Despite improvements, Uganda's refugee population continues to face alarmingly high food insecurity
Due largely to conflict and subsequent instability in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda is currently home to more than 1.9 million refugees. This is the sixth largest refugee population in the world. According to a new IPC alert released this week, despite Uganda’s welcome of people fleeing neighboring countries, the rapid growth of the refugee population has placed significant strain on the country’s systems. As a result, an estimated 37% population is expected to experience high levels of acute food insecurity through February 2026.
This includes 16,000 in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) and nearly 700,000 people in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) food insecurity.
Refugee populations also continue to face acute malnutrition due to limited food consumption, lack of access to adequate clean water and sanitation facilities, and a high disease burden.
However, while the number of people facing acute food insecurity and malnutrition remains extremely high among Uganda’s refugee population, the report does point out that there has been a significant improvement from the last period of analysis (June-July 2025). In that period, 48 percent of Uganda’s refugee population faced acute hunger. Expected growth in crop yields and falling food prices are credited with the improvement, and malnutrition numbers are anticipated to improve as food availability and access increases.
Still, despite the improvement, the situation remains dire for nearly 2 million refugees. The IPC concludes with a call for increased food and livelihood assistance to not only the country’s refugee population itself but to the host communities in order to reduce burdens on other populations within the country and prevent even more widespread food insecurity. Support should also include increasing safe water, sanitation, and hygiene systems and strengthening social protection programs for both refugee populations and host communities, as well as investing in climate-smart agriculture and post-harvest management practices to reduce food waste and loss. In this way, both refugees and host communities can be made more resilient to climatic shocks that could further erode livelihoods and increase hunger.
Sara Gustafson is a freelance writer.