Uganda

THE REPUBLIC OF Uganda is one of the poorest countries in the world. The percentage of the total population living below $1 a day was 82.2 in 2001. Undernourished people comprised 21 percent of the total population in 2000, a decline from 29 percent 10 years earlier. Another improvement was seen from 1990 to 2001, when the literacy rate for youth (people aged 15 to 24) increased from 70.1 to 79.4 percent. Despite these encouraging growth rates, a number of other measures indicate a generally low level of socioeconomic development for Uganda. For example, the probability at birth of surviving to age 40 is only 41 percent (2000–05 estimates). Also, nearly half the population of Uganda lacks access to a regulated freshwater supply. It is noteworthy as well that 23 percent of children less than 5 years of age are underweight. Uganda, like a number of other African countries, has experienced a high incidence of both AIDS/HIV. Current indications suggest that the country will continue to suffer from severe poverty for years to come.

Uganda is a landlocked country in east Africa bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, and Tanzania. The country gained independence from the United Kingdom on October 9, 1962, following more than 100 years in a colonial status. Uganda lies in a band of tropical climate and it receives ample rainfall. Natural resources within Uganda include copper, cobalt, limestone, and salt. In addition, large expanses of arable land (26 percent of total land area) are present and hydroelectric power is generated. Agriculture is the leading economic activity in Uganda and this sector employs over 80 percent of the labor force. Chief crops are coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, a variety of grains, poultry, and milk.

The industrial sector employs five percent of the workforce and a growing service sector accounts for an estimated 13 percent. Uganda's import-export profile is indicative of its developing country status. Exports are primarily low-value-added commodities (with the exception of coffee), including fish and fish products, gold, cotton, and flowers. Conversely, imports represent high-value-added items like capital equipment, motorized vehicles, medical supplies, processed cereals, and petroleum. Uganda's main trading partner is Kenya. Fourteen percent of Uganda's exports go to Kenya and 29 percent of its imports are from that neighboring country.

The population of Uganda is approximately 27.3 million and its rate of natural increase (RNI) is 3.3 percent (2005 estimates). The country's RNI is nearly three times the world rate and is derived from the difference between the birthrate (47 births per 1,000 population) and the death rate (14 deaths per 1,000 population). If the current RNI were to hold steady for 23 years, Uganda's total population would double to 55 million people in 23 years. An increase of this proportion would only worsen the poverty conditions already seen within the country. Infant mortality rates as well are far above world average. In 2005, 68 of every 1,000 live [Page 1085]births did not survive their first year. Life expectancy at birth for the total population is 52 years and the total fertility rate for women in the childbearing years (ages 15 to 45) is 6.7 children, a rate far exceeding the world average.

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