From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Wed Sep 10 2008 - 13:11:04 EDT
Uganda: Karamoja Prepares to Battle Drought
The Monitor (Kampala)
Posted to the web 10 September 2008
Ephraim Kasozi & Joseph Miti
Karimojong could bid farewell to famine in the near future if a project
that would enable them battle long drought is successful.
The programme supported by European Commission Humanitarian Organisation
(Echo,) has been initiated in Karamoja sub-region to strengthen
community resilience to prolonged droughts.
The Karimojong have increasingly embraced farming alongside their
traditional pastoral culture in the past years and the humanitarian
organisations behind the Drought Preparedness Programme (DPP) are taking
advantage of this to reduce vulnerability of the sub-region resulting
from the intensity of droughts that affect the entire Horn of Africa.
Ms Caroline Sekyewa, the Programme officer of the European Commission
Humanitarian Organisation-Uganda, said the arrangement would create
awareness among the people to prepare and encounter risks caused by
chronic droughts that often subdues them to hunger.
She said Karamoja is currently facing the third consecutive year of
drought, a factor that has caused food insecurity and threatened
livelihoods.
"The programme will try to mitigate loss of livelihood through preparing
and supporting pastoral and agro-pastoral communities to monitor and
increasingly cope with different stages of the drought cycle," Ms
Sekyewa said.
The unveiling of the project which is spearheaded by the Regional
Drought and Disaster Preparedness Decision (RDPD) and funded by Echo,
took place at the Regional drought decision planning and coordination
Workshop in Moroto recently.
The same project has been done in six other countries in the Horn of
Africa at a cost of 30 million Euros (about Shs75bn) out of which 4
million Euros (about Shs9bn) has been allocated for Karamoja, Ms Sekyewa
reported.
The other countries include; Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea and
Somalia. Ms Sekyewa says the Echo drive tries to mitigate loss of
livelihoods through preparing and supporting pastoral and agro-pastoral
communities to monitor and cope with the different stages of the drought
cycle thereby reducing their vulnerability when dry spells occur.
Fao Country Representative, Percy Misika, said seven NGOs funded by Echo
would implement the programme in the five districts of Karamoja.
The strategy which focuses on putting in place water and livestock
infrastructure, in addition to strengthening community-based animal
health workers systems, also targets emergency intervention on livestock
diseases.
Mr Misika said Fao will continue to support the region to ensure
increased food production by developing food security early warning
systems, food security monitoring projects, among others.
State Minister in charge of Karamoja, Aston Kajara described the project
as "a milestone and precursor" to the development efforts in the region.
Mr Kajara said the project matched that of Prosperity for All (Bonna
Bagagawale) aimed at promoting various development programmes intended
to improve livelihood and infrastructure for people in the region.
Ms Sekyewa said regional drought and disaster preparedness programmes
would not be a solution for all problems in Karamoja.
It would only operate in the humanitarian grey zone where project
activities have to be carefully planned and executed.
A total of seven organisations were funded by Echo to ensure the project
meets its objectives.
These include Medair in Kabong District for water and sanitation, the
Dan Church Aid consortium; Karamoja Agro-Pastoral Development Programme
(KADP), Cooperation and Development (C&D), VSF Belgium and Acted,
carrying out water and livestock development, IRC for water and
environment protection.
Mr Misika said he was optimistic that the interventions would have a
positive bearing on the livelihoods of the agro-pastoralists'
communities of Karamoja.
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