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| Womon collect USAID food aid from the distribution center |
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| Youth being taught about cassava growing |
Food security is defined as a situation where all people, at all times, in a given community, district or country, have access to sufficient food to meet their nutritional needs for a healthy and productive life (FAO, 1996). Food insecurity exists when people do not have physical, social and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Vulnerability is a result of exposure to risk factors and of underlying socio-economic processes, which can reduce the capacity of population to cope with those risks (WFP, 2006).
Community food security is defined as a situation in which all community residents have access to a safe, culturally acceptable, and nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes self-reliance and social justice (Anderson & Cook, 1999). Food security consists of three aspects: food availability (supply of food), food access (demand for food including infrastructure) and food adequacy (food being sufficient in quality as well as quantity (Mwaniki, 2004).
Although Uganda is generally regarded as food self-sufficient, not all parts of the country are food secure, and may suffer deficiencies of particular crops or at particular times of the year (Byaruhanga & Opedum, 2008). Food insecurity exists throughout Uganda but varies both geographically and amongst livelihood groups. Food insecurity is most highly concentrated in the north even though in regions where food insecurity is as low as 3 % (mainly the central and southern parts of the country), vulnerability is a concern, often affecting from 19 to 36 % of the population (WFP, 2006). WFP (2006) statistics show that about one million people (5 % of the total rural population) are food insecure and 6.75 million people (31 % of the rural population) are highly vulnerable to food insecurity, while another 4 million (19 % of the rural population) are moderately vulnerable.
People in eastern, northern and north-eastern Uganda are currently food insecure due to the impacts of floods in 2007, civil insecurity and displacements, and three consecutive seasons of poor agricultural performance, respectively. Food security in the Karamoja region of north-eastern Uganda (Abim, Kaabong, Kotido, Moroto and Nakapiripirit Districts) continues to decline. About 707,000 people (or nearly 80 % of the region’s total population) are currently moderately to highly food insecure due to depleted food stocks, low livestock production, and poor livestock/cereal terms of trade (FEWS NET, 2008).
Furthermore, families in the north have only one harvest/agricultural season, while those in the south can harvest twice. People throughout the country are subject to fluctuating food prices, crop and animal pests and diseases, all of which contribute to their precarious situation. Low productivity and declining soil fertility also have long-term, adverse impacts on the ability of households to produce sufficient food. Livelihoods are fundamental to understanding the food situation of a household (WFP, 2006).
Food aid and remittance dependants (about 9 % of the rural population) are the most food insecure. Households who depend on their own livestock and agricultural production which some of them complement with brewing activities, unskilled work or the sale of natural resources (pastoralists, agro-brewers, agro-labourers and agriculturalists) are the most vulnerable. They represent about 54.4 % of the rural population. Those whose main source of income comes from skilled or artisan work or from a salary, hunters, fishers and gatherers are more food secure (about 37 % of the rural population). Access to productive resources (land, cattle and poultry) positively influences people’s food security status (WFP, 2006).
Chronic malnutrition among children is widespread in Uganda with Stunting affecting one third of the children. In rural areas, wasting affects 10 % of the children under five on average (WFP, 2006). According to Nakasongola District Local Government (2008), 1% of the children between 5-12 years old in the district are malnourished.
Smallholder farmers constitute half the poor, and produce over 90% of the Africa’s food supply. Since over 70 % of the poor live in rural areas, where also the largest proportion of the food insecure live, it is evident that food insecurity cannot be curbed without transforming the living conditions in these areas (Mwaniki, 2004).
Agriculture is mainly constrained by inadequate processing with less than 1% of Ugandan raw food output being processed compared to 60 to 70% in developed and developing countries due to lack of facilities leading to high post harvest wastage of 30 to 45% (Commonwealth Secretariat,1999).
In Uganda food crops are generally produced in two seasons. The "long rains" season (crops harvested in July-August) plus those pertaining to the following "short rains" season (usually harvested in December of the year to February of the following year (FAO, 1997).
By using a variety of local foods, small-scale food processing not only contributes to the income of the business operator, but also to the local economy and to the independence and self sufficiency of the country. The raw materials used expand the market for local agricultural produce, thereby supporting the economic stability of small scale processing enterprises (Morris, 2006).
For those operating on a small scale to be able to compete effectively in the marketplace, they need to understand not only food processing and preservation techniques, but also how to ensure food safety and quality, which are of extreme importance in creating and maintaining markets. This ensures that food safety and quality are kept within acceptable standards to benefit both the local population and outside market (Morris, 2006).
Food access
Access is ensured when all households and all individuals within households have sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet (FAO, 2006). Even though, access to food can be achieved without a household being self-sufficient in food production more important is the ability of households to generate sufficient income which, together with own production, can be used to meet food needs (IFPRI, 1999).
Food availability
There is need to consider how food is allocated within the household. In households where distribution is unequal, it is possible for aggregate access to improve and for some individuals to experience no change in their food security status (IFPRI, 1999; FAO, 2006).
