NEWS: Uganda’s population explosion a time bomb - new report

Uganda’s population explosion a time bomb - new report

Saturday, April 17, 2009 from MONITOR ONLINE:

Uganda’s rapid population growth is putting significant pressure on the country’s food, water and energy resources, a report has revealed.

According to the State of East Africa 2008 report sanctioned by the Society of International Development (SID), the region’s rich natural resources are to take a severe strain as more ordinary people aspire for prosperity.

The study under the theme Nature Under Pressure, covers Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi – the five countries that form the East African Community bloc. It also warns about the devastating effects of climate change.

According to the report, Ugandans are the East Africans who got to bed with the fullest stomachs, but the availability of food could be behind the country’s astronomical population growth.

An average Ugandan consumes 2,380Kcalories per day, while Burundians consume the least at 1,600Kcalories. Kenyans (2,150), Rwandans (2,070) and Tanzanians (1,960) follow in that order.

The SID report projects that East Africa’s population, which currently stands at 125 million, will meanwhile reach 190 million in 2030.

However, the biggest increase will come from Uganda, because the national population growth rate of 3.2 percent per annum is the highest in the world.

The information officer at the Population Secretariat, Mr Hannington Burunde says Uganda’s population, which currently stands at 31m, will reach a staggering 130 million in 2050.