Research Policy Briefs and Guidelines

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Sustainable Development Beyond Rio+ 10: Consolidating Environmental Democracy in Uganda Through Access to Justice, Information and Participation
(Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment, 2002) Tumushabe, Godber; Bainomugisha, Arthur; Makumbi, Irene; Mwebaza, Rose; Manyindo, Jacob; Mwenda, Andrew
The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) due to take place in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002 is yet another key milestone in the formulation of strategies for achieving global sustainable development. The Summit, also known as Rio + 10, is an important event in the growth of global environmentalism in at least three ways.1 First, it is taking place a whole generation after the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972.2 Second, the WSSD represents a decade of implementation of the commitments made by governments at the United Nations Conference on Development and Environment (UNCED).3 Third, the WSSD is a fundamental opportunity for Governments and all other actors to work together to find practical ways of operationalizing sustainable development principles by focussing on both the substantive commitments, as well as the means of implementing already existing ones.
Uganda
(Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators, 2002) Beintema, Nienke M.; Tizikara, Clesensio
This brief reviews the major investment and institutional trends in Ugandan public agricultural research since the early 1990s, drawing directly on a new set of survey data collected through the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) initiative.
The Costs Of Environmental Degradation And Loss To Uganda’s Economy With Particular Reference To Poverty Eradication
(IUCN - The World Conservation Union, Eastern Africa Regional Office, Nairobi., 2002) Moyini, Yakobo; Muramira, Eugene; Emerton, Lucy; Shechambo, Fanuel
Although Uganda's environment and natural resources (ENR) sectors (including agriculture, forests, wild life, wetlands and others) contribute significantly to the economy, only a portion of their contribution is captured in official statistics. A large part of economic values accruing at local, national and global levels is taken for granted by not being valued in money terms. Official statistics indicate that in 1999 for example, the ENR sector contributed over 90 percent of Uganda's exports and supplied more than 90 percent of Uganda's energy requirements in terms of firewood and charcoal for domestic use. The contribution of the environment to the national economy in Uganda is exemplified by the fact that livelihoods of many Ugandans are intimately tied to the environment both as a source of subsistence household requirements including food and fuel, and as a basis for production. Uganda’s agricultural, art and crafts and mining sectors are directly dependent on the environment and natural resource base. Despite the absence of recent data from labour force surveys in Uganda, the ENR sector is believed to provide gainful informal employment to many Ugandans, particularlyin rural areas. In 1998, it was estimated that 80 percent of the labour force was engaged in agriculture (MFPED,2000a). Since the sector directly supports the livelihoods of many Ugandans, it is an important factor to be taken into account in poverty eradication strategies of the country. The contribution of the ENR sector to the national economy can be categorized into four types of values, namely: Direct use values, Indirect use values, Option values and Existence values. Direct use values of the environment and natural resources are those that are derived by consuming goods and services directly such as timber, building poles, local medicines, wild foods and recreation. Indirect use values, on the other hand, are those values derived by consuming or benefiting from critical ecological life supporting services of environment including protection of watersheds, controlling floods and storms, absorption of carbon dioxide (carbon sequestration) and regulating climate. Option values represent the importance that people attach in not using some resources to meet today’s needs by maintaining/conserving environmental resourcesfor possible future use, directly, indirectly, including uses which may be unknown today, such as cure for diseases like AIDS. The option value is analogous to setting aside a part of one’s income in a saving account for use on a ‘rainy’ day. Lastly, the intrinsic value of environmental resources is the cultural/religious significance of environment and natural resources, irrespective of their use.
Uganda’s access to the European Union agricultural market: Challenges and opportunities
(Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment ACODE, 2003) Mugyenyi, Onesmus; Naluwairo, Ronald
The last three decades of trade between Uganda and European Union have not benefited Uganda. Generally the annual trade balance has been negative raising the level of Uganda's external debt to US$ 3.68 billion as of June ,2000. The Lomé Trading arrangement (1975-2000) has not been able to change the trend due to a number of challenges. The Cotonou Partnership Agreement and the EBA initiative may not be able to change the trend unless these challenges have been addressed. The major constraints have been internal, external and structural. The internal factors range from poor trade policies, inadequate support to private sector, narrow export base, reliance on export of raw materials and high level corruption. The external factors include non-tariff barriers, protectionist policies, subsidies, tariff peaks and escalation. The structural challenges mainly relate to poor infrastructure, poor product quality, poor and obsolete technology, poor marketing techniques and insufficient market knowledge which can be summarized as supply side constraints.
Improving Resource Access Processes in Protected Areas
(Uganda Wildlife Society, 2004) CARE International in Uganda
National Parks in Uganda provide essential goods and services to both rural and urban populations, such as craft materials, herbal medicine, water, fuel wood, fodder, timber and ecological functions like soil erosion control and improvement of soil fertility. As a result, the ecological integrity of national parks in Uganda influences the rate at which various sections of the society in the country can meet poverty reduction goals.
