SUPPORT MARGINALIZED PYGMY BATWA IN UGANDA

More than 70 Batwa Children have been enrolled on Nutrition project. More are being identified. The Batwa people are an indigenous group in Southwestern Uganda who suffer from extreme marginalization and high rates of malnutrition following their eviction from ancestral forests (Bwindi and Mgahinga) in the 1990s to create conservation areas. Landless and impoverished, many survive as squatters, experiencing severe food insecurity and limited access to healthcare. Evicted to create national parks for gorilla conservation, the Batwa lost their hunter-gatherer livelihood, leaving them as landless labourers. Batwa community children in Uganda suffer from high rates of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and moderate acute malnutrition (MAM), with studies indicating roughly 20–25% of children meeting criteria for malnutrition. This crisis is rooted in profound poverty, landlessness, and chronic food insecurity, causing around 38% of their children to die before age five. Following eviction from their traditional forest homes in Bwindi, the Batwa lack land for agriculture, forcing reliance on low-paying, unpredictable Labor. Average annual income per household i is extremely low (~$25), severely limiting access to sufficient food leading to food insecurity and endemic hunger. Malnutrition is compounded by high rates of malaria and gastrointestinal infections, which are worsened by unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation. Food insecurity is exacerbated during the dry season when food availability and quality drop significantly. Our ongoing initiatives focus on teaching nutrition, promoting vegetable growing, and improving sanitation to break the cycle of malnutrition. Despite these efforts, the Batwa remain one of the most marginalized and vulnerable ethnic groups in Uganda, facing persistent, multi-dimensional deprivation.