ARUA FOOD SECURITY STATUS WORRIES STAKEHOLDERS AS “FOOD BASKET” FAST VANISHES

Arua district local government sign post- photo by Morish Dramadri

By Barbra Yikiru& Morish Dramadri

Arua district is experiencing a grave down fall in food security resulting from the unfavorable weather patterns recorded this year, with leaders calling for an affirmative resolution to secure the district’s historic record of standing as the food basket of the region.

According to the 2025 report published by Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief (CPAR) Uganda on the status of food security in West Nile, on average, only 28.6% of households in the Sub-Region are food secure with Arua District making an exceptional status as 42.2% of the households in the district are food secure.

But this according to the stakeholders has drastically changed given the natural calamities experienced by farmers this year.

Pariyo Demos Agamba the Arua district council speaker conveyed that, the districts graph of production has dwindled this year, calling for resolutions to address the anticipated food insecurity in the district.

“We long have been known as the food basket in west Nile but this is no longer the case our graph of production is now weighing below the graph for demand by the district and also demand by the sub region,” Agamba explained

Since May this year, West Nile sub region including Arua district faced the tough of the Mother Nature, where farmers lost their crops to the prolonged dry spell and parts of the second planting season till August.

Hon. Alfred Econi, the district councilor representing Arivu sub-county grieved that the production level in the district is warning off, urging the community to embrace climate smart agriculture.

“In the community we have climate smart agriculture our basic survival food basket is warning off in Arua district we are doing so badly,” Hon. Econi lamented

Over the years Arua district stood at the helm of food production in West Nile, with areas such as Logiri, Ajia and Arivu as food baskets for the sub region, a record that is diminishing for now.

However, Odama John Bosco, the councilor for Logiri sub-county admonished farmers to use every opportunity they get to plant and not entirely depend on rain

“We are making contrary use of nature, as farmers we have to plant not base on rain from God the little rain we receive let’s make use of it,” Odama advised

Food insecurity continues been one of the greatest challenge in the region affecting a thousand of West Nile’s population and the refugees.

Written by newsroom-radiopacis