Demography

The District has a Total Population of 468,106with a sex ratio of 94.9% (for every 100 females there are 94.9 males) and a population growth rate of 2.4% per annum. 93% of the population live in the rural areas whereas only 7% of the population live in the urban areas.

Source: Tororo District Planning Unit

Source: 2006 Community Based Rehabilitation Management Information System

Based on the CBR-Mis 1.5 percent of the population has a disability
HEALTH INDICATORS

Infant mortality rate:                           98.1 per 1,000 live birth at district level and 88.4 per 1,000 live birth at national level

Maternal mortality rate:                      565 per100, 000 live birth at district level and 505 per 100,000 live births at national

Crude birth rate:                                 52: 1000

Under 5 years’ mortality rates:            147:1000 live births

Fertility rate:                                       7.1 per woman at district level and 6.9 at national level

Immunisation coverage:                      68% at district level and 84% at national level

Doctor population ratio:                      1 to 43,144 people at district level and 1 to 20,000 at national level

Midwife to women of RH age ratio:            1:3,720

Population residing 5km within a health facility:         80% at district level

Functional health units by level and ownership 

Source: Tororo District Planning Unit GIS

Economy

Like many Ugandan Districts, the Economy of Tororo is dependent on Agriculture, which employs over 80% of the total population. Fertile soils and suitable climate combine to support the cultivation of a number of crops in most parts of the District. Agriculture is mainly subsistence (75%) and takes place on smallholdings of approximately two acres using mainly simple farming tools (hoes, pangas etc). Only 0.35% of the population is engaged in Commercial Agriculture. Family members constitute the single most important source of labour.

Sources of income

The main source of income is agriculture followed by livestock, and fishing. The other sources of income are derived from non-farming activities such as employment in the civil service, businesses, services etc.  There is an increasing trend towards non-farming activities due to uncertainty and seasonality of agricultural produce/income and also increase in new demands for households e.g. paying for tertiary education and health services.

Below is the source of livelihood in the District:

Source of livelihood

Source: Tororo District Planning Unit

Very few women work in the formal sector with 21.2% of the Sub Total labour force. The women are generally poor without independent sources of income and so have less access to resources.  Culture and low education among women are some of the factors that explain this scenario.

Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries

Crops

The majority of the households enumerated were involved in some agricultural activities with cassava growing being more dominant represented by 23.7%.  Coffee was the least grown crop in the district by a low percentage of 0.3%. Other crops included millet, sweet potatoes, maize, sorghum, groundnuts, banana, beans and cotton.

Livestock

The census sought information on the availability of livestock in the households. Local goats and indigenous livestock were found to be common in the households representing a percentage of 39.6 and 30 respectively. The least common type of livestock in the households was the exotics/cross breed. Other live stocks found to be common in Tororo district were pigs and sheep.

Poultry types

Poultry was found to be common in the district during the census. The findings from the census revealed that local chicken constituted the highest percentage of the poultry type found in the households represented by a percentage of 74.2. The least types of poultry breed found in the district were the exotic/cross breed and geese. However other types of poultry were found in the households amongst which included ducks, turkeys and guinea fowls.

Fish Farming

Fish farming was one of the activities that were found to be taking place in the district with only 3 percent of the population taking part in fish farming. Of the farmers found to engage in fish farming 21.1 percent had fish ponds for tilapia while 0.2 had there ponds not stocked.

Roads and Railway Transport

The Bitumen Central Works roads cover 41kms while marrum Central Works roads cover 46kms in the District. Marrum District Works roads cover 294kms. The District has 63 major bridges and 89 minor ones.

There are three railway networks linking the District, namely Tororo-Malaba- Kenya line, Tororo-Mbale line (currently in use) and Tororo-Nagongera-Iganga line.

Communication

The District has two main Post Offices in Tororo Town and Malaba and other small ones in Nagongera and Busolwe. Telephone services are widespread in the District (UTL, MTN, Zain, Warid, Orange and UTL land lines).

Energy

A greater proportion of the households in the district use firewood for cooking represented by 86.8%, while others used charcoal (10.8%) and electricity (1.0%) respectively. The finding further revealed that 92.6 percent of the rural population use firewood while 57 percent of the urban population mainly uses charcoal for cooking.

Paraffin and electricity were the main sources of lighting represented by 84.6% and 5% respectively. The census further found out that “Tadoobas” were used in many households for lighting than lantern in both the rural and urban areas.

