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Talking points

Brussels Development Briefings n. 16: “ Population growth and its implications for ACP rural development ” Brussels, 27th January 2010 http://brusselsbriefings.net Mona Herbert, Senior Advocacy Officer, DSW Uganda. Talking points. Uganda’s demographic outlook (with focus on youth)

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Talking points

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  1. Brussels Development Briefings n. 16: “Population growth and its implications for ACP rural development” Brussels, 27th January 2010 http://brusselsbriefings.net Mona Herbert, Senior Advocacy Officer, DSW Uganda

  2. Talking points • Uganda’s demographic outlook (with focus on youth) • (Uganda’s population growth): Taking note of implications • The East African region (RHCS needs)

  3. Uganda’s demographic outlook (focus on youth)

  4. Uganda’s Population dynamics 1. Total Population (million) 29.6 % 2. Total Male Population (million) 14.2 % 3. Total Female Population (million) 15.2 % 4. Total Urban Population (million) 3.9 % 5. Population Growth Rate (%) 3.2 % 6. Urban Population Growth Rate (%) 5.7 % 7. Total Fertility Rate 6.7 8. Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (%) 24 % Source: The State Of Uganda Population Report 2008

  5. Uganda’s Population dynamics • Supervised Deliveries (%) 42 % • 10. Full Immunization (%) 46 % • 11. Unmet Need for Family Planning (%) 41 % • 12. Stunted Children (%) 38 % • 13. HIV Prevalence Rate (%) 6.4 % • 14. Literacy Rate (%) 69 % • 15. Life Expectancy (years) 50.4 • 19. Population in Poverty (%) 31 % Source: The State Of Uganda Population Report 2008

  6. Dynamics Cont… • Over 70% of the total population is not in productive employment hence increasing dependency and poverty • About 68% of the population is engaged in subsistence farming • At least 60% of the population is either children or elderly, or unemployed, i.e. not contributing to meaningful national development • Uganda’s population will double by 2025

  7. Uganda’s Very Young Population

  8. Issues for youth population • Youth (ages 0-29) approximately 67percent or more of total population • Mid-Adults (ages 30-59) approximately 18-27 percent of total population • Seniors (ages 60+) approximately 3-6 percent of total population • Demographic character Pyramidal shaped; progressively larger bulges in young adults and child portion of the age profile • Population doubling time 20-35 years • Females (10-24yrs) constitute 52 percent of the 10.2 million. • 12 percent of the teenagers live in urban while 9 percent live in rural areas. • More than 50 percent of adolescent girls give birth by the age of 20. • In 2002 15 percent of the teenagers in the age bracket of 12 – 17 years were child mothers.

  9. Young peoples Reproductive Health • By the age of 15, 43% of young women are sexually active and 62% have already begun child bearing by the age of 19 Maiden age at first birth has remained around 18.5 for the past 30 years. • Despite of the high contraceptive knowledge level, contraceptive use is lower among younger Ugandan women. Only 9% of all 15-19 females were currently using some sort of family planning method. • 28% of young men believe that a woman has no right to tell a man to use a condom • Children born to young mothers suffer a higher mortality rate than those born to older mothers. • An estimate of 117,000 unsafe abortions occur every year in Uganda and over half (55%) of these occur in among young women aged 17-20

  10. Health Economy Population Agriculture Education Urbanisation Environment Recognising Implications

  11. Health • The general health status of Uganda’s population is of major national concern. In addition and more specifically, women and children continue to suffer and die from preventable causes. In Uganda, access to preventive and curative health care remains a main challenge but this is particularly so regarding reproductive health. • The goal to achieve adequate quality health care services for the entire population, such as Primary Health Care (PHC), is likely to be more difficult given the high population growth rate and poverty levels in the country. The situation is compounded by the prevailing high fertility, high unmet need for family planning, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

  12. The country must be prepared to expand and improve the quality of health services such as public-private partnerships to cater for the growing population if the economic growth is to be sustained. Health cont..

  13. Urbanisation • The increase in the urban population from 1.6 million to 3.6 million (11.3 to 12.3 percent) between 1991 and 2002 has not been matched with growth and development in basic physical infrastructure, such as housing, social amenities, management and skills. This has created a situation of overcrowding, slums, spread of squatter settlements, substandard housing, traffic jams and poor sanitation and waste management, with the attendant effects on the health and welfare of the people, especially, unemployment. • Rural–urban shift is likely to increase due to seasonality of agricultural work and lack of additional work resulting into underemployment in the rural areas. Rural-urban migration has contributed to the development of urban slums, and increased the number of urban poor, unemployment, and put further pressures on existing social services especially in Kampala city, but increasingly also in other upcountry urban centres.