Towards Better Integration of Water and Sanitation in PRSPs in Sub-Saharan Africa; Lessons from Uganda, Malawi and Zambia
(WPP, 2004) Overseas Development Institute
With the increased prominence of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) in setting national policy agendas and mobilizing resources within developing countries, it is becoming increasingly important for sectors to engage in the PRSP process. However, the Water and Sanitation Sector (WSS) has been poorly integrated into PRSP and budgetary processes, contrasting sharply with sectors such as Education and Health that are lent greater priority in PRSP documentation, and subsequently benefit from larger resource allocations. This brief examines why WSS has not fared well in PRSP processes in Africa. Based on a study commissioned by the Water and Sanitation Program–Africa, the paper analyzes the integration of WSS in PRSPs in three Sub- Saharan African countries – Uganda, Zambia and Malawi – and compares this to generic experiences in Education and Health sectors. It provides recommendations on how WSS actors can better align themselves towards PRSP process and take actions to help the sector gain priority in PRSP and budget processes.A major premise in the PRSP approach is that the participatory process of developing a PRSP will help build political commitment. Donors and civil society can, through supporting such participatory processes, help provide the external impetus needed to ensure that poverty reduction remains on the political agenda. However, there is no guarantee that this will create commitment. It is still inconclusive whether participatory processes can build the levels of political commitment required for PRSPs to become instruments that can be implemented and actually deliver results.
HIV/AIDS in the fisheries sector in Africa
(Worldfish Center, 2005) Gordon, Ann
Poverty in Africa is still a largely rural phenomenon. Rural economic development is thus critical to poverty alleviation in Africa. Africa’s fisheries can be an engine of growth because there is robust local and international demand for fish products (both marine and freshwater) and under-exploited potential for fish farming. Fish products are also an important source of affordable animal protein and micronutrients for Africa’s poor. Yet fisheries livelihoods are severely threatened.
Examining the Nexus between Nature, Wealth and Power in the Lake George Fishery: The Case of Major Actors in the Fish Product Chain
(Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment ACODE, 2006) Keizire, Boaz Blackie; Muhwezi, Wilson Winstons; Natuhwera, Carolyn; Kayiso, Fulgencio
Lake George is an important fish habitat that supports fish stocks estimated to be worth 4-5 billion shillings per year. Secondly, the economic value of fish to the Ugandan economy reached record levels in 2005 with fish exports reaching US $143 million. Fishing is being viewed as a potential growth sub-sector with potential to contribute significantly to national GDP and ensure eradication of poverty. Fishing also has other multiplier benefits of boosting other sectors of the economy like construction (buildings at most landing sites), manufacturing (foods and beverages e.g. beer, sodas, spirits, wines etc), and the transport. From our research, emerging evidence point to the fact that overemphasis on fish conservation without corresponding emphasis on power (governance), economic relations and behavioral patterns found among the actors largely account for the marginal successes in poverty eradication based planning that has been emphasized for a while.
Foreign Aid and the Weakening of Democratic Accountability in Uganda
(CATO Institute, 2006) Andrew, Mwenda
Africa is the world’s poorest continent. Between 1974 and 2003, the per capita income in sub-Saharan Africa declined by 11 percent. Africa continues to trail the rest of the world on human development indicators including life expectancy; infant mortality; undernourishment; school enrollment; and the incidence of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. The international aid lobby advocates more foreign aid and greater debt relief for Africa as solutions.
Promoting food security and sustainable agriculture through facilitated access to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture
(Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment ACODE, 2006) Naluwairo, Ronald; Tabaro, Edgar
The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (herein after referred to as the Treaty) is a landmark international agreement for ensuring food security and sustainable agriculture especially in the developing countries. It establishes an elaborate system of facilitated access to a number of plant genetic resources considered key in agriculture production and meeting the nutritional and food related needs of humanity. Under the system, access is to be provided expeditiously with minimal costs, if at all, only to cover the administrative costs involved. The system also offers several monetary and non-monetary benefits that are vital for ensuring sustainable agriculture, and increased and improved food production to feed the rapidly growing world population.
Integrating mental health into primary health care: local initiatives from Uganda
(World Psychiatry, 2007) Ovuga, Emilio; Boardman, Jed; Wasserman, Danuta
Uganda has passed through political and bloody civil strife stretching over 40 years. Since 1987 the HIV/AIDS pandemic has compounded the problems of the country. The present paper describes some initiatives to develop mental health services in one district of the country. A bottom-up approach in the district resulted in the formation of a community-led mental health program with strong support from two self-help groups, district political leaders and district representatives in parliament. Primary health care providers at all levels of health care in the district were trained in order to make services accessible to the rural population. Further plans based on initial exploratory discussions aim to involve the education department, the welfare and probation office, prisons and police, the military, church and cultural leaders and traditional healers. These initiatives show that it is possible to empower communities to participate in the development of mental health programs in a low-income country.
