Uganda

Country Profile

Uganda is a landlocked, equatorial, low-income country with a primarily warm, tropical climate. The vast majority (approximately 84 percent) of the population lives in rural areas and approximately twenty percent of the population lives below the poverty line. The primary hazards Ugandans face vary by region and include floods (in the center and the east, as well as along other major rivers), droughts (especially in the north-east and center of the country), landslides and mudslides (along the Kenyan border in the east), epidemics, and earthquakes (along the western border). Hundreds of thousands of people are also at risk from volcanic eruptions in the southwest, though there have been no eruptions in recent years and data on potential future eruptions is lacking. On average, 200,000 Ugandans are affected by disasters every year. Upwards of 80 percent of Ugandans are dependent on rain-fed agriculture, and the agricultural sector as a whole produces 25 percent of Uganda’s GDP. Although food insecurity is not a chronic problem in most areas (89 percent of the population is considered food secure) droughts and floods periodically threaten agricultural production, and hence food security. The impacts of drought are exacerbated by desertification and environmental degradation. Floods, such as those experienced in 2007, lead to fatalities and cause major damage to crops, schools, and other infrastructure.