An expert on nutrition from Makerere University Department of Food Science and Technology, Joyce Kakuramatsi has appealed to the government to strongly link the agriculture and health sectors if the number of malnourished people is to be reduced.

Kakuramatsi says that despite being an agriculturally rich country, different parts of the country are facing adverse malnutrition.

She says lack of enough food has led to increased malnourishment in Northern Uganda which has been affected by over 20 year insurgency and Karamoja region which is facing prolonged draught as a result of global warming.

While speaking at a soybean workshop in Mukono, Kakuramatsi said that people engaged in agriculture haven't been advised by nutritionists in the health sector on what crops to grow and consume in order to remain healthy.

According to a recent statement released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the number of undernourished now stand at almost a billion people globally.

However, analysts blame the increasing levels of malnutrition to ignorance and cultural beliefs and practices. For instance in Toro and Bunyoro cultures, women aren't supposed to eat fish, chicken and fish.

The workshop was organized by the vegetable oil development programme.