Rising malnutrition: Kikuube leaders blame sugarcane farming

HOIMA - Leaders in Kikuube say sugarcane growing is responsible for the surging cases of malnutrition in the district.

During the district nutrition co-ordination meeting organized by the action against hunger last week, Kiziranfumbi sub-county chairperson Sedrack Muhumuza said many people have abandoned growing food crops and resorted to sugarcane growing which has caused food insecurity.

“Many people have turned to sugarcane growing, they no longer have food in their homes and this a very big concern,” he said.

Malnutrition refers to deficiencies or excesses in nutrient intake, imbalance of essential nutrients or impaired nutrient utilisation. According to Unicef Uganda, malnutrition threatens to destroy a generation of children in Uganda. More than a third of all young children – 2.4 million – are stunted. 

The damage caused by stunting is irreversible. 

Julius Muhumuza, another resident of Kiziranfumbi, said sugarcane growing in the district should be regulated and people with small portions of land shouldn’t be allowed to grow sugarcanes.

Deputy chief administrative officer Henry Kakande said nutrition is still a big challenge among several communities in the district.

“Many of our people are still struggling with poor nutrition, we can create more awareness about nutrition,” Kakande said.

Peter Eceru, the programme manager for Right to Grow at Action Against Hunger, said many people don’t have access to information about nutrition.

Eceru said despite the people in the region producing nutritious food, it ends up in the markets leaving the families without such results in stunting. Eceru said the district must budget for nutrition activities if they are to overcome the problem.

“We have established nutrition committees at the sub-county level. They will create awareness to address nutrition challenges.” Eceru said.

Acting district health officer Kikuube Dr Gerald Asaba emphasized that nutrition is done at home not in health facilities. He said the district nutrition co-ordination committee must be activated if they are to improve the nutrition of people in the district.

The report shows that stunting in children under five years increased from 16 per cent in 2022/2023 to 26 per cent in 2023/2024.

Asaba attributed stunting to inadequate nutrition, eating food that lacks growth-promoting nutrients, chronic infections, absorption disorder, poverty, poor sanitation and poor hygiene, among others.

According to him, poor hygiene makes children susceptible to diarrhoea which then affects their growth.

He advised parents and guardians to prevent stunting by ensuring their children are well nourished, saying treating stunting is expensive.

“Treatment of stunting involves giving growth hormones and physiotherapy which might be quite expensive for most families.

Dr Sem Tibaita, in charge of Kyangwali Health Centre IV, said addressing malnutrition demands a holistic approach that encompasses not only food security but also access to healthcare, education, sanitation and social protection.

A report by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) in December 2024, indicated that 26% of Ugandan children between one year and five years are stunted.

The report also indicated that 24.4% of children between birth and one year follow in terms of stuntedness while 9.7% of children between the same age are underweight.

“The report shows that the prevalence of stunting is higher among children aged 6–59 months compared to those aged 0–59 months,” said James Muwonge, the Director methods and research at UBOS.

At 27.2%, the report shows that stunting is highest among the boy child compared to the girls at 21.6%.

In terms of age group, children between one year and three-year lead in terms of stuntedness at 32.8%.

The report also indicates that stunting is more common in children living in rural areas at 27.4% than it is with their counterparts in urban areas but also shows that more children in urban areas at 4.1% are overweight than their counterparts in rural areas.

The report shows that Karamoja at 43.9% has the highest number of stunted children, followed by Kigezi at 41.5%, Tooro at 38.7% and Ankole at 31.2%.