The National Research Repository of Uganda - NRU

Welcome to the National Research Repository of Uganda, abbreviated as "NRU". NRU was established in 2021. NRU is a collection of scholarly output by researchers from the UNCST Community, including scholarly articles and books, electronic theses and dissertations, conference proceedings, journals, technical reports and digitised library collections. It is the official Institutional Archive (IA) of UNCST.

For information about the publishers' copyright policy on archiving your articles online or in an institutional archive, visit the Sherpa Site at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php The site gives a summary of the permissions normally given as part of each publisher's copyright transfer agreement. If you wish to publish your research findings in the NRU, please contact NRU administrator at admin@uncst.go.ug for details. NRU operates both open access and closed access models. Access to fulltext has been restricted in adherence to the UNCST Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and Copyrights policies.

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Africa Portal is an online repository of open access library collection with over 3,000 books, journals, and digital documents on African policy issues. This is an initiative by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Makerere University (MAK), and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). Please visit the Africa Portal at http://www.africaportal.org/library.

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 10

Books and Book Abstracts
This community contains Open Access Books and Book Abstracts
Conference Proceedings
This community contains Ugandan Conference proceedings
Institutional Annual Research Reports
This community contains consolidated Ugandan Institutional Annual Research Reports on a broad range of subjects
Institutional Repository Policies
This community contains approved and running institutional repository policies from different research institutions
IT DevOps Communinity
IT DevOps Community