Industry

The major industries in Tororo District include; Tororo Cement Industry (TCI), which produces cement, lime and roofing materials, the Elgonia Industries which processes and packs fruits, coffee and tomato sauce. The District also has Nyakesi Oil Millers, which produces cooking oil and soap.

Tourism

The District has some Eco-tourist attractions, which include the famous Tororo Rock in Tororo town, the Rock Classic Hotel, Tororo Golf Course, the Osukuru Hills and Nyakiriga hills.

Water and Sanitation

This section analysed mainly the distance between a household unit to a nearby safe water facility/source. The 2002 census considered safe water source to include piped water within the dwelling unit, piped water in the compound, piped water outside the compound, boreholes, protected springs and gravity flow scheme amongst others. The census finding reveals that on average, the population in all the counties in the district have a short distance of 1km to a water facility represented by 74%. However a few sections of the population registered long average distance of over 1 kilometer represented by 20% for Tororo County, 7% for Tororo Municipality and 17% for West Budama County.

Education

The adult literacy rate in the District stands at 55%. The District has a Sub Total of 159 Government Aided Primary Schools, 31 Government Aided Secondary Schools and 10 Tertiary & Vocational Institutions with a Pupil teacher ratio of 1 teacher for 67 pupils.

In year 2009 enrolment was at 133,751to date 2010 the total enrolment is at 136,243. This number has increased by 1.01%.

Source: Education department

PHYSICAL PLANNINING ISSUES

A     Physical Planning aims at;

1. A healthy and agreeable environment for everyday life in a given area.
2. A beautiful (aesthetic) physical environment and features through conservation.
3. Ensuring that all developments and redevelopment are carried out to enhance the development of the environment.
4. Devising safe, efficient, and sustainable networks of good movement of people goods and services.
5. Guiding the use of land and development resources in the economic interest of the community.

 B     Physical Planning Issues in Tororo Local Government

1. Land use set up is poor;

The land use arrangement existing in both the rural areas and growth centers is that which does not promote orderly, efficient and equitable development and management of the land resource. This means that development goes and objectives cannot be met and therefore, low rate of growth and development. Land use planning is a process of determining alternative use of land to achieve stated goals and objectives. The lack of structure and detailed schemes especially in growth centers is fuelling factor. Such areas affected are Molo, Merikit, Nagongera Malaba, Pajwenda, Iyolwa and Nabuyoga

2.     Housing:

Housing in a key problem both in the urban and rural areas in Tororo.

It has become a reflection of levels of poverty and inequality. This is the nature and type of Housing. This housing problem is expressed in the physical structure (Building materials; Semi permanent and. Temporal).

Land tenure (Private land lords), No funds for housing finance, Housing policies don’t exist and the existing regulations and draft do not favour low-income housing. Also the physical environment (direction within available facilities). The housing problem is spread abroad the whole district

This being the means of conveyance of people, goods, and services from one point to another, has a significant portion to the development of Tororo. However, the transportation systems in Tororo are not and has not been expanded in terms of capacity, some areas are    not covered, there exists obsolete facilities and these means many parts of the district are not easily accessed and in many cases mobility of people and goods is not safe, convenient, and efficient, indicative that it does not facilitate economic activities, and liveability of the people.

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4. Environment

Conservation and preservation of our environment has generally been minimal and taken quite lightly especially in the areas of wetland encroachment, ecosystem destabilization and pollution. It’s important to mention that the environment department has intervened positively. Environmental health and sanitation has been quite stable. Water supply in the district has been considerably been quite good but in terms of distribution to promote equity it’s been lacking.

5. Community Health.

The nature of housing and type of housing makes it hard for the communities’ health to improve. The existing sanitary environment in some places especially the urban areas such as Malaba, Nagongera and other growth centers have poor solid waste management systems, sewage disposal, poor drainage, low food supply, poor control of communicable diseases; The health and social service system is not very efficient, that is, not well distributed. Most of these facilities are aligned along major access roads.

6. Growth centres depleting

Most of the growth centres are dying economically while others are having an economic standstill. There is need to redirect the use and redevelopment of land and buildings in the urban growth centers. There must be a physical change in the buildings and land and also a change in use

Design in growth areas

The design in these growth centres is poor and ineffective. The appearance,(form, shape, co lour, texture) is poor and un aesthetic, Movement is inefficient. Time and space are poorly used in the process of production.

