Members of Parliament have asked the government to invest more in irrigation and disaster preparedness instead of relying on repeated food relief.
The lawmakers said emergency food distribution offers short-term support but does not address the causes of hunger and drought.
They raised the concerns after Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees Minister Sam Engola briefed Parliament on August 12, 2026, about disasters and government interventions.
Engola said the government is distributing food to 313,987 households in 480 parishes across nine districts in Karamoja.
Each household is expected to receive 20 kilogrammes of maize flour and 10 kilogrammes of beans.
The intervention follows worsening food insecurity in the sub-region. About 473,000 people are facing crisis-level hunger or worse, including 41,000 in the emergency category.
Adjumani District Woman MP Jesca Ababiku urged the government to revive irrigation projects to protect farmers from recurring drought.
She said the Agriculture ministry surveyed sites in Adjumani about five years ago but no project followed.
“The issue of irrigation is key, the Ministry for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries did some site surveys in Adjumani district, five years ago, but nothing has happened. We are one of the worst hit areas with drought that has affected programmes under parish development model,” Ababiku said.
Napak District Woman MP Faith Nakut welcomed the decision to deliver food directly to parishes but questioned whether relief could be sustained.
“Reports indicate that food distributed is finished; sustaining food relief is a difficult job,” Nakut said.
She said the latest intervention had cost the government Shs45 billion and called for more support to farmers.
“Government has invested Shs45 billion this time. What about the next time. That is why I ask for the support of farmers to grow their crops,” she said.
Nakut also warned that floods could follow the current drought and asked the government to clear drainage channels before heavy rains begin.
Gulu City Woman MP Betty Aol Ocan called for the return of government food reserves.
She said the country once relied on large silos to store food for emergencies.
“We cannot wait for people to die in order to come to their rescue. There used to be silos – big government stores to keep food for help in times of disasters,” Ocan said.
Moroto Municipality MP Francis Adome Lorika said about 2,000 households in his constituency had not received relief food.
He called for irrigation and planned resettlement of communities living in disaster-prone areas.
Engola said the government is also preparing an El Niño contingency plan ahead of possible above-normal rainfall between September and December 2026.
The plan will cover interventions before, during and after the rains. It will focus on agriculture and food security, transport and health.
The government also plans to spread early warning messages and push local governments to stop settlement in areas prone to disasters.
