Dr. Ayub Mukisa: Karamoja’s Scorching Sun: Is Another Hunger Crisis Looming?

This article from the KACC Department for Critical Thinking and Alternative Analysis in Nabilatuk District, Karamoja Sub-region, begins with a critical question: What if the rains do not come in time and the scorching sunshine continues across Karamoja? What will happen? How will people who depend on crop farming survive?

The evidence on the ground is worrying. Even if the rains begin now, some crops have already dried up, and indicators suggest that yields will be low. As a result, many Karimojong households are likely to face increased hunger, while poverty may worsen. More concerning is the apparent lack of immediate action to prepare communities, emotionally or practically, should the rains fail completely.

Smallholder farmers across Karamoja appear confused about what to do next. Many have lost hope and abandoned their gardens. The current agricultural situation, particularly in crop farming, supports the findings of Catherine Nakalembe’s 2017 study, “Agricultural Land Use, Drought Impacts and Vulnerability in Karamoja,” which argues that the region’s high environmental variability, combined with dependence on rainfall, significantly affects crop yields. Within this year of 2026, crop production in districts such as Kotido and Nabilatuk is already highly variable and remains difficult to predict.

Some readers may be asking what solutions can be offered. I call upon the Government, NGOs, donors, and academic institutions to urgently begin serious discussions on the current climate crisis affecting Karamoja. Practical and coordinated responses are needed before the region slips back into the devastating hunger experienced during the 1980s.

Some critics may respond, as Professor Mahmood Mamdani argued in 1982, by asking whether the people of Karamoja should find their own solutions instead of relying on philanthropic organisations from imperialist countries. That is a legitimate question. However, the reality is that Karamoja, including institutions working on climate change adaptation, still requires support to better understand and respond to concepts such as vulnerability, adaptation, resilience, and adaptive capacity.

The most urgent priority is to begin an honest and evidence-based conversation about Karamoja’s scorching sun. Without that discussion, I predict a humanitarian crisis in Karamoja in the form of famine, hunger, and malnutrition.

Ayub Mukisa, PhD
Executive Director, Karamoja Anti-Corruption Coalition (KACC)
Email: ayubmukisa@gmail.com

 

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