Poverty and poverty alleviation programmes: the experience of Uganda

Abstract

The paper addresses itself on the experience in Uganda regarding poverty and poverty alleviation programs. Uganda's geographical setting is characterised by being a landlocked country astride the equator and bounded by Sudan in the North, Kenya in the East, Tanzania and Rwanda in the South and Zaire in the West. It is composed of a central raised undulating plateau which moderates its temperatures. Over 70 per cent of Uganda's arable land (142,00 sq km) is of sufficient fertility for agricultural production . Its population has risen steadily from hardly 2.5 million in 1911 to over 16.6 M in 1991 at an average growth rate of about 2.5 per cent though between 1959 and 1989 the rate rose to 3.8 per cent. The majority of the people live in rural areas. The urban population forms II per cent and live in the city, the main towns and trading centres of more than 2,000 people.