In strict adherence to the standard reflected under the globally-accepted eight Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) questions, the UBOS enumerators prudently used the May 2024 census enumeration exercise to ask people in Uganda’s 10.7m households the appropriate food security-related questions.

Specifically, these are questions like how often household members ever worry about not being sure of getting their next meal, how often do they go a day without food, how often are they compelled to eat less because of financial constraints in the household, how often do they fail to put a meal on table and how often do they generally encounter difficulties accessing food etc.

Globally, it’s through adhering to those 8 FIES questions that governments and other stakeholders get to establish food security levels or even food insecurity-both moderately and severely through public surveying. Using the above referenced FAO-approved methodology, the UBOS enumerators were able to assess the extent to which the food security situation in Uganda complies with the ideals enshrined in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 2.

This specific SDG seeks to achieve for communities food security, improved nutrition, hunger elimination and promotion of sustainable agriculture. The same objectives are replicated under AU’s Africa-wide Agenda 2063, the EAC Vision and Uganda’s own Vision 2040.

In response to the enumerators’ questions, respondents representing each of the 10.7m households shared their food security-related experiences as encountered during the 12 months preceding the census months of May 2024.

THE FINDINGS:

It was established that not less than 54% of the households in Uganda are food secure, the remainder being moderately insecure and a few severely food insecure. Food insecure households implies families which experience frequent and prolonged periods of insufficient food intake largely due to lack of money and other related constraints.

Such financially vulnerable households are forced to skip meals or even taking a day or days without meals. That is categorized to be severely food insecure.

The newly released 2024 final census report shows that the statistical region of Karamoja has the highest number of households enduring food insecurity at 63% and Ankole had the lowest at 18%.

The other statistical sub regions of Uganda performed as follows: 63% of the households in Kampala are food secure; 69% in Buganda are too besides 50% in Busoga and 31% in Bukedi.

Other statistical regions ranked as follows in terms of household level food security: Bugisu 41%, Sebei 47%, Teso 28%, Karamoja 19% (meaning food insecurity is at 81% there), Lango 38%, Acholi 51%, West Nile 31%, Madi 38%, Bunyoro 63%, Tooro 67%, Rwenzori 52%, Ankole 70% and Kigezi 61%.