The country is in a serious crisis and we need some self soul searching.  The report released yesterday (November 19th 2013) by The World Bank and Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) surveyed 400 schools and 400 health centers across the country indicates that;  - Only 35% of public health providers could correctly diagnose at least 4 out of 5 very common conditions (like diarrhea with dehydration and malaria with anemia).  - In health centers that only offer outpatient services, half (49%) of the providers could not identify more than one of these conditions. Worryingly, public providers followed only 1 out of 5 (20%) of the correct actions needed to manage maternal and neonatal complications.  - Less than 1 in 5 (19%) of public school teachers showed mastery of the curriculum they teach. Years of education and level of teacher training were positively correlated with higher teacher scores.  Absenteeism  - More than half (52%) of public health provid...

Kampala, November 19, 2013 - Uganda has reduced poverty and child mortality by half, and has enrolled most primary-age children in school. However, new service delivery data published today suggest that the quality of education and health services remain weak, posing serious challenges to the country’s long-term social and economic progress as outlined in its vision 2040 for the future. The new Uganda Service Delivery Indicators (SDI)-based on independent surveys of 5,300 teachers and health workers in 400 primary schools and health facilities-show that Uganda is still very far from achieving optimal performance in schools and health centers. SDI is an Africa-wide initiative led by the World Bank, the African Economic Research Consortium, and the African Development Bank. The Uganda SDI surveys were implemented by the Economic Research Policy Centre, Uganda. A key Uganda SDI finding is that there are significant knowledge gaps among teachers and health workers in both pub...

“The glory and qualification of Uganda being endowed with good weather and fertile soils with wonderful natural resources are long gone. The soils are able to feed just about 6 million people out of 35 million”, warns Beatrice Byarugaba, Commissioner Crop production & marketing of ministry of Agriculture. She said this at today’s draft National Fertilizer Sub-sector Strategy (NFS) validation workshop at Imperial Royale Hotel. The draft strategy that was formulated after consultations with all stakeholder including farmers’ associations, civil society, three parliamentary committees on Agriculture, Finance and Natural resources will also be adopted by the East African Community (EAC) according to Komayombi Bulegeya, Commissioner Crop protection, Ministry of Agriculture. Whereas the Abuja declaration of 2006 implored all African states to increase the use of fertilizers to at least 50kgs of nutrients per hectare per year by 2015, Uganda’s rate stands at a measly 1kg of per he...

Venue: Imperial Royale Hotel, Kampala Date 14th November 2013 Protocol I am Beatrice Byarugaba, the Commissioner Crop production & marketing of Ministry of Agriculture. I am representing the Minister of State for Agriculture who is upcountry for other duties. I am delighted to welcome you to this workshop to validate the Stakeholders’ views on the Draft National Fertilizer Strategy that has been developed through a wide consultative process with different organizations that are Stakeholders as far as this strategy is concerned. Uganda’s soils have been mined of nutrients for a long time without replenishment. It is estimated that the annual nutrient depletion stands at an average of 87 kgs of nutrient per hectare per year: 38 kgs of Nitrogen; 17 kgs of Phosphorous and 32 kgs of Potassium. The Nutrient mining is a result of continuous over cropping, over grazing, and removal of crop residues for other uses such as thatch and wood fuel; and soil erosion, which all have conspired t...