Uganda: Drought in Uganda's Karamoja Region - Hunger Peaks As El Niño Arrives

What the report says

The World Food Programme and Ugandan authorities are responding to a worsening drought in Karamoja, Uganda’s northeastern and poorest region, after failed rains left many households short of food. The AllAfrica report, based on a WFP article dated 24 August 2026, says a rapid assessment found more than 600,000 people food insecure in Karamoja, nearly half the region’s population. Local farming has been hit hard after an early rainy season in February quickly broke down, leaving crops to dry out before maturity.

The article highlights the experience of Paulina Awii in Kotido District, where her sorghum failed and her family has depended on food assistance and cash transfers to buy staples and nutrition-focused foods. It also notes that one of her young children was identified with moderate acute malnutrition and later improved after treatment. WFP says it has been working with the government since May to trigger early action measures, including support for vulnerable people in high-risk districts, before conditions became severe.

According to the report, Uganda later declared a drought emergency and launched a six-month response targeting 300,000 households across Karamoja. WFP is also providing school meals, malnutrition treatment and agricultural resilience support, such as drought-tolerant crops and soil and water conservation training. The broader context is that El Niño is expected to bring more weather extremes, including possible heavy rains later in the year, creating both immediate hunger risks and longer-term climate threats for the region.