By Ivan Mafigiri – Daily Monitor
In the 1830s, the Rev. Thomas Malthus foresaw the dangers of a rapid population growth to include famine, civil strife, war, infant mortality and was quick to highlight the importance of family planning. It is this concept that has continued to elude countries in sub-Saharan Africa - Uganda inclusive.
Uganda’s demographic profile is one of the country’s most salient development challenges considering the high fertility rate of nearly seven children per woman, almost doubling our population in the past 20 years to about 33 million in 2011. This high rate of population growth has continued to create pressure and strains on the natural resources, arable land and ideally driving up the poverty rate whilst threatening the future gains in agricultural production and food security.
What is more disconcerting, however, is that about 69 per cent of the population are the energetic youths below 25 years facing unemployment-many of them university graduates! With a population growth of about 3.2 per cent and high fertility rates, Uganda has a population with the youngest age structure in the world and it continues to grow by about 1 million per year. The effect of such a young population on the economy is one that should be given maximum attention.
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