Uganda has made commitments at the global, regional and national levels to improve food and nutrition security through frameworks like the SDGs and CAADP. However, the review found that commitments have not fully translated into improved indicators. The review assessed Uganda's progress on SDG2 targets related to ending hunger and malnutrition, doubling smallholder incomes and productivity, sustainable agriculture, genetic diversity, and investment in the agricultural sector. Key findings included high levels of food insecurity, stunting and micronutrient deficiencies. The review identified opportunities to accelerate progress through strengthening implementation and addressing gaps like low yields, climate impacts, and limited access to resources and markets.

1. STRATEGIC REVIEW OF Sustainable
Development Goal 2 in Uganda
29 March 2017
Presentation for Members of Parliament
1

2. I: Background
• Strong global, regional and national level commitments to address food
and nutrition security (FNS).
• At global and regional level
o SDGs, Africa Agenda 2063, CAADP (now Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural
Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods in Africa), Scaling
Up Nutrition Movement, EAC 205-2030 Agricultural and Rural Development Strategy
• At national level
• Vision 2040, NDPs, and Uganda Nutrition Action Plan (UNAP)
• However, the commitments in place have not translated into improved FNS
indicators at national level.
• Limited evidence to demonstrate the extent to which mainstreaming and financing
of FNS programmes have created impact.
• This review generates evidence for policy debate and refocusing of
programme implementation, if necessary, to ensure effective
mainstreaming of FNS in agricultural policies, strategies and projects.
• Policy aspirations for food basket for the region; and middle income 2020
2

3. Uganda’s position in global ranking
Global Hunger
Index (GHI)
• In 2016, Uganda
ranked 104/118;
Kenya 72; TZ 96 and
Rwanda 96
• Score improved from
alarming to serious
scale (41.3 in 1992 to
26.4 in 2016)
•<=9.9 low; 10-19.9 moderate; 20-34.9
serious; 35-49.9 alarming and >=50
extremely alarming
Global Nutrition
• Stunting 104/132
• Wasting 60/130
• Overweight 56/126
• But improvement in
global ranking
expected with
further reduction in
child malnutrition
indicators
Global Nutrition of
the EAC states
• Stunting Kenya (76);
• Wasting (50)
3

4. Objectives of the Strategic Review
Analyse the situation of FNS within the targets of
SDG2
Assess the progress made towards improving FNS
in Uganda
Identify gaps in the responses towards FNS in the
operating environment to achieving the SDG2
targets by 2030
Identify opportunities and prioritize actions
required to accelerate progress towards the
SDG2
4

5. II: Review Approach/Methods
•Data collected by UBoS
•Five waves of HH Panel (UNPS) 2009/10 – 2015/16
•2014 ATAAS, 2015 NSDS
•UDHS 2006, 2011, 2016
Analysis of National
household surveys (for SDG2
target indicators)
•Existing policy and legal frameworks and regulations that impact FNS
•Uganda’s long-term development strategies – Vision 2040 and five-year NDP
•Polices and programs/interventions at national, sectoral and regional levels
Policy Document reviews
•Administrative data from government MDAs
•Data from FAO, IFPRI, WFP, IPC among others
Other source of data
Stakeholder consultations
5

6. II: Review Approach/Methods (Contd)
• Multidimensional nature of FNS
• No single indicator could tell a story around FNS in a holistic manner
• Thus, a number of indicators are proposed
• Computations SDG2 indicators
• Guided by the global monitoring framework for SDGs
• National (localised) indicators
• Indicators are presented by their respective SDG2 target, however
• Overlaps of some indicators across targets
• Period of review
• 2009/10 to 2015/16
• Data availability; also period matches with the UNAP
• Data gaps remain
6

7. Situational Analysis
7

8. Table 1: Selected demographic indicators
Indicator 2002 2014
Total population (millions) 24.2 34.6
Population growth rate per annum, % 3.2 3.0
Population density (persons per sq. km) 123 174
Urbanisation , % 12.1 21.3
Number of households, millions 5.13 7.35
Share of children (<18 years), % 58.5 55.1
Share of youth (18-30 years), % 20.0 22.5
Share of the elderly (60 & above years) 4.5 3.7
Source: UBoS, 2016
8

9. 9
SDG2 Target 2.1: By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in
particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe,
nutritious and sufficient food all year round.
Indicators:
Average caloric intake
Proportion of the population unable to meet 75% RDI
Percentage of caloric intake from food staples
Dietary diversity and food consumption scores
Persistence of undernourishment
- Food insecurity experience scale

10. SDG2 target 2.1 indicators (contd.)
• Low caloric intakes
• In terms of caloric intakes, nearly 4/10
individual Ugandans are classified as
moderately food insecure.
• Rural areas more deprived than urban
areas contrary to the past
• Dietary quantity: Western + Central
• Dietary Diversity: Northern Uganda
• % of food staples in dietary reduced from
63% 2009/10 to 54.6% 2015/16
• Uneven progress e.g. situation in Eastern
Uganda worsening food insecurity.
On average, Ugandans were unable to
consume the minimum required intake of
2,200 kcal per person per day.
10

