|
| Firewood being transported in Karamoja, Uganda Photo: Mikkel Østergaard |
Lokoki Phillip grew up in Karamoja and the pastoralist life is all he knows. He lives in a small village together with his wives and eight children.
Last year’s drought killed many of the family’s animals – especially goats and calves. Today the family survives on a minimum of food. In the dry season the family only has a proper meal every other day. When there are lactating animals, the children get the milk as food.
The family sells firewood, charcoal and sometimes their animals in order to get some money, so they can buy food in the local market. When the rain comes, the family plants sorghum in the field but the rain has become more erratic – if it comes at all - and the result is a poor if no harvest at all.
|
| Lokoki Phillip works in his fields in Karamoja. This year Loki's family had the first small harvest since 2007 Photo: Mikkel Østergaard |
The challenge is drought
This year is the first time the family has had a harvest since 2007. In 2007 the harvest only lasted for six months. The year after the sun “burnt” the harvest, as Phillip puts it.
This year the family managed to harvest some crops but it wasn’t sufficient to ensure the family’s food security; resorting into casual labour is thus still a necessity this year.
Lokoki Phillip can see that the climate has changed over the years from when he was a young boy.
“The challenge here is drought. We have to go and graze our animals far away in unsafe areas. It is also becoming more difficult to find water.”
Food insecurity worsened
The soil in Karamoja is so degraded and dry that it cannot hold the water when it rains. The water crates big gullies that leave the land useless. When the river and the ponds dry out, Lokoki digs for water in the dry river bed.
|
| The young boys have to walk very far with the goats to find grazing Photo: Mikkel Østergaard |
Phillip Lokoki’ is just one out of many poor Karamojongs who are feeling the consequences of climate change on his own body.
A new study published by DanChurchAid “Climate Change and Adaptation Strategies in the Karamoja Sub Region, 2010” documents, that climate change is a real threat to the already harsh living conditions in Karamoja. Climate change is worsening food insecurity dramatically and actions by the Ugandan government must be taken.
Download the study here:
Malene Haakansson