By Wakibi Iddi
MOROTO — President Yoweri Museveni has unveiled a three-phase food security strategy for Karamoja aimed at ending dependence on emergency relief. The plan seeks to move households to sustainable and commercial agriculture.
President Museveni announced the strategy on Saturday while officiating at the 11th Karamoja Cultural Festival at Naitakwae Grounds in Moroto District. The week-long event, organised by the Karamoja Cultural Association, ran from September 6 to 12 under the theme: “Unity in Culture, Strength in Peace, Prosperity through Tourism and Natural Resources.”
The President said climate change and recurrent droughts had severely affected agriculture and food security in Karamoja. He said Government is currently distributing food relief worth about Shs45 billion to drought-affected areas, but Cabinet had resolved to pursue a more sustainable solution.
President Museveni asked the Minister for Karamoja Affairs, Hon. John Baptist Lokii, to elaborate on the Cabinet decision and explain how the three-phase strategy will be implemented.
In the immediate phase, the Government will promote crops capable of producing food within relatively short periods because of the region’s unpredictable weather conditions. President Museveni recommended sorghum, green gram and white peas, while cautioning against excessive dependence on maize because of its longer maturity period and the region’s dry conditions.
He also encouraged households to embrace goat rearing and beekeeping as alternative sources of food and income, adding that cassava and bananas could be grown in wetter parts of Karamoja.
The medium and long-term phases will focus on transforming households from subsistence production to modern commercial agriculture, with irrigation playing a central role.
President Museveni called for large-scale water infrastructure, including dams, to support irrigation and reduce dependence on rainfall.
“Therefore, Karamoja is a fertile area, but it’s because of water body encroachment. Therefore, we are going to put up big projects to support irrigation in Karamoja, like big dams,” he said.
The President also urged communities to protect wetlands and undertake a cultural audit to distinguish practices that should be preserved from those that may hinder social and economic development.
“I think you should do a cultural audit. There are some things in your culture which are good and others which are not good. Keep the good ones and abandon the bad ones,” President Museveni said.
He attributed Karamoja’s improving development prospects to restore peace following the Government’s disarmament programme, saying approximately 41,000 illegal guns had been recovered from the region.
President Museveni commended women for their role in the disarmament exercise and praised former Karacunas who had abandoned violence for productive livelihoods. He also directed that Fr. Raphael Lobere be awarded a medal for his contribution to peace restoration in the Karamoja sub-region.
Vice President H.E. Jessica Alupo and NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong, commended the people of Karamoja for supporting the NRM and urged them to use the region’s peace and cultural heritage to advance development.
“Let us allow Karamojongs to recover properly from this strong drought,” he appealed. Hon. Lokii welcomed the food stabilisation strategy and appealed to the President to consider delaying recovery of PDM funds from beneficiaries because of the prolonged drought.