“Uganda’s Silent Epidemic: How Unregulated Food Is Killing the Nation”

By PATRICK JARAMOGI

KAMPALA, Uganda —July 18 [SHIFTMEDIA] A silent but deadly crisis is sweeping through Uganda — and it’s not caused by war or infectious disease. Instead, it’s found on dinner plates, snack shelves, and in brightly colored beverage cans. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and heart disease are now responsible for more than a third of all deaths in Uganda, according to alarming statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Even more shocking: 90% of Ugandan children consume unhealthy food daily — a grim reflection of a food system spiraling out of control. This dire situation is worsened by the absence of meaningful laws or regulations to protect citizens from excessive salt, sugar, and trans fats in the food they eat.

On Friday July 18 2025, alarm bells rang louder at the Serena Hotel in Kampala, where a consortium of civil society groups, including the Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT), SEATINI Uganda, FIAN Uganda and CONSENT Uganda, hosted a landmark Food and Law Training at the Kampala Serena Hotel that was opened by the Vice President Uganda Law Society  Anthony Asiimwe. Their message was clear: the legal profession must now take up the fight for safe, regulated, and just food systems.

“Food Is Killing People”

“We must treat food as a matter of legal concern and public interest,” emphasized Dr. David Kabanda, Executive Director of CEFROHT and a PhD holder in Food Law. “Food is killing people — and not slowly.”

Kabanda highlighted the total absence of laws prohibiting the advertising or promotion of unhealthy diets to children in Uganda. He described the food and beverage industry as operating with “complete commercial freedom” — with no restrictions on ingredients, packaging, or health warnings.

“Uganda currently has no mandatory front-of-pack labeling, no marketing restrictions, and no coordination to hold the food industry accountable,” Kabanda said. “As a result, false and misleading nutrition labels are rampant in our local markets, and yet legal actors and institutions are largely silent.”

He revealed that 22% of Ugandans are at risk of dying prematurely from one of four major NCDs, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory illness, and diabetes.

A New Legal Battlefront

To bridge this gap, CEFROHT launched the Agroecology Legal Network for Africa, a groundbreaking platform to bring legal minds together across the continent to influence policy reform.

“The goal is to build capacity among lawyers to understand food law as a new legal frontier,” said Kabanda. “We’re pushing for the adoption of a globally recognized, evidence-based Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) to underpin regulations like **Front-of-Pack Warning Labeling (FOPWL) and restrictions on harmful food marketing.”

 

Kabanda explained that an NPM would provide a scientific framework to determine which foods are healthy — and which are not. “This model would allow for meaningful consumer protection and legal justification for complementary policies such as school feeding guidelines and marketing bans targeting children,” he noted.

“We’ve Lost Control of Our Food”

Food technologist Prof. Charles Muyanja delivered a stark warning to participants: “No food is truly safe anymore. “Food is political weapon. It’s a right. But our government isn’t making the necessary laws.”

Prof. Muyanja detailed the dangers of excessive salt, sugar, and trans fats — dietary elements that have become normalized across Ugandan homes. “Nutrition supports health and growth, but too much salt damages kidneys, and trans fats are directly linked to heart disease.”

Meanwhile, Prof. Ben Twinomugisha, an expert in public health law, addressed food trade, neoliberalism, and NCDs. He decried misleading advertisements and questioned their impact on a largely illiterate population. “Even if food is labeled, how many people actually read? And how many can understand English?” he asked.

Prof. Twinomugisha also spoke about the loss of traditional food systems and community granaries. “In the past, our people grew and stored their food. Now, they sell everything from the gardens just to pay school fees. We’ve lost sovereignty over our seeds and diets. Monsanto has wiped us out,” he said, referencing the global agribusiness giant.

Law Without Enforcement Is Empty

Dr. Daniel Ronald Ruhweza, Head of the School of Law at Makerere University, emphasized that passing food laws is not enough. “Without mechanisms for enforcement, any legal reform remains just ink on paper,” he warned.

Joan Kembabazi, Program Manager for Social Justice & Strategic Litigation at CEFROHT, outlined tools lawyers can use to push for reform: public interest litigation, legislative advocacy, and regulatory oversight.

“We must mobilize legal professionals to treat food safety as a justice issue,” Kembabazi said. “We can’t sit back while unhealthy food is marketed to children and communities are left in the dark about what they eat.”

Government Support on the Horizon?

The message seems to be resonating in government circles. **Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Norbert Mao** addressed the gathering virtually from Gulu, voicing support for the movement.

“I am with you in this struggle,” Mao told the lawyers. “Let’s meet next week and chart a way forward. I believe in what you’re doing.”

Unsafe Practices and Rural Risks

In addition to processed food dangers, unsafe food handling remains widespread. Bernard Bwambale, Head of Programs at CONSENT Uganda, painted a grim picture from rural areas: “Every time I travel to Eastern Uganda, I see food being dried directly on tarmac roads. This is dangerous and unacceptable.”

He emphasized the need for public education on food safety, particularly in regions where traditional methods have given way to unsafe modern shortcuts.

The Way Forward

The Kampala training ended on a unified call to action: Uganda needs an **evidence-based regulatory framework** that includes:

* Mandatory Front-of-Pack Warning Labeling (FOPWL)

* Adoption of a Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM)

* Legal restrictions on marketing unhealthy food to children

* Enforcement mechanisms and capacity building for legal professionals

* Public awareness campaigns to revive traditional diets and food sovereignty

Uganda’s food crisis may be silent — but it is deadly. As Dr. Kabanda bluntly stated, “When you eat an egg, you should know where it came from. You should know if it is safe. That’s the future we are fighting for.”