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.