Uganda

Background

Uganda is a landlocked country in east
Africa. Uganda is bordered by South
Sudan to the north, the democratic
republic of Congo to the west, Rwanda
and Tanzania to the south and Kenya to
the east.

Uganda became a British territory in
1890. It became independent in 1962.…

The south of Uganda is heavily influenced by Lake Victoria, one of the world's biggest lakes.
Lake Victoria prevents temperatures from varying significantly and moderates precipitation.
Most cities are located in the south.
The area of Uganda is 241,038 square kilometres (93,072 miles). This means that Uganda is
the 81st…

GNI per capita (2011) $1,124
(1990) $517
GNI per capita (PPP) (1990) $517
(2011) $1328
GDP (PPP) (2013) $54.34 billion
(2012) $51.47 billion
(2011) $50.08 billion
GDP growth rate (2013) 5.6%
(2012) 2.8%
(2011) 6.2%
GDP per capita (2013) $1,500
Water withdrawal per capita (2005) 12.31 cubic m/yr
Water withdrawal…

Debt interest (% of GDP per year ) (1990) 0.8%
(2010 0.1%
Debt as a % of GDP (1990) 61 %
(2010) 18%

Government spending (% of GDP) (1990) 7.5%
(2010) 11.8%


Economy

Uganda is vulnerable to changes in the world price of
coffee, its main export earner. Oil discoveries…

Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, employing over 80% of the workforce.
Main agricultural products are; coffee, tea, cotton, tobacco, cassava, tapioca, potatoes, corn,
millet, pulses, cut flowers, beef, goat meat, milk and poultry.

Just 13% of farmers in Uganda buy improved seed from formal markets, the…

2. The country has to be facing an unsustainable debt burden that cannot be addressed
through traditional debt relief mechanisms.
3. The country has developed a poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP) through a broad
based participatory process in the country.

Uganda was the first country to benefit from the HIPC…

Threats

Security and the Lord's Resistant Army

Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) was forced out of northern Uganda in 2005/06 and has been under
military pressure in border regions in recent years. Until relatively recently, the lives of hundreds
of thousands of people in northern Uganda were blighted by one of…

The colonial boundaries created by Britain grouped together a wide range of ethnic groups with
different ideas of how their country should be governed and different cultures. These
differences have been argued to be partially why Uganda has found it so hard to develop. Conflict
between rebel forces, armed gangs,…

Climate change

Severe floods affected Uganda in September 2011. Floods are believed to increase in frequency
and magnitude due to climate change in east Africa which could cause problems for development.

The northeast region of Karamoja region has the driest climate and is prone to droughts. The
frequency and magnitudes…

Uganda is rated as very corrupt by transparency international.




Terrorism

In 2010 bomb attacks in Kampala killed over 70 people. The attacks were blamed on the
fundamentalist Islamic militant group Al-Shabaab.