To gauge understanding of how KRSU’s work benefits and is utilized in Karamoja, a rapid review was conducted in November and December 2023. The review involved face-to-face interviews with a number of the organization’s partners – including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), universities, academics, and donors.

Water and rangeland resources are the basis for livestock production in pastoralist areas of Africa and therefore have major impacts on pastoral livelihoods. Households with insufficient access to water or productive rangeland experience suboptimal herd growth and production, with associated negative impacts on the income and nutritious foods that livestock provide.

This real-time review aims to document the events that led to Karamoja’s hunger crisis in 2022, the reporting of the worsening situation by early warning systems, and the responses of the Government of Uganda and the international aid community. The review took place from the September 27–October 21, 2022.

After nearly 10 years of relative peace, conflict and insecurity returned to the Karamoja sub-region of northeastern Uganda starting in 2019. This assessment investigates this resumption of conflict and insecurity from the perspective of the communities most involved and affected.

This scoping report investigates barriers, benefits, and “terms of inclusion” for girls’ education in the Karamoja sub-region of Uganda. Karamoja has some of the lowest education indicators in the country, with females generally faring much worse than males. The report examines the experiences and perceptions of girls, male and female community members, and teachers about girls’ education in the region, drawing on an assessment that took place from June to August 2022 in 10 sites in four districts: Amudat, Kaabong, Moroto, and Napak.

This report summarizes planned humanitarian and development activities of major donors in the Karamoja sub-region

In mid-2020, the Karamoja Resilience Support Unit (KRSU) conducted a rapid assessment that described the impact of COVID-19 containment measures on rural livelihoods in Karamoja (Arasio et al. 20201). The assessment also forecast how disease restrictions would affect livelihoods over the following six to eight months (into early 2021). The initial assessment examined household wellbeing during COVID-19 relative to a normal (good) and bad (drought) year in Karamoja’s three main livelihood zones, represented by Amudat District (predominantly pastoralist but with some emerging crop production), Moroto District (predominantly agropastoralist), and Abim District (with high dependence on crop production, but also using livestock).

This technical report describes the impacts of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions in the Karamoja sub-region of Uganda, based on field assessments in Amudat, Moroto and Abim Districts. The COVID-19 prevention guidelines that prompted total lockdown measures included market closure and travel restrictions which in turn affected the essential economic activities of many households, especially the poor.

This report calculates the direct use value of livestock in Karamoja Sub-region, Uganda. The concept of direct use value pulls together under one heading all the various economic benefits derived from livestock.

In pastoralist and agro-pastoralist households in East Africa, livestock not cash are usually the main financial asset. Animals are sold to buy grain and to meet other domestic needs, and animals also provide food, especially milk, for direct human consumption.

Research and observations over the past decade have pointed to the high prevalence of alcohol use in Karamoja. Brews made locally of sorghum and maize have sociocultural, nutritional, and economic significance.

This report is a review of agricultural development trends in the Karamoja sub-region of northeast Uganda. The review covered both crop farming and transhumance livestock management and examined agriculture at the levels of both policy and programming.

This review examines regional policies and programming initiatives in East Africa and the Horn of Africa related to pastoral areas development, and their relevance to the Karamoja Region of Uganda.

A quantitative analysis of a representative group of villages indicates that there has been a widespread increase in the utilization of services as well as improvement to well-being for residents of northern Karamoja since 2013

The main purpose of this assessment is to document and analyze trends in labor and employment in the non-pastoral labor sectors within and outside Karamoja, and to investigate how individual- and macrolevel factors influence participation in the labor market.

Napak is one of the districts in the Karamoja sub-region faced with chronic food insecurity coupled with high levels of malnutrition that are of public health concern.

This aim of this report is to document the experiences of veterinary service delivery in Karamoja and draw lessons to guide a strategy for future service provision, aligned to Uganda’s animal health policies and legislation.

Livelihoods in Karamoja continue to change as security improves; this includes a revitalization of pastoral production for some households. This report details the findings from research undertaken in February and March 2016 in four districts of Karamoja aimed at better understanding the current patterns of pastoral and agro-pastoral production in the region.

This study explored recent trends in diversification by East African pastoralists, the factors that drive their choices, and the potential short and longer-term consequences of their decisions. It considered the risks and costs of diversified and alternative livelihoods, as well as the benefits. The report presents findings from three case studies from Karamoja in northeastern Uganda, the Borana region of southern Ethiopia, and the Garissa District of northeastern Kenya. It includes policy recommendations regarding land tenure, local value addition around livestock production, and investments in sustainable natural products, local infrastructure, and urban/peri-urban planning. Further recommendations address nutritional issues, the promotion of regional trade, and growing demands for education, training, and business development skills.

The purpose of the review is to strengthen gender equality and women’s and girl’s empowerment. DFID wishes to assess its work to date, in relation to the dynamic and changing social circumstances in the Karamoja, and in relation to inputs by other donors and organisations.

The objective of the study was to provide a nuanced understanding of the current threats to security at the household, community, district and regional levels, and to examine how these dynamics have changed in recent years.

This report reflects research from early 2015 conducted by the Feinstein International Center at the Friedman School of Tufts University and Mercy Corps in northern Karamoja, Uganda. The research examined changing conflict dynamics and related conflict mitigation and peacebuilding initiatives. The objective of the study was to provide a nuanced understanding of the current threats to security at the household, community, district and regional levels, and to examine how these dynamics have changed in recent years. The study examined conflict mitigation initiatives, including access to and efficacy of these systems.

The report presents desk review findings on the gender dimensions of water for agricultural production, with a focus on Karamoja sub-region in northeastern Uganda, under four thematic areas: i) the gender dimensions of leadership and technical roles at community level; ii) gender considerations in construction, repair and mantainence of water facilities; iii) gender roles in the use of water for agricultural production and productivity; and iv) the implications for agricultural production and productivity. The report seeks to inform the implementation of FAO’s Gender Equality Policy (2013).

The phenomenon of out-migration from Karamoja is well known and widely discussed both by rural residents in the region and by officials in receiving cities

This is the fifth in a series of reports on the contribution of livestock to the economies of the IGAD member states. Building on methodologies developed in earlier studies of the role of livestock in the economies of Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan, the present report undertakes an assessment of the contribution of livestock to Uganda’s national economy.

In our research in Karamoja since 2005, respondents often discuss problems with natural resource access and availability, and with comparable frequency they describe conflict with neighboring or nearby groups who are also accessing natural resources.

A Report on Livelihoods and Human Security in the Karamoja Region of Uganda