MPs on the Parliamentary Forum on Food and Nutrition have called on the Parliament to prioritise and pass the Food and Nutrition Bill, saying Uganda needs a strong legal framework to address hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity.
The bill was first introduced in Parliament in 2009. It seeks to provide a legal framework for securing the right to adequate food, combating hunger and malnutrition, establishing national and household food reserves, regulating unhealthy food marketing and strengthening school feeding programmes to protect public health.
The MPs made the call during a press conference ahead of a two-day orientation for members of the 12th Parliament on food and nutrition, which begins tomorrow.
Brenda Nabukenya, the Luweero Woman MP and a member of the Uganda Parliamentary Alliance on Food Security and Nutrition (UPA-FNS), said MPs have a critical role to play in ensuring that the proposed law is passed.
Nabukenya said Parliament has MPs from different professional backgrounds, making it important to equip them with knowledge about nutrition, food safety and food security.
“Parliament has very many MPs with different professional careers, and they need to be oriented about good nutrition and food safety. They must be interested in it,” she said.
Nabukenya cited the continued food insecurity in Karamoja as an example of the challenges Uganda faces, questioning why the region continues to experience food shortages despite government interventions.
She said Uganda could reduce food insecurity in Karamoja by encouraging partnerships between the public sector and private agricultural investors to establish large-scale farms in the region.
Nabukenya said investors who acquire land for large-scale agricultural production should ensure that local communities benefit from the projects. She suggested that communities should retain at least a 30% share in such investments.
She said addressing food insecurity in Karamoja should not be left to the government alone, arguing that private investors and other willing partners could play a bigger role in agricultural production.
“The role of government should be to support well-wishers who would wish to carry out large-scale farming,” Nabukenya said, while calling for the process of attracting investors and supporting agricultural production to be properly streamlined.
Peter Okeyoh, the chairperson of the UPA-FNS, said Uganda is facing worrying challenges related to food and nutrition.
He pointed to cases of malnutrition, stunting and hunger, saying the effects of climate change are also threatening agricultural production and putting pressure on household livelihoods.
Okeyoh called for affirmative action and stronger interventions to address food and nutrition challenges, particularly among vulnerable communities.
He said the two-day orientation would help MPs understand the state of food security and nutrition in Uganda and the responsibilities of Parliament in addressing the challenges.
According to Okeyoh, MPs have a central role because of Parliament’s constitutional responsibilities of legislation, oversight and appropriation of public funds.
He said MPs need to understand food and nutrition issues so that they can make informed decisions when debating laws, approving government programmes and scrutinising public spending.
The orientation is expected to provide MPs with information on food security, nutrition and food safety, while highlighting the role Parliament can play in improving Uganda’s food systems.
The MPs said passing a comprehensive Food and Nutrition law would provide a stronger framework for coordinating government interventions and addressing the causes of hunger and malnutrition.
