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Undernutrition and Obesity in Uganda a Big Concern-H.E Rhoda Tumusiime

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Undernutrition remains one of the biggest contributors to global child mortality linked to about 45% of deaths among children under the age of five. Meanwhile ten (10) million children are overweight with old people obesity on the rise especially amongst women.

While speaking during  the NARO-Mak Conference on 13th November 2018, former  African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture H.E Rhoda Tumusiime informed participants that poor quality diet poses a greater  threat to public health than either malaria, tuberculosis or measles.

The 2nd Joint National Agricultural Research Organisation & Makerere University (NARO-Mak) & 1st Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Nutrition Annual Scientific Symposium(12th -15th November 2018) was officially opened by the Prime Minister of the republic of Uganda represented by Hon. Mary Karooro Okurut on 12th November 2018.

H.E. Tumusiime noted that global diets are changing due to rapid urbanization and rising incomes which make people to move away from traditional diets. The unfortunate bit, according to the former AU Commissioner, is that diets are not necessarily changing for the better.

L-R:  Dr. Daniel Waiswa (Mak), Dr. Ahmed Kablan (USAID), Prof. Patrick Webb (Tufts University), Dr. Yona Baguma (NARO and Session Chair), H.E. Rhoda Tumusiime and Edgar (WFP) during the opening session on Day2 of the NARO-Mak Conference, 13th November 2018, Kampala Uganda

She also observed that, rising incomes give access to greater diversity of foods but also to more highly processed and sugary foods that promote poor health.

“In Uganda, the current urban population of 10.525million is predicted to almost double by 2030 to 19.914 million and more than quadruple by 2050 to 46,664 million.

34% of urban women are already overweight or obese as compared with 20% of rural women. 16% of urban men are overweight or obese as compared with 6% rural men”, Tumusiime said.

She reminded participants that the food crises of the  2007/8 brought agriculture to  the world’s attention with the international community coming together to discuss food security as the major focus.

Now, with the nutrition challenge, she said, policy makers are beginning to understand the need to integrate nutritional goals into agricultural research and development, shifting the language from ‘hunger and food security’ to ‘food systems and diets”.

Some of the participants listen to proceedings on Day2 of the NARO-Mak Conference, Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala Uganda

Tumusiime said an emphasis on agriculture is correct but implored researchers, policy makers, the private sector and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector to make it bigger by integrating nutrition.

“…The type of food we focus efforts on (mainly starchy staples) does not match the types of food we need for example  fruits, vegetables and pulses).

For example about 45% of the global private sector research investment is on maize with little attention to nutritious crops such as fruits and vegetables, pulses, seeds and nuts.” She said.

Tumusiime however, appreciated that Uganda’s social and economic development has been matched by excellent progress in tackling undernutrition in recent years.

“But we have reached an important decision moment. We are now experiencing an emerging ‘triple burden’ of malnutrition.

Some individuals lack enough Basic calories and micronutrients. Stunting amongst children is really high at 29%. Diet – related non-communicable diseases will bring additional costs to health services in the future”. She stated.

She was optimistic that Uganda’s progressive approach and ability to rise to challenges shows that it can be a leader in Africa and the global community as the Commission strives to provide safe, affordable and health diets for all.

Report compiled by:
Jane Anyango
Principal Communication Officer CAES

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Special Exam Results -Diploma in Performing Arts 2025/26

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The results for the 2025/2026 special entry examination for the Diploma in Performing Arts held on Saturday 17th May, 2025. Candidates who scored a final mark of 50% and above passed the Examination and have been recommended to the university’s Admissions Committee for consideration.

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Mature Age Scheme Exam Results for 2025/2026

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The Office of Academic Registrar, Makerere University has released full results for the Mature Age Entry Scheme Examinations for the Academic Year 2025/2026 held on Saturday 14th December, 2024.

The Candidates who scored a final mark of 50% and above passed the examination and have been recommended by the Pre-Entry & Mature Age Committee to the University’s Admissions Board for Consideration.

The Aptitude Exam  Results for 2025/2026 Academic Year released in February 2025 can be found here.

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Call for Application: 2025 SNRM session 4 Summer School

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Participants in focused group discussions. Leiden-Delft-Erasmus East Africa Research Network (LEARN) in collaboration with the Urban Action Lab at Makerere University a workshop to deliberate strategies for mitigating the impacts of climate change in urban centres in the East African Region, Theme: “Resilient Urban Futures: Adapting Livelihoods to Climate Change”, 4th-5th September 2024, School of Public Health Auditorium, Kampala Uganda.