Certified Organic Export Production – Implications for Economic Welfare and Gender Equity amongst Smallholder Farmers in Tropical Africa
(UNCTAD, 2007) Bolwig, Simon; Gibbon, Peter; Odeke, Moses; Taylor, Alastair
Over the last fifteen years the market for certified organic agricultural products has grown from a very low base to reach 1.5-2.5% of total food sales both in North America and the EU, up to 5% in Denmark and Switzerland (Willer & Yussefi, 2006; Oberholtzer et al., 2005; CBI 2005; Financial Times, 2006). Global organic sales were estimated at US$ 33 billion in 2005, compared to US$ 23 billion in 2002 (Willer & Yussefi, 2007), representing an increase of 43% or about 14% per year. Most of this growth has been satisfied by increases in the area under certified organic production in North America and EU itself. Yet there has been also an increase in certified organic imports into both regions. In the case of the EU these mainly comprise cereals and oilseeds from temperate and semi-temperate countries, but they also include fruit and vegetables (from a much wider range of countries) and tropical beverages.
Land Tenure Reform and Beyond: Ensuring Women’s Access to Assets
(United States Agency for International Development (USAID), 2007) Doss, Cheryl; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth; Carter, Jeanette; Nabanoga, Gorettie
Recent land reforms in Africa demonstrate that legislation alone does not create property rights. While substantive and procedural reforms of the law are necessary, they are not sufficient to guarantee secure tenure. The formal legal system of a country interacts with customary systems and social norms in ways that can impact the security of property rights. Even where women have legal access to land and are aware of their legal rights, for example, they may choose not to claim that asset, preferring instead to conform to social norms that suggest that women are not property owners. In many cases too, it has been shown that conventional titling programs do not recognize the rights to land women had under customary systems, thus decreasing women’s tenure security.
Sustainable intensification of agriculture - the role of birds, bees and trees
(Cambridge Conservation Initiative, 2008) Uganda Wildlife Authority
Uganda’s population is now above 34.5 million up from about 16 million in the 1991 (UBOS, 2002). The country’s size and in particular arable land upon which people depend however remain constant and is seriously undergoing degradation. Increasing land productivity yet conserving biodiversity is a challenge Uganda has to meet to secure survival and wellbeing of its people and also the environment. To help determine approaches that would help enhance productivity per unit area of land while conserving biodiversity and consequently the ecosystem’s ecological integrity and services (natural capital), two studies were conducted in the banana coffee zones(the most densely populated region) of Uganda. This policy brief is based on results from research carried out between 2006 and 2008 under the project “Conserving biodiversity on the modernizing farmed landscapes of Uganda”. The project identified best practices for the long-term conservation of biodiversity in a sample of typical farmed landscapes in Uganda and established a framework for sustainable agricultural development and monitoring. The results can be used to support both policy and technological approaches to protect the environment and provide a basis for sustainable development.
Improving the Availability and Management of Essential AIDS and TB Medicines and Diagnostics in Uganda
(HEPS-Uganda, 2008) HEPS-Uganda
A free ARV programme implemented with support from external donors has over the past few years led to a significant increase in the number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART). By 2006/7, about 105,000 PHAs were receiving ART from 313 centres. Given the relatively wide range of ARVs available for prescription to PHAs, Uganda is well into the modern trends of AIDS treatment. The substantial availability of combination ARVs brings with it the advantages of a reduced pill burden and thus, improved adherence. In addition, the availability levels of medicines at treatment centres located in rural areas is comparable to those in urban locations, suggesting the medicine distribution system is generally fair. These advances in the treatment effort however, mask the reality, extent and impact of stock-outs of the essential AIDS ad TB medicines in the accredited centres. Access to affordable medicines is a human right enshrined in the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which together with subsequent UN statements, affirms people’s right to health. The reliable provision of ART to at least the people who are registered to receive it is therefore a key component of an adequate, functioning health care system that enables people to realise their right to health. As government plans to roll out ART to 80% of Health Centre IV’s by 2010, it is important to consider whether the present PHAs on ART can access treatment at the accredited health facilities. Besides risking their lives, if treatment of PHAs is interrupted for one reason or another, they are likely to develop resistance to the medicines they are currently taking, which could lead to emergence of resistant strains of HIV among the general society if any of the affected PHAs transmits HIV to other people.
