Uganda Environment - 2021

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

draining of wetlands for agricultural use; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; water pollution from industrial discharge and water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; widespread poaching

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 48.41 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 5.68 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 30.24 megatons (2020 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 328 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 50 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 259 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

60.1 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Climate

tropical; generally rainy with two dry seasons (December to February, June to August); semiarid in northeast

Land use

agricultural land: 71.2% (2018 est.)

arable land: 34.3% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 11.3% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 25.6% (2018 est.)

forest: 14.5% (2018 est.)

other: 14.3% (2018 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 7.32% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 25.6% of total population (2021)

rate of urbanization: 5.41% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and Trypanosomiasis-Gambiense (African sleeping sickness)

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis

animal contact diseases: rabies

Food insecurity

widespread lack of access: due to reduced incomes, and floods - in traditionally food secure urban areas, including the capital, Kampala, more than 600,000 people were food insecure due to the restrictive measures introduced to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus; the food security situation in urban areas was the most affected by the COVID‑19‑related restrictive measures, as poor households mainly rely on the daily wages obtained through casual labor, petty trading, food vending, construction activities and domestic work; despite the phasing out of some restrictive measures, the food security situation of the urban poor has not significantly improved, as the restrictions still in place on business operations are resulting in a slow recovery of the economic activities; in rural areas, torrential rains in April and May 2020 resulted in localized crop and livelihood losses (2021)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 7,045,050 tons (2016 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 422,703 tons (2017 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 6% (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Uganda on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Uganda 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Uganda 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.