11. SDG2 target 2.1 indicators – depth of hunger
11

12. SDG2 target 2.1 indicators- Persistence of undernourishment
12

13. Key factors contributing to food insecurity
Food
insecurity
Livelihood status
(economic
activity)
Gender (HH
headship)
Climate shocks
Income status
(welfare
quintiles)
13

14. 14
SDG2 Target 2.2: By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including
achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in
children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls,
pregnant and lactating women and older persons.
Indicators
Prevalence of stunting
Prevalence of wasting
Prevalence of underweight
Percentage of children born with low birth weight
Percentage of exclusive breastfeeding

15. SDG2 target 2.2 indicator - Prevalence of Stunting (6-59 months), %
National
 Stunting had remained fairly
stable during 2009/10-
2013/14 at about 33.5%
before dramatically reducing
to 27.2% in 2015/16.
Rural-Urban
 Rural areas are substantially
more likely to be stunted
than urban children BUT the
rural-urban gap has reduced
over time
 Geography matters
15

16. SDG2 target 2.2 indicator - Prevalence of wasting (6-59 months), %
16

17. SDG2 target 2.2 indicator - Prevalence of underweight (6-59 months), %
17

18. SDG2 target 2.2 indicator - Breast feeding
• Based on UDHS surveys (2006; 2011)
• At least 60 percent of children under 6 months were exclusively breastfed.
• Beyond 6 months, less than 50 percent of infants in Uganda are breastfed up
to 2 years.
• A substantial proportion of infants were introduced to complementary foods
within 3 days of birth which goes against the recommendation of World
Health Organization
These have implications on child brain development
18

19. Micronutrient deprivation: Any form of anaemia among children, %
19

20. SDG2 target indicator - %HH knowledge about food fortification in
2015/16
18.6
34.8
13.1
24
21.8
9.6
15.3 15.7
20
Uganda Urban Rural Central Eastern Northern Western Female headed Male headed
20

21. Nutritional status of women: Trends
21
Thin
(BMI<18.5)
Overweight
(BMI>25)
Obese
(BMI>30)
Thin
(BMI<18.5)
Overweight
(BMI>25)
Obese
(BMI>30)
All women aged 15-49 years 12.1 16.5 4.1 11.7 18.8 4.2
Kampala 4.8 34.4 15.3 7.7 40.4 13
Central 1 7.1 22.9 4.3 7.3 23.3 6.3
Central 2 7.4 22 4.6 8.2 20.4 3.6
East Central 13.4 11.1 1 11.9 15.7 1.4
Eastern 18.7 4.9 2.2 20 9.2 1.9
Karamoja 32.8 1 0
North 20.8 6.1 1 16.3 7.2 0.2
West Nile 19.9 6.7 0.9 20.9 4.5 0.6
Western 9.6 16.6 3.2 7.8 22.9 5.6
South Western 6.6 26.7 5.8 4.8 23 4.1
Source: UDHS 2006 and UDHS 2011
2006 2011
Sub Regions

22. 22
SDG2 target 2.3: By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food
producers, particularly women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including
through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial
services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment.
Indicators:
Percentage with documented or recognised evidence of tenure
Percentage of women/men with secure rights to land
Percentage who perceive that rights are being not recognised or protected
Smallholder farmer income [ND]
Number/share of rural labour force employed in farm activities vis-à-vis off-farm activities
Crop yield gap (farm level/research station)
Share of farmers covered by public agricultural extension services
Cereal yield growth rates per annum [ND]
Livestock yield gap [ND]
Access to drying, storage and processing facilities post-harvest

23. SDG2 target 2.3: documented land ownership
23

24. SDG2 target 2.3: %perceive that rights are not recognized/protected
24

25. SDG2 target 2.3: %rural labour force in agricultural activities
25

26. SDG2 target 2.3: %farmers with access to public extension services
26

27. Large gaps in crop yields
• Gaps were identified in the DSIP but seem
not to have changed since
• Cassava registered the highest growth,
followed by banana and maize,
• Millet, groundnuts and beans registered
the lowest growth.
• Crop yield gaps between on-farm yields
and those attainable at research stations
• Access to extension services, adoption of
agricultural-enhancing technologies, and
uncertainties around land tenure greatly
explain the low farm yields.
2013/14 2015/16
Food crop Actual Gap Actual Gap
Maize 1.31 3.69 1.65 3.35
Beans 0.68 1.32 0.55 1.45
Groundnuts 0.49 2.21 0.37 2.33
Banana 3.12 1.38 4.22 0.28
27