Recent Submissions

Psychological effects, coping strategies, and challenges of patient deaths on nurses at Mulago National Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda: A qualitative study
(Journal of Nursing Advances in Clinical Sciences, 2026-05-04)
Samuel Ssanyu Balamaga;
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Kinahirwe Patience
Nurses frequently encounter patient deaths, which can lead to psychological stress, yet little is known about these effects in Ugandan healthcare settings. Without institutional support, nurses may experience grief, emotional fatigue, and burnout, affecting their wellbeing and performance. The current study explored the psychological effects, coping strategies, and challenges of patient deaths on nurses working at Mulago National Referral Hospital, Uganda. This was a qualitative, exploratory study involving six individual interviews and one focus group with eight nurses (14 participants in total). Data were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed to identify emotional effects, coping strategies, and challenges. Nurses reported immediate distress, anger, sadness, feelings of inadequacy, and eventual emotional desensitization. Coping strategies included peer support, prayer, acceptance, and avoidance. Challenges included a lack of psychological support, high workloads, and emotional exhaustion. Patient deaths significantly impact nurses, who rely on informal coping mechanisms. Healthcare facilities should integrate psychological support systems, resilience training, and policies allowing recovery time.
Digital buyer exposure and supplier commitment in the global south: A field experiment on the role of racial dynamics
(Elsevier Ltd, 2026-08-27)
Vang, Jan;
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Toufighi, Seyed Pendar;
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Sahebi, Iman Ghasemian ;
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Clausen, Helene Balslev;
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Williams, Idongesit
Through a controlled field experiment in Uganda, this study investigates the impact of digital buyer exposure on smallholder farmers' commitment to selling coffee flowers in the context of socially responsible global supply chains. It addresses how digital buyer exposure influences supplier commitment and whether racial dynamics moderate this relationship. Working from the assumption that the suppliers' commitment is critical to improving their livelihood, the paper contributes to how racial concerns can be mitigated in global socially responsible supply chains; this is an ignored field in SCM. By comparing farmers exposed to a buyer video with those in a control group, the experiment uses randomization and addresses confounding factors, such as the Hawthorne effect and parallel trends, to ensure the robustness of its findings. Findings reveal that digital buyer exposure significantly increases farmers' willingness to commit, while racial dynamics play a smaller but notable role in shaping initial perceptions. However, these dynamics do not significantly diminish the positive impact of digital exposure. This suggests that digital tools effectively foster early-stage supplier commitment and relational alignment between buyers and suppliers in regions where direct interactions are limited and where distrust between buyers and suppliers constrains suppliers' opportunities to leverage the potential advantages of becoming integrated into socially responsible supply chains. The study thereby contributes to the existing literature by demonstrating the potential of digital technology to strengthen supplier commitment and mitigate the negative effects of racial dynamics. •Field experiment on digital buyer exposure in Uganda.•Video exposure increases smallholder supplier commitment.•Tests racial asymmetry as a moderation boundary condition.•Finds no significant attenuation from racial differences.•Integrates signaling and relational theory in digital sourcing.
From forests to deserts: Sequencing of the giant forest hog completes the genomic history of the African suids
(Elsevier Inc, 2026-09)
Ciucani, Marta Maria;
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Aninta, Sabhrina Gita;
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Gomes Martins, Nuno Filipe ;
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Duchêne, David A.;
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Wang, Xi;
The giant forest hog (GFH; Hylochoerus meinertzhageni), the largest and most elusive wild pig, is found in a disjunct range across tropical Africa, from Guinea to the Ethiopian highlands. The GFH has three morphologically defined subspecies. Here, we present the first whole-genome data for nine samples from Guinea and Uganda, its two most geographically distant subspecies. We identify the GFH as sister to warthogs among African suids, diverging around 4.6 Mya, with the two GFH populations splitting between 1.7 and 0.5 Mya and following distinct demographic trajectories. The deep evolutionary split is confirmed by species-level genetic differentiation and the lowest heterozygosity level in the Guinean population compared with all the African suids, likely reflecting long-term low effective population size and isolation. Our findings have implications for understanding the habitat-change consequences in African rainforests and reveal a deep evolutionary divergence within the GFH with potential conservation relevance.
Botanical diversity as a reservoir of resilience: The emergenceof new uses of wild plants under acute food shortages inKaramoja, Uganda
(John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2026-06-23)
De Meyer, Emiel;
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Emaruk, Emmanuel;
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Omeri, Simon ;
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Leese, Adam;
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Lorika, Claudias N.;
Agro‐pastoralist communities in Karamoja, Uganda, face food insecurity driven by climate variability, declining livestock numbers and crop failures. In this context, local ethnobotanical knowledge systems play a central role in subsistence and adaptation. This study examines how new uses of wild edible plants emerge under food shortages and the mechanisms underlying their emergence, transmission and establishment in Karamoja. We conducted focus group discussions and semi‐structured interviews in five villages among Tepeth and Karamojong communities, combined with walks‐in‐the‐woods for species verification. Qualitative analyses identified the drivers of change, learning pathways and linguistic practices, while logistic modelling assessed plant use patterns in villages. Participants reported the emergence of 27 previously unused edible plant species, mostly herbaceous and sourced from anthropogenic habitats. All new uses emerged during periods of severe food shortages and were developed primarily by women. Most species are consumed as leafy vegetables and are available mainly during the rainy season. Thus, wild plants constitute a living reservoir of resilience. New plant uses emerged largely through asocial learning, involving individual experimentation and trial and error. These uses were subsequently transmitted within and between villages through social learning, as reflected in shared vernacular names and narratives of knowledge transfer. The mechanisms of emergence, transmission and gradual integration of these practices meet the first two of the four core criteria of cumulative cultural evolution and show indications of the remaining two. These results show that the outcomes in rangeland systems depend on how culturally embedded values, norms and perceptions shape behaviour over time. Interventions must therefore recognize locally driven innovation, safeguard access to natural resources and align with the adaptive logics through which pastoralist communities manage rangelands. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Lesion viral burden, multidrug-resistant superinfection, and HIV-associated haematological vulnerability in hospitalised clade Ib mpox: a prospective cohort study in Uganda
(Elsevier B.V, 2026-09)
Serwanga, Jennifer;
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Kaweesa, Raymond Ernest;
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Odoch, Geoffrey ;
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Nairuba, Brenda;
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Mukisa, Deborah;
Mpox has shifted to sustained human-to-human transmission across Africa, yet integrated triage incorporating viral burden, bacterial co-infection, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), HIV status, and routine biomarkers remain scarce. At Uganda's national mpox referral hospital, we prospectively enrolled 155 adults at 14 ± 2 days post-symptom onset; mpox was confirmed by lesion-swab qPCR (F3L), with clade assignment by whole-genome sequencing in a prespecified subset (March–April 2025). Lesion viral DNA burden was estimated using qPCR cycle threshold (Ct) values. Purulent lesions underwent EUCAST-standardised culture and susceptibility testing. Routine laboratory assessments included complete blood counts, C-reactive protein, serum chemistries, HIV serostatus, and plasma HIV-1 RNA. Median age was 30 years, and 73/155 (47%) had HIV infection. Multisite pain, particularly anogenital, was highly prevalent. Among 80 participants with purulent lesions selected for clinically suspected bacterial superinfection, all yielded bacterial growth; 35/80 (43.8%) were polymicrobial and predominantly multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacilli. Susceptibility to first-line β-lactams and fluoroquinolones was low, whereas meropenem retained activity (51/61, 84%). Lesion viral burden did not differ by HIV serostatus and showed weak correlation with HIV-1 viraemia; higher burden was associated with leucocytosis, neutrophilia with left shift, elevated CRP, and hypoalbuminaemia. Genomes clustered within Clade Ib, without segregation by HIV status or clinical severity. Hospitalised adults with acute Clade Ib mpox in Uganda exhibited high lesion viral burden, frequent multidrug-resistant bacterial co-isolation, and an inflammatory haematological profile accentuated in participants living with HIV-1. These findings support consideration of integrating diagnostic microbiology, HIV viral load assessment, and antimicrobial stewardship into mpox case-management in endemic settings. This study was supported by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI; Project ID PRJ-8284).