Spotlight: Uganda.

Uganda is a rural, agricultural society in which agriculture accounts for 96% of all export income and 57% of gross domestic product. Almost 90% of the labor force works in agriculture, mainly in subsistence farming. Partly because the government has adopted International Monetary Fund-recommended economic reforms, Uganda has experienced an economic growth rate of 6% over the last 9 years. The rate of inflation dropped to 5% in 1995 from 250% in 1987. However, while farmers who grow cash crops or food for market have realized economic gains, the most poor Ugandans have seen little improvement in living conditions. Living standards have actually most likely deteriorated for subsistence farmers, the majority of poor households. Infant mortality is high in Uganda and an estimated one in 12 Ugandans are infected with HIV. As a result of the AIDS epidemic, the US Census Bureau projects that life expectancy at birth in Uganda could decline to 31.5 years by 2010. A condom distribution program seems to have had some success in stemming the spread of HIV and a family planning communication campaign conducted during 1992-94 successfully taught the population about birth control and reproductive health. Ugandan men and women, however, stili prefer to have 5.8 and 5.3 children, respectively, and only 15% of married women use some form of contraception. One-third of all births are unplanned and almost half of the population is younger than age 15 years.