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Wrong Side of The Gap
Case Study: Uganda
A2 Geography
Uganda
• Is a green and fertile country
• Two rainy seasons keep it well watered
• Pop’n 32 million
• Has good resources –copper, cobalt, HEP
• Has good soils – coffee, tobacco, sugar,
tea
• It should be wealthy so why HDI of 0.505
when UK is 0.946?
Uganda
• GDP in PPS$ - $1,454. UK - $33,238
• Uganda’s economy is based nearly solely
on the export of primary products
• Prices of these are low because of global
glut in supply
• Govt tax income is low from exports
• Very few wealthy people and companies
• Govt spending is therefore low.
Life and Health
• For poorest 20% IMR – 106/1000 (1 in 9)
• Skilled health workers attend only 20% of births
• For richest 20% - 77% of births have skilled health
workers (IMR – 20/1000)
• 4 times higher than UK
• New baby not well fed as 24% of families
undernourished
• LE – 49.7yrs due to HIV/AIDS compared to 79 in UK
• New borne in Uganda only have a 62% chance of
reaching 40yrs old (UK – 91%)
Life and Health
• Other killers include Malaria and Cholera
• Poor living conditions
• Only 60% have access to clean water (In a
‘wet’ country)
• 43% access to improved sanitation
systems
• Uganda did spearhead a HIV/AIDS
programme which now means a new born
now only has a 6% chance of catching the
disease.
Education
Education
• Primary education is free and universal
• Only 17% of girls attend secondary school
• Few govt schools most families have to
pay
• A coffee growing family earning £200 a
year would have little left for education
(£20 per term)
• Therefore girls lose out
• New borne unlikely to go to University
• Govt only funds 4 out of 16 Universities
• Only one place for every 30,000 students
available
Education
• After a limited education most women
marry by 15 in rural Uganda with
motherhood following shortly after
• They are family assets as they attract a
dowry
• They can have many children as fertility
rates are 6.8 children per family
WHY?
• Until recently Uganda has a massive debt
burden dating back from the 1970’s and
80’s
• After independence in 1962 Uganda
inherited a successful economy self
sufficient in farming with small holders
supplying coffee and cotton for export
• Stable economy, low debts, trade and
manu’ing thriving
1971
• Idi Amin came to power
• Overthrew democratic govt with military
regime
• Violence and civil war ensued
• Removal of wealthy Asian citizens and
freezing of their assets left little to tax
and the revenue system collapsed
• Large scale borrowing began Some off
UK
• Continued to 1979 when he himself was
overthrown
Present Day
• During the 1980’s Ugandan debt
increased.
• By 1992 it stood at $1.9 billion
• Service payments grew considerably –
could not repay loans
• By early 1990’s it’s annual debt
repayments exceeded exports
• In 2000 IMF and WB cancelled most of
Uganda’s debts through the ‘Highly
Indebted Poor Countries ‘ (HIPC) debt
relief initiative worth around $1.5 billion
Homework
• Explain how Ugandan debt increased
markedly during the 1980’s and early
1990’s
• Describe the Highly Indebted Countries
Initiative and explain what it has meant to
those countries involved.
Finally
• Though fictional the Oscar winning film
‘Last King of Scotland’ shows the extent of
the Idi Amin government and some of the
issues of the time.