By Jennifer Acheng
The bishop of Kotido catholic diocese, the Rt. Rev Dominic Eibu Lokut, has cautioned farmers against selling off their harvest.
Currently, farmers are harvesting crops like groundnuts, millet, maize, sorghum among others, but a number of them are reportedly already selling off their harvests cheaply.
A recent spot check by our reporter in the different sub-counties indicate that a jug of maize that used to be sold at 3,000 to 4,000 is now sold between 1,000 to 1500, a jug of millet now goes for 2500 from 3,500, groundnuts is sold at 1,000 a jug, while sorghum is sold between 1,000-1500.
However, in his statement titled; the appeal and recommendation on post-harvest, released on 4th of September 2024 and addressed to all people of God in diocese, Bishop Eibu asserts that such a trend is likely to plunge farmers back into hunger crisis.
He argues that much as farmers have other demands to sort out, they should consider selling their produce with caution, as well as ensure proper storage of their produce, given the duration of the next harvest.
According to the IPC acute food insecurity and malnutrition analysis released in June this year, Karamoja remains the most vulnerable region to climate related shocks and hazards which significantly contribute to persistent low levels of food and livestock production
The report further indicates that all the nine districts of Karamoja region are currently classified in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis), with 45 percent of the population analyzed equivalent to 600,000 people facing high levels of acute food insecurity
