INTER-AGENCY LIVELIHOOD ASSESSMENT - ARUA DISTRICT NORTHERN UGANDA GOAL

KEY FINDINGS
• The majority of the refugees rely on food assistance for their livelihood. In total, 58% are not
participating in any economic activities, while 24% are engaged in farming activities by renting
out land from the host communities. Meanwhile, 75% of the host communities depend on
agricultural production as their primary economic activity, and 10% are involved in petty trade.
Most people lack access to capital to expand businesses.
• Food scarcity among the refugees and the host communities are driving prices of essential food
items. Both communities have resulted in reducing meals and relying on less expensive foods to
cope with the situation.
• Refugees are mainly concerned about the reduction in the quantity of food distributed by
World Food Programme (WFP) while the host communities are particularly worried about the
scarcity of food in the markets causing inflation of prices of staple food such as cassava floor
which doubled in price since December 2016.
• Though the markets in the refugee and host community settlements are functional and
providing the essential household items, there are few economic activities undertaken in
comparison to their potential. Cash injection through cash-based programming is needed to
spur growth.
• Both the host communities and refugees are mainly relying on firewood for cooking, creating
competition and pressure on this shared resource.
• In total, 81% of the refugees and 79% of the host communities stated they are already
concerned about the availability of fuel.
• Only 4% of refugees and 5% of host communities are using fuel-efficient stoves (Lorena)
• Most of the refugees and host communities (44% and 51% respectively) only have a primary
level of education with 25% of the refugees and 6% host communities being illiterate/semiliterate.
• Most employment opportunities accessible to the majority is mainly casual labour for 0 to 2
days per week earning an income of between 0 to 10,000 UGX.
• Most people are unskilled and unable to take advantage of economic activities on offer. The
skills most demanded of men were building, followed by brick laying. Meanwhile, for women,
the skills demanded were hairdressing followed by tailoring.
• Savings groups were identified as the most available and preferred lenders of money at 32%,
followed by friends and relatives at 23% and 21% respectively. Commercial banks and MFIs
were least accessible to communities with only 1% of the respondents benefiting from their
loans.
BACKGROUND
The South Sudan conflict started in December 2013 which initially was an “internal clash” and
confined to Juba, the capital city of South Sudan. This internal clash turned into a full blown conflict
which later spread to the regional cities of Bor and Malakal in Upper Nile region. The internal clash
was as a result of the power struggle within the main political party, Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement (SPLM) which led to the displacement of thousands of people, loss of lives and destruction
of properties. The majority of the civilians were initially displaced into Internally Displaced Persons
(IDP’s) camps, but later many fled to neighbouring countries of Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda.