Promoting Evidence-based Livelihood Programming in Karamoja, Uganda
Insecurity in Karamoja since the 1970s has limited the collection of data on key livelihood and human security issues. In particular, there is a dearth of quality data regarding the mobile cattle camps, populations living in contested and insecure areas, and gender and generational differences. Not surprisingly, major gaps exist in knowledge regarding livelihood systems, food security, mobility strategies, decision making, and gender roles at the household and community level.
Save the Children in Uganda (SCiUG) has been working in Karamoja since 1996, making it one of the international organizations with the greatest extent of institutional knowledge on the region. SCiUG is currently expanding and diversifying their programs in Karamoja. In 2009-2011, the Tufts/FIC team worked in collaboration with SCiUG on research to improve and inform programming, policy making, and advocacy through the collection and dissemination of qualitative data on key livelihood issues.
The findings from this work feed into SCiUG programming and are also shared with local and national authorities, donors and other agencies working in the region. The research coincided with a period in which a growing number of international agencies were turning their attention towards Karamoja, and we geared the dissemination of our research to help inform and improve new programming in the region.
This project was be conducted in partnership with Save the Children in Uganda. All information will also be publicly available.
Life in Town: Migration from rural Karamoja to Moroto and Mbale
Migration from rural Karamoja to towns, cities and other rural areas has long been part of local livelihood strategies, but attention to this phenomenon by national and international actors in...
Milk Matters in Karamoja
Households in the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda have seen a precipitous drop in access to and availability of animal milk in recent years. The declining milk supply affects livelihoods,...
Foraging and Fighting Community Perspectives on Natural Resources and Conflict in Southern Karamoja
This joint publication by the Feinstein International Center and Save the Children in Uganda examines the perspectives and experiences of communities in the southern Karamoja region of Uganda regarding natural...
Changing Roles, Shifting Risks Livelihood Impacts of Disarmament in Karamoja, Uganda
This report is the result of the first phase of a partnership with Save the Children in Uganda. Based on field work conducted in April 2009 in Moroto and Kotido...
The Scramble for Cattle, Power and Guns in Karamoja
This new report on the Karamoja Cluster of Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia is the result of several years of field work by a respected Teso elder from the region...
“We are now reduced to women”: Impacts of forced disarmament in Karamoja, Uganda
This article details the recent history of and motivations for the Government of Uganda’s disarmament campaign in Karamoja. The authors discuss the experiences and perceptions of local communities as they adjust to a changing security and livelihoods environment, focusing on the emergence of protected kraals as an indicator of the impacts of disarmament on local lives and livelihoods.
In addition, the article considers both intended effects and unintended externalities caused by the disarmament campaign. Lastly, the authors consider the alignment of donor and government priorities and policies over the next five years, and the likely impacts for development and security. Published in Nomadic Peoples in 2010.