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Despite Uganda having constitutional provisions to ensure food security, a large population of Ugandans can still not meet the minimum recommended dietary intake (RDI). In addition, there are within-country variations in the number of cropping seasons, which affect continuous food availability. The study explored the correlates of seasonal hunger, an important but neglected issue within the African and Ugandan food security literature. In addition, we explored the nature of coping strategies adopted by households faced with seasonal hunger using four waves of a unique panel dataset of Ugandan households from the Living Standard Measurement Surveys-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA).
We find that fertilisers significantly reduce the risk of experiencing seasonal hunger. In some estimations, having a household member engaged in wage employment is associated with an increased risk of seasonal hunger. Our results show that policies focusing on smoothing consumption or boosting productivity can help address seasonal hunger.
Concerning the appropriateness of coping strategies, we find that having adequate storage is negatively associated with the seasonal hunger experience. Regarding policies, households can adopt ex-ante strategies to smooth consumption, such as keeping livestock and establishing appropriate storage facilities. Social protection interventions should thus have a livestock component. Using improved agricultural inputs should be a major focus for extension services to enhance productivity.
This paper is published by AERC
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- Published Feb 2, 2026