Why You Should Care About Sugar in Uganda
Sugar came up again when I spoke with Ahamed, our Beads Project Coordinator, and asked about the effects of the recent and serious drought in Uganda. Among other shortages, he told me that the women were having a hard time affording sugar. Since the 9 month drought, sugar prices doubled from 3,000 Ugandan shillings to 6,000 or even 7,000 shillings. In my “America-ized” mind, this didn’t mean much. In US dollars, the price of sugar went from $0.83 to $1.67 - pocket change in our understanding. Also, why even mention the price of sugar, if there were dire shortages of actual food?