Meat consumption in northern Uganda

As we arrived in Anaka town last week, Deo, my research assistant jumped out of the car and, as if drawn by an invisible force, moved quickly towards a large drum with a pan on top of it. The drum then picked up my drivers curiosity, so I decided to follow as well.

Here is what I found when I go there:

I am told that is an entire goat in there.

It is no secret that I am a vegetarian, and I did find this personally distasteful, but I have trouble suggesting to an Acholi to give up meat. It is one of the most important parts of their nutrition, and so many are malnourished.

Some recent work I did on the effect of displacement in northern Uganda shows how bad the situation was. On average, those who were displaced, and so received all of their food from the WFP, ate meat 71% less frequently than those that were not displaced.

But the situation hasn't changed much. During our pre-testing of a questionnaire, no one we talked to had eaten meat in the last week.