West Nile looks for solutions to food insecurity
NALWADDA NSANGI
In a bid boost agriculture and livelihood in the region of West Nile, different stakeholders including political and technical leaders have come out to set standards, in order counter food shortage in every household and to eradicate poverty.
Reports show that about 70% of people living in West Nile are farmers but mostly on small scale and don’t have a main food crop but rather grow a little bit of this and a little bit of that which makes it hard to solve the underlying causes of food insecurity.
West Nile only exports tobacco and imports almost every food stuff in order to feed its ever growing numbers swayed by the influx of refugees.
West Nile Development Association (WENDA), an umbrella bringing together all the 9 Districts of West Nile, say that flagging a particular food crop for every particular district will help stop wrestle with instability and unpredictability of food security in the entire region.
Dr. Kassim Swadiq, director Abi Zardi, Raising awareness about flagship, advocating for policies, and conducting in-depth research to find solutions to this threat is seen as the way to intensify conservation of indigenous genetic plants and build resilience for climate adaptation.
The focus is to direct more resources on few flagship commodity value chains, invest in cooperative agriculture and increasing GDP per capita plus reducing poverty index holistically for equitable social and economic transformation.
The leaders under the WENDA umbrella say its high time to start moving towards phasing out tobacco growing with the aim of restoring soil fertility and protecting the environment.
They said that tobacco growing has had a diverse effect on the climate in the region because of the rate at which farmers are cutting down trees for curing the crop.
