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Ndinawe Byekwaso
Uganda’s population grows by a colossal one million people annually according to press reports. Impressive economic growth figures apart, is there empirical evidence to show that there is corresponding food increase to cope with the population?
What are Uganda’s economic policies to avert the looming disaster? On food production, there has been intermittent drought in the country causing food shortage. When the rains come and there is food production, what shows that there is constant sustainable increments in its production?
growth and development are a function of savings and investment. Since our development strategy is to rely on private initiative for our development goals, our aims and objectives will be undermined by the population growth.
In order to bring about national development under this approach, people are supposed to save a certain percentage of their income, which, they will eventually accumulate into capital that w
ill
transform our economy. They will use the accumulated capital to buy technology necessary for production of manufactured and capital goods for sustainable advancement. Judging by what happens to parents at thebeginning of every school term, it is not difficult to conclude that this will not be possible. They scratch their heads to raise huge amounts of money to pay for tuition and other requirements. At the end of the day, children, whether biological or otherwise, make people live from hand to mouth. In the past, the future of a person depended on the children, today the children are not a guaranteed investment. In the rural areas which we depend on for food, though school fees overburden the parents too, there is acute shortage of labour to work on farms. This can be seen at the beginning of every season. The peasants work from morning to sunset. The lack of labour and success from the land compels parents to produce more children! Some children can till the land to ensure
one of
them gets some education. In the rural areas, survival is a function of numbers. The scaring news of population explosion implies that we intensify family planning campaigns and programmes. This is a necessary condition but not enough to stem off the looming disaster.
The only viable alternative is to plan for the increasing population and make the youth produce more food both for their livelihood and the growing population.
The writer is an MA student of development studies, Uganda
martyrs University
Published on: Friday, 15th October, 2004 |
