The Ugandan government has declared an emergency for the Karamoja region located in northeast Uganda as severe droughts have resulted in food shortages, threatening the peoples of Karamoja with starvation.

Aston Kajara, the minister of Karamoja declares:

Government has recognised that Karamoja should for now be treated as an emergency area and food must [quickly] be distributed to this area to avert this problem,

The UN World Food Programme and the Ugandan government launched an aid operation from Acherere, Uganda on Feb. 3rd which will aims to provide for nearly a million Ugandans facing starvation.

Aston Kajara states the following, concering the situation in Karamoja:

There has been an acute food shortage in Karamoja subregion for quite some time now. We appeal for more support as the situation seems to re-occur every time. Money should be mobilised to purchase sufficient food for Karamoja so that the people should not die.

Karamoja, only has one annual harvest instead of two like the rest of Uganda enjoys. So any particularly bad harvest has devasting consequences. Due to these terrible conditions, mothers have also had to travel further, looking for work to bring home food, leaving their children behind, to fend for themselves.

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