Poverty in Uganda

[1] This success has been attributed to the deliberate efforts to combat poverty in the country by numerous national strategies that are explained below.

Today, an estimated 25% still live in extreme poverty but Uganda is on course to achieve its national target of reducing this number to 10% by 2017[7] Despite this progress, significant inequality still exists.

[8] A civil society parallel report on the progress made by the country highlights the possibility of the above official figures to have been exaggerated[9] The world's reduction of extreme poverty from 47% of the entire population in 1990 to 14% of the entire population has shown the possibility of eradicating extreme poverty from the world in the next generation.

The NDP 1 focused on primary growth sectors that provide direct products and services and these include Agriculture, tourism, oil and gas, manufacturing, forestry, mining and ICT.

Secondly, it focused on complementary sector which provides infrastructural support to the products;these include transport, energy and water, trade and financial services [11] In June 2015, the government of Uganda and United Nations Developmental Assistance launched the NDP II to guide Uganda's path to poverty eradication.

[12] To strengthen the country's competitiveness for sustainable wealth creation, employment and inclusive growth through: Agriculture is Uganda's main economic activity.

Twelve key agricultural products have been earmarked for investment: cotton, coffee, tea, maize, rice, cassava, beans, fish, beef, milk, citrus and bananas.

The country will focus on the exploitation of iron ore, limestone ad marble, copper, cobalt, phosphates, dimension stones and uranium.