Government has set up an inter-ministerial committee to look into the food shortage in the Country.
Speaking at the Commonwealth meeting in London last month President Yoweri Museveni was quoted saying that Uganda would benefit from the worldwide food crisis by selling its surplus produce.
Professor Apollo Nsibambi, the Prime Minister today acknowledged that Uganda is experiencing food shortage, which is likely to persist for the next couple of months.
Nsibambi attributes the hunger to failure in crop production particularly in the Northern and Eastern Region.
Nsibambi has directed Adolf Mwesige, the Minister in Charge of General Duties in the Prime Minister's Office, to convene a meeting to look into the matter. The Committee will look into short term interventions to mitigate the effects especially among the rural poor.
The committee will also look into long term plans like the extension of water sources to vulnerable parts of the country.
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The food shortage in Uganda has been compounded by increasing demand of food in the neighboring countries of Sudan, Rwanda and Kenya.
In neighboring Tanzania, the Government there has banned the exportation of food, but Uganda has not yet acted.
Nsibambi says Government will not take hurried decisions that could antagonize the economic benefits that Ugandans have gained from the exportation of food to her neighbors.
The Prime Minister says Government awaits the outcome of the inter-ministerial meeting before taking a position in the food crisis.
Meanwhile, Musa Ecweru, the State Minister for Disaster Preparedness says the District Agricultural Officers are compiling a report on the food situation in Uganda.
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A report from the Famine Early Warning Systems released early this month, shows that 1.7 million people in Uganda do not have sufficient food reserves.
According to the report, 1.2 million people are suffering the effects of prolonged civil insecurity in northern Uganda, about 275,000 in Karamoja and 200,000 flood-affected people in eastern Uganda.
