A food outlook for Uganda for the first six months of this year predicts that households in the central, western and southern regions of the country will have enough food for their needs.
The report from the United States Agency for International Development however notes that food shortages will persist in northern Uganda, particularly in Karamoja.
Currently the majority of households in Karamoja have enough food from markets and domestic food stocks. The report says this is only temporary. Warmer-than-normal surface temperature from January to March is likely to worsen the dry conditions.
Additionally, below-normal rains from April to July will lead to poor crop performance and low harvests later in the year.
Already migratory herds from Kenya and Southern Sudan are depleting the sparse resources in the Karamoja region. Nomadic pastoralists entered Karamoja in December last year in the districts of Kaabong, and Amudat.
Other severely affected areas will be the cattle corridor stretching from Nakasongola to Isingiro district.
The current dry conditions are affecting the rest of the country as well. They are expected to limit the surplus of maize. According to the report, the price of maize is the highest it has been in the past five years.
Information from the Uganda Commodities Exchange says the current wholesale price of a kilogram of maize is between 430 and 550 shillings across the country. It says the price is expected to rise further in the first half of this year.
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