The impact of geography on the growth of Uganda

Introduction

The location of Uganda as a landlocked country within the region of East Africa largely affects its economic growth. The country’s population according to the 2009 survey was estimated at 30.7 million of people with a comparatively high population growth rate in the Sub-Saharan Africa. The country has considerable productive soils and rainfall; which allow over 80% of the rural population to depend on rain-fed agriculture (KAS, 2013).

The adverse effects of climate change in Uganda have been affecting the agricultural developments in the country hence affecting the economic, as well as the social-cultural developments within the country. In particular, the prolonged and frequent droughts across several regions in Uganda, especially the Northeast regions have led to an everlasting dependence of food aid. Also, the effects of climate on Uganda’s agriculture sector, the backbone of the economy, have frequently resulted in higher food prices. As a consequence, this has often reduced the food supplies in the markets to prolonged dry spell within the country. Consequently, increased demand for food commodities from neighboring countries namely Kenya, Rwanda, and South Sudan have risen in the last five years (KAS, 2013).

The overall effect of climate change and reduced agricultural output have led to lower domestic revenues of the country due to scarcity and reduced earnings from export. Moreover, this has largely contributed to increased inflation due to accumulated foreign debts, as well as the depreciation of the Ugandan shilling. Additionally, the most effects of climate and weather variability have affected not only the growth of the agricultural sector, but also other critical areas including, energy, water, and transport sectors. As a result, the impact of Ugandan geography has largely reduced the growth of economic and social development of the country (KAS, 2013).

Reference

Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). (2013).Uganda’s Economic Development the Challenges and Opportunities of Climate Change. Retrieved on 12th January 2016 from http://www.kas.de/wf/doc/kas_38731-544-1-30.pdf?140909095608

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