This is the inability to satisfy one’s needs. The rate of vulnerability is high. Some of the vulnerable groups in Tororo include; the Unemployed, Elderly, Children, Street children, Disabled, Urban poor, Women, Youth, Orphans, Widows and the chronically sick. These groups have been marginalized to some extent. As proactive planning role is necessary for action. Affirmative action is required.

The economic social, political, and environmental utility of the Distinct will be dependant on how the development goals are implemented and this depends on how the above issues are handed in relation to the set goals

            HIV/AIDS Situation:

HIV/AIDS is still prevalent in the district, and the commonest mode of transmission is through Hetero sexual relationship. It is now evident, that the second commonest route of transmission is from an HIV infected mother to her unborn baby. Transmission through blood products and infected unsterile materials is however not yet well documented, but there is growing evidence that this could be happening in the formal Health care set up.

Due to its geographical location, there are many high risks population who include commercial sex workers especially in Malaba border town, long distance truck drivers, and street children, cross border traders, factory workers and bar maids.

Since 2000, there has however been a decline in the infection rate in the district following the adoption of the mult-sectoral strategy to scale up the response to the epidemic. Infection rate was at 12.8% in 2002 dropping to 6.3% in 2003 (MOH/ACP/STI Surveillance report 2003). Young women in the age group of 15 – 19 years are about 5-6 times more infected than their male counterparts. There has been no clear documentation on the infection rate among children 0 – 5 years. The rates are higher in urban set up than in rural centres 8.3% of the 4.2% respectively (MOH/ACP/STI Surveillance report 2003).

Prevention and Behaviour Change

Prevention and behaviour change strategies and activities fall under Goal 1 – to reduce HIV prevalence by 25% by the year 2005/06. The MTR and LQAS surveys found that varying progress has been achieved in this thematic area in spite of considerable constraints. The study found out that 61% of the men aged 15 – 49 years knew at least two methods of preventing sexually transmission of HIV compared to 85% nationally. Among young people (15-24) 58% knew at least two methods.

Emerging issues and recommendations are recorded below.

Progress

With the mult-sectoral strategy approach to the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS significant progress has so far been made.

• The estimated prevalence reduction of HIV/AIDS from 12.8% in 2000 to 6.3% in 2004 (MOH-STC/ACP, 2003) indicates slower than expected progress towards reducing prevalence by 25% over the course of this district strategic framework time period.
• Male condom use has steadily increased, especially in urban areas, and a total of 2,193, 732 condoms were distributed during the review period.
• The LQAS findings indicated that 27.3% of the women aged 15-49 years have ever used condoms, while 62.7% of the men in the same age group had used condoms and 61.6% of the young people aged 15-24 years had ever used condoms. This gives the district an average coverage of 51% compared to the national one of 70%
• There are eight Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) centres in the district that is at every health centre IV and all the three Hospitals plus two NGOs. There are more people accessing this service. The LQAS study found out that only 23%, and 16% women and men respectively aged between 15-49 years were taking VCT services, and just about 17% of the young people aged 15-24 were taking the service, compared to the national of 10%, 15% and 15% respectively. It was further found out that 53.6%, 65.2% and 66.3% of the women, men and young people respectively knew the benefits of VCT.
• Laboratory services have improved following the refurbishing and equipping six of the laboratories by AIM. The district Laboratory focal person has been identified and is working.
• While most of the planned strategies for reducing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have been substantially achieved, progress against the objective of reducing STIs by 25% cannot be measured in the absence of baseline information to measure STI prevalence. However, it is important to note that there is increase in recruitment of the trained health professionals in the district health care system.
• The establishment of three sites for the prevention of Mother –to- Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV has further contributed to the significant reduction in the prevalence rate of the scourge, though accessibility remains poor.
• It is hoped that the Blood from Mbale regional Hospital is free from the risk blood borne HIV transmission by 50% and has been substantially achieved from 2 – 4 to 1 – 2.
• Massive awareness creation has been carried out at all levels through IEC/BCC interventions. The use of Community Based organisations (CBOs), Non Government Organisations (NGOs) and other CSOs has greatly contributed to this strategy.

Challenges

• There is still inadequate capacity among the key implementing partners at both district and lower level to cultivate the necessary human and financial resources to ensure that prevention and behaviour change initiatives are fully implemented.

Implementation Strategy

• VCT and PMTCT will be strengthened and expanded to ensure that this important bridge between prevention and treatment is a readily accessible service throughout the district.
• Approaches to behaviour change communication (BCC) will emphasize all three elements of the ABC approach to prevention, e.g. abstinence, being faithful and condom use, while also improving access to condoms throughout the district.
• Strengthen blood quality control, supply and appropriate use of blood and blood products in all health service delivery system.

