GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION SIZED AND TOPOGRAPHY

The district was formerly part of Iganga district. It borders with Tororo to the North- East, Iganga to the West and Busia to the East.
It also extends to the Uganda/Kenya border in the South- East and in the waters of the Uganda/Tanzania border in the south.
The total area is approximately 5,700.93 Sq. Km. of which 1,492.74sq km is dry land and 4,207.19 Sq. Km. is covered by water bodies.
The land surface is characterized by gentle undulating hills with few higher residual features.
Another feature of the district is its being located in a flat and rolling topographical zone with 90% of its landmass constituting the drainage basins of Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga.
As a result, there are numerous swamps that criss-cross the road network thus making road improvement works costly.

THE PEOPLE BUGIRI AND THEIR CULTURE

The people of Bugiri are particularly proud of their Busoga culture under the Kyabazinga leadership. This is the backbone of their unity and solidarity. The main languages spoken are Lusoga and Lusamia – Lugweri. Others are Japadhola, Lugisu, Ateso and Jaluo.

Bugiri brims with rice plantations both large and small. Kibimba Rice Irrigation Scheme under the Madhvani owned Tilda Uganda Limited is the largest rice plantation in the dictrict. Bugiri is a great-unexploited district with tourism potentials like Siro Islands for bird watching and the beautiful sand shores of Lake Victoria. These are worth visiting by nature lovers.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Agriculture; Leading crops grown in agriculture are Rice, cassava, maize, finger millet, sweet potatoes, coffee, sorghum, peas and bananas. The main cash crops are Rice that is grown on a large scale at Kibimba Rice Scheme by Tilda Uganda Limited.

Lake Fisheries Activities; the district currently produces approximately 40 tones of fish daily from Lake Victoria. Fish factories processing for export buy 75% of this while 20% is consumed locally and 5% is lost in the process of production.

There are 74 landing sites along the shores of the Lake Victoria portion of Bugiri District but only one of these -Lugala- is gazetted. Two commercial fish buying centres have been established at Wakawaka and Busiro landing sites.
GOVERNMENT PROGRAMMES

• Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA)
• Activities geared towards improving farm productivity and raising household incomes:
• Coffee nurseries were set up in Nankoma, Nabukalu, Buwunga sub-counties, each producing enough
• Seedlings to plant 10 acres plus another 5 acres in Kapyanga Sub County.
• Construction of cattle crushes
• Improved Goat Cross Breeding Project
• Artificial insemination
• Restocking of fish in Lake Kyoga
• NARO/FAO Cassava multiplication program Supply the district with cassava cuttings to set up multiplication’s garden of high yielding African Cassava Mosaic resistant varieties and access them to farmers.

BUGIRI COMMERCIAL FARMERS‘ASSOCIATION

• Mobilizes especially large scale maize farmers for purposes of pooling their products and market them as an association
• Promote better quality agricultural products
• Target organizations that pay high prices to buy their products

LAKE VICTORIA ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PROJECT (LVEMP)

• Improve the socio-economic status of the fish flock
• Promote education among the fishing community.
• A sub-dispensary at Waka-waka Landing site is complete and functional.
• A primary school at Lugala landing site is complete
• A sub-dispensary at Lwenge Landing site is still under construction.

Arua district is found on latitudes between 2 degrees 30’ north and 3 degrees 50’ north; and longitudes 30 degrees 30’ East and 31 degrees 30’ East in the north western part of Uganda. The district is bordered by The Sudan in the northwest, Yumbe district in the northeast, DR Congo in the West, Nebbi district in South and Gulu district in the East.

POPULATION

According to the provisional results of the 2002 National Population and Housing Census, the district has a total of 855,055 people with 445,852 females against 409,203 males.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Arua has four categories of roads namely, trunk roads – 558km, feeder roads – 1178km, community roads – 550km and urban roads of which+23 6.4km are tarmac and 34.2km is murram. In addition the district has an airfield that has been designated as an international point of entry and exit by Civil Aviation Authority of Uganda.

EDUCATION

According to the Socio-economic conditions Survey 2000 report, only 41% of the eligible school going population aged 6 – 24 years are in school. 3% are temporary out of school, 28% have left school another 28% have never attended school. The district has over 320 primary schools of which over 270 are UPE ones and the rest run by private entrepreneurs. There are 47 secondary schools, 25 government aided and 22 in private hands. As for higher institutions, the district has 1 primary teacher training college government aided, 1 National Teacher College also aided by the government.

