Impact Of Population Gro\Vth Rate On Unemployment Case Study Kansal~Ga Parish

ABSTRACT

This study was intended to find out how population growth rate affects unemployment 111

kansanga parish, in Kampala-Uganda. At a population growth rate of three percent per

annum, Kansanga has one of the highest growth rates in Kampala. The country depends

predominantly on agricultu re as the backbone of its economy. The sector employs well over

81 percent of the country's 35 million people and contributes about 34 percent of Gross

Domestic Product (GDP). But despite the importance of the agricultural sector to the

economy, most agriculture remains subsistence and relies mainly on the rains as the main

source of water.

Uganda has been challenged to translate recovery-based economic buoyancy into sustainable

growth with solving unemployment in pursuit of national and intemational development

targets. As the country weighs various options for stimulating an appropriate response to the

economic slowdown of the recent years, it is impot1ant that policy considerations be infotmed

by a review of the different growth strategies and episodes that the country has experienced.

This paper, therefore, provides an overview of the broad economic strategies that have been

implemented in Uganda since 1962 when it attained independence. By focusing on what

transpired during the 1990s into the 2000s, the paper aims to assess the extent to which recent

development strategies promoted the pruiicipation of unemployed poor people in Kansanga

growth process. Furthermore, the paper highlights the tradeoffs associated with policies that

emphasize growth versus those that emphasize distribution in pursuit of solving

w1cmployment/poverty reduction in Kansanga.

With a whooping unemployment rate of 30%, but boasting of an 88% literacy rate, the

embers of the Tunisian Revolution were kept glowing by an army of frustrated angry, but

highly intelligent techno-sa·vy young people. Although Tunisia is an Arab country with little

in common in terms of standard of living, history and culture with Uganda. there are some

uncanny similarities between the two countries that can pro'ide some invaluable lessons to

the Kampala regime.

One such lesson is that it's dru1gcrous to ignore soaring unemployment among a country's

youths, especially the educated lot. During the just concluded pol ls at kansanga , president

Museveni enthralled the young people of this country with "you want another rap?" song.

Subsequently, millions of youths decided to entrust their destiny with president Muse eni by

overwhelmingly voting for him. Whether president Museveni reciprocates the confidence

Ugandan youths reposed in his leadership by sanctioning policies aimed at helping youths

meet challenges- such as unemployment facing them remains to be seen. However, what is

indisputable is that the unemployment statistics and the concomitant pove1ty among the

youths especially the educated lot is a cause for concern, since Uganda has largely a young

population.

According to the labour flow figures at Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) and the Uganda

Bureau of Statistics (Ubos), of more than 400,000 Ugandans who enter the labour market

each year, only about 113,000 are absorbed in formal employment, leaving the rest to forage

for jobs in the infonnal sector.

Uganda's unemployment rate is 3.5% and that of the youth is a whopping 32.2%, while for

those who have University degrees is 36 per cent. Although the govemment of president

Museveni has made "investing in young people" one of its fundamental social obligation by

making it the fifth pillar of Uganda's Poverty Eradication Action Plan (which is the country's

overall national plmming framework) , soaring unemployment among youths is an indicator

that it still has a lot of ground to cover.

The aforementioned whammy has been exacerbated by a spiraiing population growth, which

is one of the highest in the world. According to the Population Reference Bureau, a

Washington D.C based research and advocacy group. Uganda's population growth rate of 3.5

is way ahead of the world's, which is 1.2% This is worrying because a population growth that

cannot be matched by the ability of the economy to create jobs will only lead to worsening

unemployment.

Uganda's rapidly increasing population might lead to environmental degradation and the

und~nnining of the country's food security. The fact that Uganda has not heavily irwestcd in

renewable energy like solar and wind. an increasing population that largely depends on !ossil

fuel will definitely cause deforestation and land wrangles as arable land continue to dimmish.

Therefore, this ever increasing population rates have heavily impacted the cycle of

unemployment, which particularly affects the youth and reduces their potential to find jobs

urgently as they graduate from schools, colleges and universities whereby the available

vacancies in the job market are very scarce and ever declining to low levels which can·t be

predicted in the near futur