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Sugarcane - Food Security Paradox: Evidence from Uganda’s Cane Growing Sub-Regions

The core aim of this briefing note is to answer the question, “Is sugarcane growing associated with household food insecurity – and perhaps even causes it?” The study relied mainly on primary data collected from the sugarcane-growing sub-regions of Buganda, Busoga and Bunyoro. Food security is measured using three indicators: Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS), Months of Adequate Household Food Provisioning (MAHFP), and Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS). Regardless of the food security measure used, on average, findings show that cane-growing households were more likely to be food secure than their non-cane growing counterparts. However, within the cane-growing households, the households in the Busoga sub-region were more likely to be food insecure than their counterparts in the other sub-regions. Furthermore, being registered with a miller was associated with better food security. Within the non-cane growing households, residents in the Bunyoro sub-regions were more food insecure than their counterparts in the other regions. Land size was found to be a critical input to the food security question. Those in cane production with land size less than eight acres and those of non-cane output with land less than two acres were severely food insecure. Consequently, the food insecurity-sugarcane question in Uganda is beyond sugarcane and as such, innovative solutions that comprehensively address food security in these regions are required.

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