Uganda Problems 6-10-24

High Levels of Corruption: Transparency International's (TI) 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Uganda 142 out of 180 countries, improving two places from the previous year. Land-related fraud and corruption are common especially as complex land laws lead to frequent land disputes. 

President Yoweri Museveni's growing authoritarianism and the country's weak institutions are multiplying Uganda's challenges. Conflict risks at the local level are rising due to uncertain political succession, economic stagnation, a youth bulge and an influx of refugees from South Sudan.

More than 62 percent of refugees in Uganda are from South Sudan, where people face violence, food insecurity, and a lack of access to basic services such as health and education.

Due to a high dependency on work in agriculture and the informal sector, there is a lack of skilled labor among Ugandans. Without skilled labor, it is challenging for Uganda to obtain important non-monetary resources and narrows subsistence options.

Safety net programs are of limited availability in Uganda, which increases the vulnerability of households to fall back into poverty. In 2013, it was reported that only one percent of Uganda’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was spent on social security. This percentage is much lower than the 2.8 percent average for Sub-Saharan Africa. Due to this lack of social security, 35 percent of Ugandans rely on their life savings and 25 percent rely on their family. This makes falling back into poverty highly likely for a majority of people.

Agriculture contributed to 79 percent of poverty reduction in Uganda between 2006 and 2013, but there is still much room for improvement. Though a large portion of the population earns its livelihood through agriculture, there is still an excess in labor opportunities. Further improvement in productivity of agriculture is necessary to provide more work and bring people out of poverty.

https://borgenproject.org/causes-poverty-in-uganda/#:~:text=Due%20to%20a%20high%20dependency,resources%20and%20narrows%20subsistence%20options.

Comments

If the US unleashes oil production in 2025, Inflation due to higher food and transportation costs will be lowered. There are 2.3 million refugees from South Sudan, most are women and children. 41% are in Uganda. With 80% Arable Land, Uganda should be able to put these refugees to work to grow the food they need until South Sudan becomes safer.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader