Ugandan Members of Parliament have given overwhelming support to a motion pressing for a state of emergency as the impact of a prolonged drought in the African country leads to food shortages.

Uganda is traditionally regarded as the bread basket for the entire region, but politicians claim there have already been a number of deaths due to shortages.

They want the government to move faster to provide help and food handouts, especially as some communities are getting just one meal a day.

“Way back in 2016 I had a meeting with the Ministry of Disaster Preparedness, we were trying to give them indicators that by 2017 there would be this famine in the region because there was no total harvest during the year and it’s come to pass, people are dying, I personally visited two graves,” said Esther Anyakun, Nakapiripirit MP.

But MPs also believe declaring a state of emergency will help attract more foreign aid.

“Some organizations have tried to develop projects around food security, resilient issues, on how to help people to deal with this kind of drought, but for a weather forecast like when there is no rain, it’s beyond their own making. I took the seed that the government gave me and let people plant the seed, but they told me God has refused to give us water,” said Anyakun.

Uganda’s Minister of Disaster Preparedness Hillary Onek says more and more people are affected by the drought  - numbers have increased by two million since January - and that there’s not enough money for relief work.

China has responded by donating more than 5,000 tons of rice. The far north and northeast of the East African country are the worst affected.