The global hunger crisis has led to a crushing few years for communities in Karamoja, a region of north-eastern Uganda that faces the highest food insecurity and malnutrition rates in the country.
The forces driving increased rates of hunger around the world – conflict, climate shocks and the impacts of COVID-19 – are evident here, too. Prolonged drought, the unreliability of seasonal rain and plagues of destructive pests have robbed farming families of the crops they rely on.
Drought is currently at it's peak in Karamoja: pasture has dried, no water for animals, very poor harvest. This has led to high food insecurity and acute hunger with thousands of people struggling to get daily food, and some have died as a result of hunger.
In desperation, without guarantee of future harvests, some farmers have resorted to eating seeds they had intended to plant.
Tearfund’s partner Vision Terudo has been delivering emergency assistance, and, crucially, working with communities over the longer term to equip them to withstand future hunger shocks.
Karamoja is familiar with emergency responses and food distribution, but this long-term approach of Vision Terudo is unique. With courage and faithfulness, they’re walking alongside communities for the long haul.
Opening these doors to hope requires determination, creativity and sensitivity – poor roads, stretched resources and volatile security create added challenges – yet Vision Terudo is spurred on in their own hope by the power and provision of Christ, and it is a hope they are determined to share with the communities they serve.
Give us this day our daily bread.
In this prayer, we recognise God’s faithfulness and provision. We uphold the needs of our neighbours across the globe, for whom this request for daily bread is literal and urgent. And, aligning to God’s ‘kingdom come and will be done’, we allow this prayer to spur us into action on behalf of people living in the grip of hunger.
Tearfund’s partners are working in areas hardest hit by the hunger crisis, operating as Jesus’ hands and feet as they meet the cry for daily bread in communities facing food insecurity.
Your support today will help hungry families now, and plant seeds of hope for a better future.
Your donation to Tearfund’s Our Daily Bread Appeal will be used to help tackle this hunger crisis, directly supporting our partners as they work to restore health, livelihoods and hope in communities hardest hit by hunger and food insecurity.