Food Exports May Cause Famine in Uganda

The Monitor, Kampala, January 15, 2005

Peter Nyanzi, Parliament

Uganda would face food shortage by March if the government does not check the rate at which foodstuffs are being exported, Mr Henry Mutebi Kityo, MP for Mawokota South has warned.

"All indicators show that there will be a severe famine in Uganda starting from March. The government must act urgently to buy enough food to avert a major food crisis in the country. The Kenyans and Tanzanians are buying off the little produce we have," he said at his office at Parliament on Wednesday.

Kityo said the East African Customs Union had made it easy for cereals and other foodstuffs to cross the borders.

"Because of the poverty and the need to get money for school fees for the next term, farmers have no choice but to sell off their produce leaving Ugandans exposed to severe food shortage," he said.

Kityo, who is also the secretary general of the Parliamentary Forum on Food Security, Population and Development, said due to the severe drought the country experienced between June and October last year, many farmers could not provide enough food.

He said our domestic requirement of 500,00 tones of maize and 300,000 of beans would be enough, but their rate of exportation is worrying.

The State Minister for Agriculture, Mr Kibirige Ssebunya declined to comment on the matter.