Global Fund: Making Uganda’s CCM Work Through Full Engagement of Civil Society
(HEPS, 2008) HEPS
HIV/AIDS have over the recent years been receiving increasing funding, especially from the donor community. However, due to the absence of a mechanism to monitor and aggregate the contributions from the wide range of funders, the exact amount of funding coming from foreign donors, non-governmental organisations, individuals and even the Uganda government itself, is not known. Independent attempts to determine the actual level of funding have been hampered by the Ministry of Health’s failure to harmonize the various funding structures of the different funders, the multi-sectoral nature of the response, reluctance by the donors to provide complete information about their budgets and expenditure, and difficulty in capturing household contributions towards HIV/AIDS care. There is therefore, a gap that needs to be filled by regular tracking of HIV/AIDS funding, to establish the actual level of funding and the extent to which it reaches the intended beneficiaries. Even with the limited information available, it is obvious that funding for HIV/AIDS is still insufficient, given that access to HIV/AIDS services – from counseling and testing (HCT) to anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and care and support – remains limited. The health care system is urgently in need of additional resources, particularly to accommodate the burden of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The public sector needs not only to increase its per capita health expenditure to US$28 – and up to US$40 when anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) are included – to enable its citizens realise their right to health, but also to make the available work for the poor.
Sharing Oil and Gas Revenue in Uganda
(Uganda Wildlife Society, 2008) Muramira, Telly Eugene; Manyindo, Jacob
Although Uganda has significant natural resource endowments, most communities living in proximity to these resources continue to suffer serious levels of poverty. This situation sets a bad precedent for the developing oil and gas sector. As a result, the Uganda Wildlife Society, with generous support from Irish AID through the World Resources Institute carried out this study to find practical ways local communities, local governments and the central government may fairly and equitably share revenue from oil and gas resources. The overall aim of the study was therefore to propose a revenue sharing formula and derivation fund for the oil and gas sector in Uganda. The specific objectives of the study were to: (i) define the concept of revenue sharing and derivation funds, its rationale and key features; (ii) review oil extraction models and oil revenue control; (iii) review existing institutional, policy and legal frameworks that have implications for the establishment of derivation funds and oil revenue sharing schemes; (iv) document relevant international experiences; (v) present the challenges, key measures and approaches to establishing a successful revenue sharing scheme and derivation fund for Uganda.
A policy brief on the marriage and divorce bill: Whys, hows, and whats of the marriage and divorce bill, 2009.
(UWONET, 2009) UWONET
This is an information pack about the Marriage and Divorce Bill, 2009 for policy makers. The information pack provides a brief historical background about the Marriage and Divorce Bill, its content, and the linkage of the Bill towards national, regional and international obligations. It also provides justification for the Parliament to enact the Marriage Bill 2017 into law in the 10th Parliament. The information pack will be disseminated among policy makers, Members of Parliament, Media, relevant ministries, departments and agencies, the members of the Marriage and Divorce Bill coalition and the public to increase their understanding on the Bill. It will also provide comprehensive information to increase their support for the Bill.
Inorganic fertilizer in Uganda- Knowledge gaps, profitability, subsidy, and implications of a national policy
(International Food Policy Research Institute, 2009) Bayite-Kasule, Stephen
Agriculture is at the core of the livelihoods of most rural households in Uganda. It is a major engine for overall economic growth and possibly the single most important pathway out of poverty in the rural space. Although measures to enhance the rural farm economy are reflected in national policy through the Plan for Modernization of Agriculture, tangible benefits, such as improved smallholder farm productivity, income growth, poverty reduction, and national food security, continue to elude the farm sector. Increasing the availability of inputs such as inorganic fertilizer and improved seed is critical to meeting the above policy objectives. The lack of functional and efficient agricultural inputs markets in Uganda is often highlighted among the major constraints to substantial agricultural growth in the country. Improved soil fertility management through increased levels of fertilizer use, increased use of available organic soil amendments, and improved farm management practices, together with the use of improved seed, can result in positive gains in farm productivity. This brief specifically addresses fertilizer use in Uganda.
Ill-health and labour market outcomes in Uganda
(The African Economic Research Consortium, 2009) Matovu, Fred; Birungi, Patrick; Sebaggala, Richard
The role health plays in reducing poverty and economic development particularly in developing countries is undisputable in the economic literature (Audibert, 2009) Health of the population is a key factor for labor productivity, poverty reduction and overall economic development. Healthier workers are physically and mentally more energetic and robust; productive and tend to earn higher wages; and they are also less likely to be absent from work because of illness (or illness in their family) (Bloom et al, 2004). Most recently, the links between population health and economic productivity have become a significant policy concern (Tompa, 2002). In Uganda, although the national health indicators look good, ill health is a growing problem in both rural and urban areas, particularly among the poor. The improvement health indicators have been largely brought about by efficiency gains rather than big increases in overall health sector resource envelope. Therefore, there is feeling among policy makers and researchers that if spending in the health sector is increased, the 75% preventable disease burden can be reduced enormously.

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