The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has launched its last seed distribution in northern Uganda.
More than 58,000 formerly displaced people will benefit from the seed distribution.
Each family is to receive 28 kg of groundnut, cereal and vegetable seed, which is enough to plant approximately 1 hectare of land.
The main beneficiaries are farmers in Orom, Omiya Anyima and Namokora sub counties in eastern Kitgum district.
A press statement from the International committee of the Red Cross states that the farmers in these sub counties have been unable to build up reserves of food or seed, as they normally would have, to cope with last year\'s poor rainfall.
Janet Angelei, the ICRC economic security coordinator, states that the ICRC has since 2008, shifted its economic security program from distributing relief assistance in camps for displaced people, towards supporting the re-establishment of livelihoods, as families have begun returning to their villages.
Angelei says the food security situation in the region has improved, as most of the displaced families have now been re-settled, giving them better access to arable land.In 2009 alone, the ICRC supported about 110,000 returnees in the Amuru, Kitgum and Pader districts of northern Uganda, providing agricultural tools and seed to boost production.
URN Reporter
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