Uganda: Karamuzi Beat the Challenges of Widowhood to Become Model Farmer

The accident that claimed her husband in 1997 left her a changed woman. With five children to take care of single-handed, Perry Karamuzi realised she had to put aside self-pity and move on. [...] Karamuzi had a number of Friesian cows but she sold them for school fees and remained with one which she zero-grazes. She gets 15 litres of milk from her heifer. "The benefits in zero-grazing are many," she says. "A farmer who practises zero-grazing will never lack manure for their crops." She also has 10 local breed goats. At Karamuzi's home there is no wastage; she puts everything to use. [...] Because of her hard work, in 1994 the district nominated her as a model farmer and she was chosen to host the World Food Programme celebrations.

Hungry for Change

According to the United Nations’ World Food Programme, “Every five seconds, a child dies of hunger.” [...] But how exactly can we eradicate extreme poverty and hunger? San Diegan Jamie Pullman, a “social entrepreneur” living in Little Italy, may just have found an answer. Pullman is the mind behind Hungry for Change, a project aimed at helping to end global poverty. Pullman explains that through Hungry for Change, spare change from every participant’s bank card purchase automatically provides a school-based meal for a hungry child in the developing world, thus making giving automatic, effortless, and sustainable.

Unreliable information worsens food crises

There is a need to integrate and harmonize information on food security matters as a requisite to contain escalating world food crises in Africa and Latin America, participants in a National Policy Dialogue on Managing and Preventing World Food Crisis have said. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Programme Leader, Dr Suresh Babu, told participants in Dar es Salaam today that recent studies in developing countries and Latin America had indicated policy makers and leaders lack sufficient information to gauge the likely effects of global food crises in their countries. [...] A coordinator, Tanzania/Japan Food Aid Counterpart Fund which is under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Co-operatives, Dr Wilbald Lorri, said countries like Tanzania need to have a well coordinated and harmonized mechanism on food security matters. He said that all key stakeholders such as National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Tanzania Bureau of Statistics (TBS) and International agencies such as FAO and World food Programme (WFP), should ensure the information gathered in the field is relevant, reliable, consistent and useful.

Envoys pledge to support Karamoja

TWO development partners have pledged to support Mrs. Janet Museveni, the wife of the President, in her tasks as state minister for Karamoja affairs. During a meeting with her at State House, Nakasero on Monday, the European Union (EU) ambassador, Vincent De Visscher, congratulated Mrs. Museveni upon her appointment as minister and assured her of EU’s support for Karamoja affairs. [...] In a related development, Mrs. Museveni hosted the World Food Programme (WFP) country director, Stanlake Samkange, at State House, Nakasero. Talks centered on how the WFP could work with the Government in ensuring food security in Karamoja, according to a release from State House. Samkange pledged WFP support to the First Lady to ensure food security in Karamoja.