Context:
Natural resources in Africa are being depleted at an alarming rate due to several factors, including unsustainable human activities, climate change, and population growth. A primary condition of sustainable development is to ensure that the pressures do not exceed the environmental limits, and that demand for the resources does not exceed levels that can be sustainably provided by nature. Therefore, there is a pressing need for transformative, systems-thinking approaches and tools that can tackle the diverse challenges facing these systems. In Africa, this need is compounded by a lack of data and monitoring, which significantly hinders sustainable decision-making.

Investing in young scientists who are committed to take lead in sustainable management of Africa’s natural resources is very important. Capacity building of young scientists will enhance their knowledge and skill on sustainable natural resources and their involvement for implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDG’s) in Africa. To this effect, SNRM summer schools have been implemented in three sessions in 2019, 2020, and 2022 with support from Volkswagen Foundation; to build a critical mass of skilled and competent young natural resource scientists in Africa through training, capacity building and mentorship. Session 4 (2025) will target competent young scientists (MSc and PhD students) in Africa and Germany to further develop their knowledge and skills in systems thinking, advanced data collection and analysis, and application of emerging digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), internet of things (IoT), and embracing transdisciplinary approaches. In addition, we include an ideation workshop where students can work on real problems to come up with solutions for sustainable transformations in natural resource use.

Organizers: Leibniz Universität – Hannover (Germany), University of Antananarivo, University of Abomey Calavi (Benin), Makerere University (Uganda), University of Ghana (Ghana), University of Parakou (Benin), The Technical University of Kenya, with financial support from the Volkswagen Foundation (Germany).

Venue and dates: Nairobi, Kenya, 16-28 November 2025

Target: MSc and PhD students, early in the program of less than 35 years of age from any university/research institution in either sub-Saharan Africa or Germany with an interest in natural resources management.

Participants and Scholarships: The course is fully funded and open to 20 MSc and PhD students from Africa, and 5 from Germany. Funding will cover the costs of air ticket, accommodation, meals, visa, and transportation. However, participants will cover the cost of their travel health insurance.

Topics

SNRM Summer School Session 4: Transformative pathways in biodiversity management and conservation.
This summer school is designed to deliver four modules over a two-week period. The modules are designed to enable the students to acquire new ways of designing data collection protocols and analysis for transformative sustainable natural resources management.

Module 4.1: Data collection I
Skills in data collection for a transformative and sustainable management of natural resources (water, wildlife, forest, land, livestock, crops) monitoring and data collection techniques; remote monitoring tools, earth observation system data, e.g. satellite data sources, LIDAR, and UAV aerial images. Collect and analyse In-situ data on biotic and abiotic parameters, map and analyse data using R or Google Earth Engine, field data collection and retrieving data from online databases.

Module 4.2 Data management and processing
Introduction to tools and methods of managing large and diverse data sets of natural resources such as time series, spatial, directional, and multivariate data. Practicals will include data storage, organization and conversion into various formats using databases such as PostgreSQL and statistical programming software such as R and Python; scripts.

Module 4.3 Ecological monitoring, modelling and management
This module aims to teach participants how to anticipate and validate trends that can be observed in various ecosystems. Lectures include ecological monitoring and its design; population monitoring studies; metrics in population monitoring; methods for monitoring and assessing marine ecosystems; human ecology to socio-ecological systems; climate change impact of ecosystems; suitability assessments; overview of the principles underlying wildlife monitoring and prediction systems for climate change adaptation. Practicals will include field data collection (individual and group); ecological data analysis using R or PAST; modelling and experiencing the behaviour of complex systems using Vensim.

Module 4.4 Natural habitat restoration ideation lab
This module is designed to spur students’ innovation and creativity, and to help students comprehensively identify interdependencies across the 17 SDG goals. Participants will be trained on ideation processes for solutions and intervention for transformative natural resource management. They will work collaboratively in small groups on case studies and develop pathways of transformative sustainable natural resource management. Examples of projects include forest (mangrove) ecosystem and habitat restoration, improved technologies for agricultural production, nature-based solutions for improving water quality, and reversing land degradation.

Language: The course will be delivered in English. Participants are expected to be fluent in writing and speaking the English language.

How to apply

Applicants are kindly requested to fill in the application form available from https://snrmafrica.com/ and submit the following documents in English through the system.

  • a curriculum vitae (maximum 2 pages)
  • a letter of motivation (maximum 1 page)
  • a confirmation of university enrolment
  • a reference letter from the academic supervisor
  • project summary of MSc/ PhD project (1 page including objectives, methodology
    and key findings or expected outcomes).

Important dates
Application deadline: 30th June 2025.
Announcement of accepted applicants: 15th August 2025.
Confirmation of attendance by selected participants: 12th Sept 2025.
Summer school held: 16 – 28 Nov 2025.

Further information is available from

The secretariat info@snrmafrica.com
Dr Lydia Olaka lydiaolaka@tukenya.ac.ke
Prof. Dr. Hartmut Stuetzel stuetzel@gem.uni-hannover.de

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