People in Rwimi Sub County of Kabarole district have run short of food because of the dry spell being experienced in the area.
Many parts of Kabarole have received rain for over a month but Rwimi has not received a drop of rain since December last year.
The sub county borders Kasese district which also experiences dry weather. Stocks of food stuff like beans, maize and rice have run dry and farmers are left with nothing to eat and sell.
Charles Ahuura's garden of maize and beans is dry and he has no option but buy food for his family of eight.
Ahuura says he spends 10,000 shillings daily on food for his family. His earlier source of food was his garden. Joy Tuhaise a farmer of maize and beans says her three children are not attending school this term because she can't afford to pay school fees.
Tuhaise was selling five sacks of maize everyday at Rwimi market but now she can't even sell half a sack. She has resorted to eating one meal a day because she has no money to buy food.
Cattle in Rwimi are also stunted and as a result, milk production has gone down. Michael Mubangizi of Rwimi Mini Dairy plant says milk distribution to the plant has reduced since last year.
Mubangizi says he sells fifteen liters of milk everyday unlike in the past when he sold thirty liters. Crops at the Rwimi government prison farm have also dried up.
The Officer in-charge Rwimi Prisons, David Nuwagaba says that the prison is spending huge sums of money on purchasing food for the prisoners.
Chairman of Rwimi Farmers Association, Abel Kyaligonza says the rice seeds that were distributed to farmers in the parishes of Kadidimu, Kakonga and Rwimi Parish have also dried.
//Cue in: i1.2 tonnes#i
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Kyaligonza says the sub county has no means to irrigate farmer's crops. There are three major rivers in Kabarole district including Rwimi, Nsongya and Ntabango.
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