UGANDA (2 June)
Prospects for the 2003 main season cereal crops are uncertain due tobelow normal rains in February and March that delayed land preparation and planting of the main season crops in several areas. However, following the stabilization of the rains in most parts of the country, planting of the main crops is almost complete. Hailstorm damage was reported in some south western parts of the country while a dry spell in western Uganda has affected maturing crops. Livestock in much of the country have adequate access to drinking water and pasture. However, pasture conditions in Karamoja region (Kotido, Moroto and Nakapiripirit Districts) have yet to improve satisfactorily while access to water has improved.
The overall national food supply situation remains stable. However, the food situation is precarious in Karamoja region and is expected to improve only after July when the harvesting season commences. Cereal prices continued to rise during April 2003, averaging Ushs 410 perkilogram of sorghum, about Ushs 100 higher than March and more than double the average for the month of April. A poor banana crop in central Uganda is also expected to affect household income and food supply.
Insurgency continues to displace hundreds of people mainly in the districts ofGulu, Kitgum and Pader in northern Uganda.A recent assessment of Pader District found that nearly three-quarters of the population were displaced. A nutritional survey in the main district hospital found that 14 percent of the children under five years old were acutely malnourished while 29 percent were at risk of acute malnutrition. These results are similar to those found by a separate assessment in Gulu District in January 2003. In eastern Uganda, an assessment in March 2003 found that new attacks by the Karamojong pastoralists have displaced about 89 000 people in Katakwi District. The IDPs are concentrated in camps with limited access to water, sanitation and health facilities. Furthermore, the food situation of many households in Kotido, Moroto and Nakapiripirit Districts in the northeast is precarious due to poor harvests in the previous season. WFP is distributing food to the most affected households.