28. 28
SDG2 target 2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems
and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and
production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for
adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other
disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality.
Indicators
-The proportion of agricultural under productive and sustainable agriculture
practices
-Losses from natural disasters by climate- and non-climate-related events
-The existence of irrigation and water harvest technologies
-The number of farmers adopting sustainable land management

29. SDG2 Target 2.4 indicator: %cultivated land under sustainable agric.
practices in 2014
29

30. SDG2 Target 2.4 indicator: Losses from natural disasters by climate and
non-climate related events
Prevalence of food shock experiences at the household level, %
2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2013/14 2015/16
National 54.9 38.6 32.3 39.8 26.3
a) Rural-urban
Rural 61.1 41.8 32.7 45.2 29.2
Urban 36.5 22.4 30.7 24.2 17.7
b) Region
Central 51.8 39.2 32.4 35.9 23.5
Eastern 49.1 39.3 34.8 37.7 19.9
Northern 73.0 50.7 26.8 46.6 51.8
Western 51.0 25.1 34.5 41.8 17.5
Source: Uganda National Panel Survey 2009/10-2015/16.
30

31. Nearly nine out of every ten households suffered reductions in food
production due to weather-related shocks
Reduction in food production due to weather-related shocks in 2013/14, %
Source: UNPS 2013/14.
31

32. Drought a major factor behind food shocks
Trends in the reasons behind food shocks experienced during the past 12 months prior to the survey, %
32

33. SDG2 Target 2.4 indicator: %farmers adopting sustainable land
management
2013/14 2015/16
Season 1 Season 2 Season 1 Season 2
Mixed stand 35.4 30.9 34.1 35.3
Coffee-banana systems 6.7 7.3 7.2 7.2
Nitrogen fixation 22.2 18.5 20.7 22.5
Fertilizer 7.2 3.3 5.3 3.3
Organic 4.9 2.2 3.7 1.8
Inorganic 2.4 1.1 1.8 1.5
Pesticides/herbicides 5.7 3.9 4.3 4.0
33

34. SDG2 Target 2.4 indicator: existence of irrigation and water-harvesting
technologies
• Area under irrigation remains very low
• Low adoption and usage of irrigation technologies partly due to high
cost
• Govt efforts to promote small- medium scale irrigation
• Long-term investment vs land tenure systems/rights
• Early warning system
• There are govt efforts – OPM NECOCO; UNMA
34

35. 35
SDG2 target 2.5: By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated
plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including
through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and
international levels, and promote access to and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits
arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as
internationally agreed upon.
Indicators
-The # of plant and animal genetic resources for food and agriculture secured in either
medium- or long-term conservation facilities
-The proportion of local breeds classified as being at risk, not at risk or at an unknown level
of risk extinction

36. 36
SDG2 target 2.5a: Increase investment, including through enhanced
international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension
services, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks to enhance
the agricultural productive capacity in developing countries, in particular the least
developed countries
Indicators:
-Total official flows (official development assistance plus other official flows) to the
agriculture sector
-The agriculture orientation index for government expenditures
-Public spending on research and innovations
-Public spending on agriculture

37. 37
SDG2 target 2.5b: Correct and prevent trade restrictions and
distortions in world agricultural markets, including through the parallel
elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export
measures with an equivalent effect, in accordance with the mandate of
the Doha Development Round.
Indicators:
Producer estimate support
Agricultural export subsidies

38. 38
SDG2 target 2.5c: Adopt measures to ensure the proper
functioning of food commodity markets and their derivatives and
facilitate timely access to market information, including on food
reserves, to help limit extreme food price volatility.
Indicators:
-Indicators of food price anomalies

39. 39
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
Jan-09
Mar-09
May-09
Jul-09
Sep-09
Nov-09
Jan-10
Mar-10
May-10
Jul-10
Sep-10
Nov-10
Jan-11
Mar-11
May-11
Jul-11
Sep-11
Nov-11
Jan-12
Mar-12
May-12
Jul-12
Sep-12
Nov-12
Jan-13
Mar-13
May-13
Jul-13
Sep-13
Nov-13
Jan-14
Mar-14
May-14
Jul-14
Sep-14
Nov-14
Jan-15
Mar-15
May-15
Jul-15
Sep-15
Nov-15
Jan-16
Mar-16
May-16
Jul-16
Sep-16
Nov-16
Annual
change
in
prices
(%)
Food Crops All Items
SDG2 target 2.5c indicator – food price anomalies (CPI)

40. National policy and responses
40

41. Broad Policies and Plan
•National Constitution
•Vision 2040 and National Development
Plans (NDP)
•empowerment of households and communities to
take greater control of their health by promoting
healthy practices and lifestyles
•improve the nutrition status of the population
especially for young children and women of
reproductive age
•Develop and implement a school feeding policy
41