HEALTH

Arua district Hospital is the regional referral hospital in Northern Uganda with bed occupancy of over 280. It offers both outpatient and admission services. Some of the facilities are eye equipment, x-ray, AIDS testing and dental facilities. The hospital is also a regional blood bank for West Nile and is home to a nurse training institution. The health system contains community-based health care represented by traditional birth attendants and other community resource persons. It is also headed by the Director District of Health services (DDHS) assisted by 7 deputies overseeing each of the seven health sub-districts.

Apac covers an area of 6684 sq km and in terms of altitude it lies between 1,350 and 1,500 metres above sea level. The district lies in the northern part of Uganda, sharing borders with Pader to the immediate north, Gulu district to the north west, Kitgum in the north east, Masindi to the West, Lira to the East and Nakasongola in the South.

POPULATION
The population growth rate in the district over the period between 1991 to 2002 averaged 3.41 percent. By 1969, the district had a population of 225,413, 1980 (313,333), 1991 (454,504) and in 2002 .98 per cent of the population is Langi, making it more or less a homogenous society. The district was a part of the greater Lango district split into Apac and Lira districts in 1974. Luo is the main language spoken in the district.

INFRUSTRUCTURE

There are 623 kilometres of murram road, 98 of tarmac and 17 kilometres of railway. There is no established nautical mileage available and no airfield is available. Uganda Commercial Bank is the only bank serving the district. The majority of the population also uses the services of UCB and Centenary Rural development banks in Lira town.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Agriculture is the major district’s economic activity and the main crops grown are tobacco, cotton, simsim, maize, beans, sunflower, potatoes, cassava, and ground nuts. District figures show that 80 percent of Apac’s residents are engaged in subsistence farming but 75 percent of the actual work is done mainly by women.

Livestock was once the dominant agricultural item until it was almost wiped out by rustling in the late 1980s.
Fishing is an upcoming occupation particularly on Lake Kwania, while fish farming is also on the rise in Kole County.

HEALTH

The district has 42 health centres divided into health centres one to five, in accordance with their capacity and capabilities. There are a total of 13 clinics, 10 maternity homes and three drug shops registered. At least, 24 percent of the total population live five kilometres away from a health unit – the distance given as reflecting a minimum good, health delivery.
POTENTIALS

Apac has one of the biggest numbers of cotton ginneries in the country, having been built in almost every sub county. These are mostly standing still and are being re privatized.

DISTRICT INFORMATION

Adjumani was formed on May 17 1997 from then East Moyo County of Moyo district.
It is bordered by Sudan to the north, Moyo and Arua to the west, and Gulu to the south. Adjumani covers 3,128 sq. km, of which 46.8 km2 is water.

POPULATION

According to the preliminary results of 2002 population census, Adjumani has a population of close to 200,000 people, out of which 95,773 are males and 103,387 are females.

MAJORITY TRIBE

The district has a large Madi-speaking community that makes up 55.2 percent of the population. The other groups include Lugbara, Acholi, Kuku, Zande, Bor, Madi and Acholi.

The district has the largest population of refugees in Uganda totaling 78,668 or 36.4 percent of the resident population. Adjumani is one of the newly established districts in Uganda and therefore suffers from inadequate provision of social services.

CLIMATE

Adjumani experiences a tropical climate with a bi-modal rainfall pattern varying between 750mm and 1,500mm on average per month. The rainfall season falls mainly in April and June and between August and November.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Adjumani also has an airfield, but mostly murram roads traverse it with only a kilometre of tarmac road in the town council. In terms of energy sources, the district is served by thermal electricity limited to the town council. Other sources of electricity include individual generator units and solar panels operated by non Governmental organizations (NGOs) and other persons in the district.

EDUCATION

Adjumani district has a total of 80 primary schools of which 53 are government-aided and 27 are private-owned. There are two government secondary schools and 14 privately owned secondary schools.
About 90 percent of the government schools have permanent structures while some are currently receiving construction assistance through the school facility grants (SFG).
The district is characterized by early drop out of children due to cultural beliefs that boys and girls can begin families at an early age, and there is a high level of illiteracy among the adult population.

HEALTH

There are 34 health facilities in the district including Public Health Centres units (HC I).
There is one hospital, four grade III health centres and two grade II health centres. The average distance from the nearest health unit is 3.8 km

AGRICULTURE

People in Adjumani district practice mixed farming. The farm holdings vary from 0.06 acres and above. Many of the farmlands are borrowed from friends and relatives and ownership is normally communally vested in the clans. There is limited commercial farming.

POTENTIALS

Being close to the Sudan border makes the district a potential transit point to the neighbouring country hence providing market for agricultural commodities. This could in turn lead to development of inter-district trade.