Helping people to grow more food in a drought-stricken area
More than one-quarter of Uganda’s population are unable to access sufficient food for basic nutritional requirements. This situation is aggravated by climate change. The country is seeing increased temperatures, and rainfall that is both more torrential and more irregular.
Anna Nacur and her family are surviving on wild fruits after harvest failures.
Survival
In north-east Uganda, rains didn’t arrive and the harvests failed completely, Anna Nacur and her family survived by eating wild fruits and seeds. The fruit was bitter, and Anna’s children suffered diarrhoea and illness.
Her story is repeated, over and over, in communities across the north-east and east of the country.
In the east, severe flooding affected 20,000 families in 2007. This was followed by poor rains in 2008 and drought in 2009.
Going hungry
Lack of water, soil erosion and loss of crops, trees and livestock make life difficult for people here, about 60 per cent of whom face food shortages at some point during the year. The rising temperatures are leading to lower crop yields and making some traditional crops no longer suitable.
Adapting to climate change
The Church of the Province of Uganda Teso Dioceses Development Team is helping poor communities cope with erratic climate conditions. For example, by improving agricultural practice and introducing drought-resistant and high-yielding crops that are better suited to coping with climate change, so that people will have enough to eat.
The Church in action
Programmes are planned and implemented through the Church’s extensive network of local churches in the region.
Following assessments of people’s needs, the programme works with communities to improve knowledge of how to plant and maintain new forests and orchards, which yield valuable fruit crops and help prevent soil erosion. Churches also train village teams in how to reduce the risk of natural disasters in their area.