Approximately 428,000 children aged 6–59 months and 84,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women are suffering or expected to suffer from acute malnutrition across 43 districts in Uganda between March 2025 to February 2026 and require urgent nutrition support or treatment. The highest is reported in Karamoja with three districts classified in IPC AMN Phase 4 (Critical) and four districts classified in IPC AMN Phase 3 (Serious).
Key factors fuelling acute malnutrition include high climate vulnerability—driven by arid to semi-arid conditions and prolonged dry spells that restrict access to reliable and sufficient water—intersects with poor agro-ecological potential, including marginal pastoral and agricultural zones characterized by rocky, infertile soils. Livelihoods are predominantly pastoralist, supplemented by limited single-season crop farming, but remain constrained by low dietary diversity and recurring seasonal food insecurity.