UGANDA’S POPULATION IS SOON CLOCKING 33 MILLION PEOPLE AND WOULD SURPASS KENYA’S IN 40 YEARS TIME.
News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.
UGANDA’S population is soon clocking 33 million people, and the country will hit over 90 million people in the next 40 years.
The 2009 State of the World Population report by the United Nations Population Fund shows that the country’s population is now 32.7 million people. This is an increase from 31.9 people in 2008.
The report is set to be released and launched tonight at a function at Sheraton Hotel, Kampala, according to a report appearing in the today’s edition of the government owned NEWVISION.
It indicates that Uganda’s population growth rate is currently at 3.3 per cent, a rise from 3.2 per cent last year.
The rapid rise places Uganda among the top five fastest growing countries in the world, coming after the failed states like Somalia, Afghanistan and East Timor.
Uganda’s fertility rate has slightly failed from 6.4 children per woman in 2008 to 6.2 children per woman this year. Nevertheless, it is still among the top five in the world, coming after failed states of Somalia, Afghanistan and East Timor.
A comparison also shows that Uganda Gross National Income per capita has improved from USD 880 last year to USD 1,040 this year.
Another highlight is that Uganda’s life expectancy for men has improved from 51 to 52.8 years, while women are now expected to live to 54.1 compared to 52.5 last year.
At the current growth rate, Uganda’s population will be over 91 million by 2050. It will surpass Kenya’s, which is currently at approximately 40 million {before the release of this year’s national census, and expected to be 85.5 million by 2050.
Regionally, Uganda’s population growth is higher than eastern African average, which stands at 2.6 per cent. In the use of contraception for birth control, Uganda scores below the Eastern Africa average. Less than a quarter of all Ugandan women use contraceptives..
The report notes that family planning and gender issues could influence the future course of climate change and affect how people adapt to rising seas, worsening storms, risk to humans and severe droughts.
“Slower population growth would help build social resilience to the effects of climate change and would contribute to a drastic reduction of greenhouses-gas emissions in the future”, It says in part.
The temperature of the earth surface has risen 0.74 degrees Celsius in the past 100 years, sufficient to disrupt many of the planet’s ecosystems and pose significant risk to humans”, the report says.
“If recent trends continue, the earth’s temperature may rise another four to six degrees by 2100, with likely catastrophic effect on the environment, habitat and economies and the people”.
Climate change, the report warns, has the potential to reverse the hard earned development of the past decades, food availability and possible health crises.
Also large scale migration will intensify as people abandon drought stricken areas. This could lead to health problems and civil strife.
The report predicts that millions of people living in low lying coastal areas will need to leave their homes if sea level rises.
The influence of human ability on climate is not only about consumption pattern, but also about numbers, the UN agency notes, adding that the world population is approaching seven billion marks.
“As the growth of economies, population and consumption and paces the earth’s capacity to adjust, climate change could become more extreme”.
It further notes that the developing countries have been responsible for a smaller share of greenhouses emissions, yet they are shouldering more of the burden for coping with extreme weather conditions.
Nevertheless, the UN agency recommends slower population growth in both developed and developing countries to ease the task of bringing global emission into balance with atmosphere.
The challenge that will preoccupy the next generation, the UN report concludes, is to prepare, while keeping human activities from sending the climate beyond human habitability.
Ends