Busoga cautioned over producing too many children
Children gather plastics for money in Iganga District. People living in Busoga Sub-region have been urged to reduce on the number of children they give birth to if the dream to achieve middle income status is to be realised. File photo.
What you need to know:
- Washington DC-based research and advocacy group predicts that Uganda’s population will explode to 130 million by 2050 given the high fertility rate in the country.
- Women in Uganda have an average of seven children, compared with a global average of 2 and an African average of 5.
Jinja. People living in Busoga Sub-region should reduce on the number of children they give birth to if the dream to achieve the middle income status is to be realised.
The caution was sounded by Mayuge District chief administrative officer Loyce Nambozo at the closure of the Busoga climate change week in Jinja District last week.
She said producing many children made sense in the 1970s because there was no scramble for land as is the case now.
“The population is increasing yet the land does not expand,” Ms Nambozo said, adding: “Because of pressure on the available land, people are now fragmenting land and this is not the way to conserve our environment.”
According to Ms Nambozo, giving birth to as many as 10 children will impact the environment as evidenced by the encroachment on wetlands and rampant deforestation.
Uganda National Bureau of Statistics census report indicates that Uganda’s population increases with 10 million people after every 10 years.
The same report also showed that on average, a Ugandan woman gives birth to at least seven children in her life time.
Currently, there are 35 million Ugandans up from a population of 24 million in 2002.
Washington DC-based research and advocacy group predicts that Uganda’s population will explode to 130 million by 2050 given the high fertility rate in the country. According to the study, Uganda’s current growth rate is 3.1 per cent while the world’s average is 1.2 per cent.
Women in Uganda have an average of seven children, compared with a global average of 2 and an African average of 5.