42. Uganda Nutrition Action Plan (UNAP) –
• Coordination arrangement under OPM
• Focus on the 1000 days (from conception to after child birth )
• District Food and Nutrition Committees (FNAP)
• Local production of Ready to Use therapeutic foods
• Proposed Agricultural Enterprise mix
• Micronutrient supplementation
• Bio-fortification
42

43. Institutional arrangements
43
NPA: Nutrition Planning Guidelines

44. Other Relevant policies
• National Agricultural Policy (2013) - MAAIF
• Ensuring food security and household incomes
• Agricultural extension policy (Single spine extension):
• Emphasis on nutrient sensitive agriculture enterprise mix (12 commodities prioritized)
• Public Finance Management Act (2016) - MoFPED
• Provides for a contingency fund (3% of the budget
• 18% of the contingency fund for food
• National Health Policy (2010)- MoH
• National Disaster Preparedness and Management Policy 2010 – OPM
• Social Sector Development Plan (2015/16-2019/20)- MGLSD
• Uganda National Climate Change Policy (2015) – MoWE
• Education, Local Government, MTIC
44

45. Gaps in National Response
• Low funding for FNS issues
• UNAP: Food security aspect does not come out strongly
• Political involvement in UNAP at LGs was inadequate compared to the
national level.
• Human resources for nutrition is inadequate—both at the LGs and
national level
• District Nutrition Coordination Committee: Not adequately
addressing issues of food security
45

46. Gaps in National Response - Continued
• MAAIF has not adequately addressed stability of food access
(promoting irrigation interventions).
• Inadequate integration of nutrition into the extension services; most
extension is about production
• Food security information system (early warning, food balance,
agricultural statistics, weather forecasting) are inadequate; there is
no real time data
• Scaling up bio-fortication is a challenge (due to funding and
sustainability and acceptability issues of orange-flesh potatoes
(children love the potatoes but not parents)
• Absence of supporting legislation (i.e. Multi-sectoral N. Policy)
• Seed multiplication of iron-rich beans
46

47. Conclusions
• Large population of Ugandans unable to meet the minimum RDI
• Depth of hunger remains high; high vulnerabilities to food insecurity (due
climate change; low crop yields];uneven progress across geography
• Food storage at the national level is absent
• Unpreparedness to manage food emergencies; constitutional requirement;
reserves managed by private entities; open trade policy
• Improvements in child nutritional status vs NDP II 2020 & SDG 2030
• With business as usual scenario, reduces stunting by 5 percentage points;
uneven progress across geography
• A large proportion of children do hungry at school
• Obligation of parents without enforcements in place; the objectives of school
feeding need to be clear; ad hoc & unsustainable interventions by DPs
47

48. Conclusions (contd.)
• Funding for FNS is low and inadequate
• not ease to track it through MTEF esp. for critical votes research &
development, genetic resources and extension services; budget to extension
services taken up by wages; small and uncoordinated interventions by non-
state actors
• Ugandans remain highly vulnerable to food insecurity
• Resilience to shocks and climate variability remains weak; mitigation
measures adopted are ad hoc and unsustainable
• Data gaps still exist to monitor SDG2 targets
• Esp. for target 2.4 and 2.5; limited gender disaggregated data; lower level
data
48

49. Conclusions (contd.)
• Harmonizing of administrative data across MDAs and DPs is still a
challenge
• quality, scope and representativeness
• The policy and regulatory frameworks are adequate in tackling the
gaps in FNS
• Roles of the private sector and CSO
• Roles of the religious institutions and cultural leaders
• Interventions are skewed towards particular sub-regions and not balanced
• Not suited to tackle persistence in malnutrition
• Not effective coordination at lower levels
• Limited implementation especially missing policies/guidelines; MDAs
responsibilities
49

50. Priority actions
• Renewed political commitment towards FNS
• Translating the various plans, policies to concrete actions
• Revisiting the role of the state
• Earmarking funds to different FNS interventions
• Mainstreaming the activities of the non-state actors
• Effective coordination and response mechanisms
• Strengthening the private sector, NGO/CSOs and lower levels (in term sof
funding, capacity and active engagement; these institutions must be drivers
of change at the grassroots
• Strengthening of food commodity markets
• Establish and maintain food reserves
50

51. Priority actions (contd.)
• Fast-tracking of the school feeding policy
• Policy should be clear on its goal and objectives
• Borrow from best practises
• Promote safe drinking water and irrigation at farm level
• Establishment of an effective early warning systems
• Effective systems should be put in place
• Revamping the “Omutongole Chief system” towards FNS
51

52. Priority actions (contd.)
• Promote mind-set change and increase awareness on nutritious foods
for all ages
• Balance approach to FNS interventions across regions
• Closing the existing data gaps for monitoring SGD2
• Passing the food and nutrition bill
52

53. Thank you for listening
53