Housing, water and sanitation implications on food insecurity and diet diversity in landslide affected communities: A cross-sectional survey of two districts in Uganda

Abstract

Summary Background The major landslide of 2010 in Bududa district in Eastern Uganda is the most catastrophic natural disaster in Uganda's recorded history. An estimated 350 people died and some of the affected were resettled in Kiryandongo district. We assessed housing, water and sanitation practises of affected households and controls to establish possible implications on food insecurity and diet diversity. Methods This cross-sectional study assessed 1078 affected and control households in Bududa and Kiryandongo districts. The head of the households were either affected, selected from landslide disaster-affected communities, or controls from a random sub-county bordering the affected. Structured interviews were used and entries were tested statistically to report crude estimates based on the Pearson x2 and ANOVA, while adjusted analysis used multivariate analysis of co-variance (MANCOVA) and Wald's Odds Ratio (OR) of Binary Logistic Regression at the 95% CI. Results On adjusting for the disaster and covariates, households who had insufficient access to water scored higher mean (SE) on food insecurity than those who reported sufficient access: 13.1 (0.4) vs. 9.5 (0.3) (P Conclusion Disaster, food security and diet were sensitive to housing, water and sanitation and were integral to an adequate standard of living of victims of this landslide.