  14. Agriculture • Agriculture is the dominant sector of Uganda’s economy. It contributes about 38.5% of GDP, (census 2002) more than 90% of the country’s export earnings and provides a livelihood to about 90% of the population. However, much of the agriculture in the country is primarily carried out on smallholding basis, which accounts for over 90% of the total agriculture output. Most households (68%) derive their livelihood from subsistence farming, which contributes 77% of the total employment. Agro-based industries remain few, uncommon, and this tends to depress prices of agricultural exports

  15. Agriculture cont.. • At the current rate of population growth, the number of people surviving on subsistence farming will increase tremendously, which will put further pressure on land causing exhaustion and soil degradation. • There is a growing level of landlessness amidst families that are large and poor. Most households own an average of less than 2 acres. This means increased over-cultivation of land year after year, resulting in loss of soil fertility as there is no use of fertilizers.

  16. The rapid population growth, coupled with freehold tenancy land policy has predisposed rural areas to land fragmentation, increased intensity of land use to maintain income levels and subsequent lowered individual incomes due to reduced farm holdings. Individuals and communities are forced to encroach on forests, wetlands, riverbanks, lakeshores, and game reserves, creating undesired and unsustainable use of the environment and natural resources. Land as a resource

  17. Population, Fertility and Poverty • Early child-bearing contributes to high fertility as well as having socio-economic consequences for the individual like school drop-out, unemployment, as well as health implications such as high maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. • In some rural areas, families with large numbers of children and where the traditional practices of dividing land at every generation exists, this has led to further fragmentation of small individual farm holdings leading to low yield and low income.

  18. Environment • The economic base of Uganda heavily depends on its natural resources such as land for cash and food crops, lakes for fish and game reserves for tourism. Uganda should employ sustainable use of resources by addressing factors that clearly threaten the PEAP objectives and the quality and quantity of resources on which sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction depend. 74. Uganda’s forest coverage has shrunk over the past century from 52% to 24% of the total land area. Forestry is a major source of energy and accounts for 92% of the total energy consumed by the nation. The increasing population and its attendant demand on natural resources have led to a marked destruction of the main source of energy for cooking (fire wood). The expansion of agricultural land and demand for fuel-wood has led to depletion of the wetland, marginal land and forests.

  19. Environment cont… • Only 2.6% rural and 39% urban dwellers use electricity (lighting); while 94% of rural dwellers use firewood and 66% urban use charcoal for cooking (Census 2002). The destruction of forests and game reserves for timber and traditional cultivation has increased. Continued population growth will lead to further environmental degradation and pollution, and will affect agricultural productivity, expose greater numbers to poverty and ultimately undermine the national capability to achieve food security and sustainable development.

  20. What about the East African region? Status of Selected RH/RHCS Indicators in East Africa – Total Fertility Rate Source: UNFPA

  21. Maternal Mortality Ratio and CPR for East Africa Countries Source: UNFPA

  22. RHCS: within the Context of Poverty Reduction & Women Empowerment RH Health – Maternal health, family planning, adolescent health, etc HIV Prevention RHCS Med Equipments, Kits & Emergency Supplies Contraceptives including Condoms Maternal Health Drugs STI Drugs Logistics Management Information & Procurement System Policy and Advocacy Health System+ Donor coordination and financing Health Manpower Management Individual Health

  23. The attainment of Millennium Development Goals with emphasis on No. 4, 5,6 and 7, will depend on availability of RH services and supplies for the ever growing rural population. Millennium Development Goals dimension

  24. From an advocacy point of view on population growth, “Produce children by choice not by chance”

  25. Uganda Demographic Health Survey 2000/1, 2006 - UBOS Population and Housing Census 2001 - UBOS Fact sheet on Demographic characteristics of Young people (10 – 24yrs) in Uganda – UNFPA. Deeper Analysis of UDHS 2006 – Teenage Pregnancy and Family planning – UBOS. Deeper Analysis of UDHS 2006 – Reproductive Health of Young People – UBOS. Adolescent Reproductive Health situation in Uganda - Alan Guttmacher Institute Uganda Population policy (2008) State of Uganda population report (2008) Sources:

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