Food utilization
Biological utilization is the ability of the human body to take food and translate it into either energy that is used to undertake daily activities or is stored. Utilization requires not only an adequate diet, but also a healthy physical environment (so as to avoid disease) and an understanding of proper health care, food preparation, and storage processes (IFPRI, 1999; FAO, 2006).
The concept of food security also has spatial and temporal dimensions. The spatial dimension refers to the degree of aggregation at which food security is being considered. It is possible to analyze food security at the global, continental, national, sub-national, village, household, or individual level. The temporal dimension refers to the time frame over which food security is being considered. In much of the food security literature, a distinction is drawn between chronic food insecurity—the inability to meet food needs on an ongoing basis—and transitory food insecurity when the inability to meet food needs is of a temporary nature (FAO, 2005).
Transitory food insecurity is sometimes divided into two subcategories: cyclical (where there is a regular pattern to food insecurity, for example, the 'lean season' that occurs in the period just before harvest); and temporary which is the result of a short-term, exogenous shock such as droughts or floods (IFPRI, 1999; FAO, 2006).
Food Value Addition and Small Scale Processing in Uganda
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| Farmers involved in peanut butter processing |
In Uganda, agriculture is based on smallholder farmers: the three million rural households that earn a livelihood from agriculture have access to an average of three hectares each. The main staple food crops that smallholders grow comprise maize, millet, sorghum and starchy banana (known as Matooke). Important cash crops are coffee, tobacco, cotton, tea, oil seeds, fruits and flowers. The majority of Uganda’s smallholder farmers, however, are self-employed and have a distinct subsistence orientation (Bahiigwa, 1999).
The role of smallholder agriculture in Uganda’s food security situation is not given the recognition it deserves. For all its perceived deficiencies and inefficiencies, smallholder agriculture is responsible for preserving and reproducing indigenous food crop production and storage techniques that have helped to keep up a semblance of food security going in Uganda. It is not without rational basis that smallholder farmers exhibit a seeming reluctance to adopt new agricultural technologies: this reluctance is born of a very prudent appreciation of both state and market solutions to their problems (Potts & Nagujja, 2007).
Small scale food processors are a vital link in the food supply system, contributing to the health and food security by creating foods that are safe and nourishing for local consumption. They also enable seasonal crops to be made available year-round even in locations where they do not normally grow (Cowan, 2002).
By using a variety of local foods, small-scale food processing not only contributes to the income of the business operator, but also to the local economy and to the independence and self sufficiency of the country. The raw materials used expand the market for local agricultural produce, thereby supporting the economic stability of small scale processing enterprises (Morris, 2006; WFS, 2006).
When commodities are grown and processed locally, farm households, rural businesses, and rural communities will benefit through new and higher-wage employment, new markets for agricultural commodities, and more vibrant rural economy. There is a need to recognize that agriculture is more than just growing food and critical focus on the production, processing and distribution of locally grown edible agricultural products is needed to increase in food security (Cowan, 2002).
According to Mwaniki (2004), to improve food security, there is need to increase the agricultural profitability of smallholder farmers and create rural off-farm employment opportunities. Even though, Morris (2006), reported that, for those operating on a small scale to be able to compete effectively in the marketplace, they need to understand not only food processing and preservation techniques, but also how to ensure food safety and quality, which are of extreme importance in creating and maintaining markets. This ensures that food safety and quality are kept within acceptable standards to benefit both the local population and outside market.
To improve the agricultural production, appropriate technology is necessary to suit the local economic, cultural and geographical conditions of the region. The single most important factor behind rural poverty is low agricultural productivity, disproportionate reliance on native technologies including the use of unimproved and low-yielding planting material, limited practice of crop protection, and high post-harvest losses arising from unsuitable storage and processing capacity. Therefore, increasing agricultural productivity and processing could significantly contribute to the effort to mitigate poverty in Uganda by increasing farm production and incomes (Buyinza & Badru, 2006).
References
Cowan, T., 2002.Value-Added Agricultural Enterprises in Rural Development Strategies. www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL31598.pdf [12 September 2008].
Buyinza. M. & Badru L., 2006. Uganda Journal of Agricultural Sciences 12. http://www.naro.go.ug/UJAS/Papers/Vol.%202%20No.2%20Sept%202006-2.pdf [15march 2009].
Byaruhanga.Y. B. & Opedum. P. M. 2008. The impact of culture on food security in Uganda. Global knowledge 1:52-59.
FAO and WFP, 1997. Crop and food supply assessment mission to Uganda. http://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/003/w9872e/w9872e00.pdf [15 February 2009].
FAO, 1996.World Food Summit: Rome Declaration on World Food Security, and World Food Summit Plan of Action. FAO, Rome.
FAO, 2005. Uganda food security warning. http://www.fews.net/docs/Publications/1000646.pdf. [12 0ctober 2008].
FAO, 2006. The State of Food Insecurity in the World. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/a0750e/a0750e00.pdf [15 February 2009].
