifies socio-economic difficulties. As irregular climate patterns continue, farming families face. . .
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