How I See It Dr. Pamela Mbabazi

NPA has recently undertaken a mid-term review of our National Development Plan (NDP 3) and in this episode, I try to shed light on what I consider to be some of the key findings. I also try to provide some explanations of the major realities in the performance of our economy and I further highlight some of the recommendations made to enable us keep moving forwards with transforming our Ugandan society.

Land Reform in Uganda has consistently hit snags and experienced challenges with many tensions being aroused. However, the time is now for us to revive the debate and ensure we get it right. This podcast tries to resuscitate this conversation and makes a contribution towards discussing the urgent need for land reform in Uganda. It highlights the problems and tries to provide some recommendations.

This Episode tries to highlight what the state of Uganda’s public debt is, whether our debt is sustainable and makes suggestions of what needs to be done to ensure our debt remains manageable and sustainable.

UBOS released the 2019/20 report recently which showed that the poverty levels in Uganda have stagnated for a while. The highlights include the following: Uganda’s population is now 41m and our average family size stands at 4.6 persons (with the largest in Teso at 5.9 and the smallest in Kampala at 3.4)
The population below 18yrs stands at 54% of the population and of these, the urban population accounts for 27% 
The net primary primary school enrollment stands at 91% while the net secondary school enrollment is at 27% (with the highest being in Kampala at 52% and the lowest in Acholi at 7%). The literacy rate stands at 76%.
3 in 10 Ugandans have improved toilets while connection to grid electricity stands at 19% (down from 22% in 2017). Connection to solar is at 38% (up from 18% in 2017) while Mobile phone connection stands at 74%. The number of people with Radios is at 32% (down from 45% in 2017), while those with Television is 19% (up from 17% in 2017). Ownership and use of Computers is at 2% while Internet use generally is at 83% with most using the internet for social networking while only 16% use internet for business. 
Households operating a business is at 31% (down from 38% in 2017) and their major source of capital is own-savings (81% ) while only 0.4% get loans from banks.
Households in subsistence economy is at 39% i.e. 3.5m from 3.3m in 2017. 
The total population living in poverty is currently 8.3m (up from 8m in 2017). This podcasts summarizes my key takeaways from these statistics!

The parish development model was identified in NDPIII as a vehicle through which household incomes and the quality of life of Ugandans will be improved. In particular, its effective implementation could hold the key to the transformation of the 39% of Ugandans that are still in subsistence farming. The parish will be the level for conducting area-based enterprise selection and development, organization of farmers, provision of financial services, provision and coordination of social services (education, health, and water and sanitation), data collection as well as community mobilization and mindset change.

The main objective of the parish model is to increase the effectiveness of the interaction between the government and its people in order to accelerate the realization of government’s long-term goal of the socio-economic transformation.

Food Security for Uganda still needs to be strengthened. Although over 80% of Ugandans generally are food secure, this masks regional disparities and in some areas, households lack access to food yet this country is gifted by nature. More needs to be done to guarantee a suitable and nutritious meal for each and every Ugandan so as to become more productive and transform our society. This episode tries to highlight what it will take to enable us tackle issues of increased agricultural production and food security in Uganda. It’s doable and togather we can!