Care and Treatment

Care and treatment strategies and activities are covered under Goal II – to mitigate the health and socio-economic effects of HIV/AIDS at individual, household and community level. Significant strides have been made in this area though quantifying progress has proved difficult because the indicators were primarily process indicators which could not be measured by routine data collection approaches or by the M & E system.

Progress

• Palliative care has been introduced in the health care system. A total of 30 health providers were trained/oriented for five days and 40 community volunteers were also trained. One registered Comprehensive Nurse has completed a nine months training in palliative care. Eligible patients are accessing Morphine solution to reduce pain.
• Twelve health providers were trained in provision of comprehensive HIV/AIDS care services including ART.
• Mukujju HC IV and Tororo Hospital are providing ART services.
• Proportion of PLWAs accessing ARVs 7.3%
• ARVs are procured from the Ministry of health and JCRC.
• Availability of TB drugs has been improved in all HC III with increased access to them through the CB-DOTS strategy.
• Proportion of PLWAs of health facilities providing OI treatment is 100%
• Proportion of PLWAs accessing Seprtin (Cortimoxazole) prophylaxis is 29.5%.

Challenges

• Lack of collaboration between traditional and modern medicine, lack of evidence of impact, constraint further development in this area.
• Guidelines for palliative care are needed to enhance developments in this strategic area.
• Mitigation of psychosocial and economic impact of HIV/AIDS among PLWA and OVC still pose a big challenge. Few organisations have openly come up to economically support these vulnerable segments of the society.

• Packaging of IEC/BCC messages needs to be streamlined for well coordinated and harmonised information. The “ABC” strategy implementation is still weak.

Implementation Strategy

• The directorate of Health services and its development partners will play a major role in procurement of ARVs and other drugs for treatment of OIs.
• Training of health providers in the provision of comprehensive ART services.
• Support and expand provision of palliative care in the district.
• All new care and treatment initiatives noted above (ART, HBC, Paediatric care, private sector and PHA involvement) will be enhanced and given increased attention and support in the district strategic framework.
• A system and guidelines for linking or networking all these new care initiatives will be developed to ensure they meet their full potential in the district response.

Psychosocial Support, Protection and Human Rights

Psychosocial support, protection and human rights also fall under Goal II – to mitigate the health and socio-economic effects of HIV/AIDS at individual, household and community level.

Progress

• Significant progress has been achieved in building life skills of youth, both those in and out of schools, through the efforts of local government, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and Faith Based Organisations (FBOs)
• A movement of towards greater involvement of persons with AIDS has expanded, including the involvement of PHAs as full partners at all levels of decision making and implementation.
• Some few CSOs, have started providing Home based care services to PLWA, although the number of trained Home based care providers is still quite low.
• Psychosocial support to PLWAs and OVCs has been initiated in some parts of the district notably Tororo County.
• A number of community led HIV/AIDS Initiatives (CHAI) were formed since 2003 and so far 105 groups have accessed funds mainly to address orphan support in terms of education, scholastics materials, nutrition.

Challenges

• Guidelines and policies as well as legal, financial and social support for this thematic area are lacking.
• The limited number of agencies providing psychosocial support are under funded and under staffed to meet the growing demand for these services.
• Some relevant laws and policies for the protection of the legal, ethical, and social rights of the PHAs, but these have not been clarified, widely disseminated.
• Inadequate information on the actual number of PHAs In the district.

Implementation Strategy

• The district will lobby for funding to support the PHAs.
• The district through the department of probation will compile the register for PHAs, OVCs in the district.
• The district will ensure psychosocial and spiritual support all OVCs in ald out of school.
• The district will ensure the protection of legal, ethical and social rights of the vulnerable groups in relation to HIV/AIDS.

Coordination and Institutional arrangement

Goal 3 of the NSF relates to strengthening of district capacity to coordinate and manage the multi-sectoral response to HIV/AIDS.

Progress

• Tororo district has an established and functional District HIV/AIDS Committee (DAC) that coordinates the HIV/AIDS activities at all levels.
• Tororo district HIV/AIDS Task force (DAT) is in place though inactive.
• The DAC has appointed a focal point person/officer (DFP/O) to guide and coordinate HIV/AIDS activities at all levels.
• The leadership of Tororo at all levels is well sensitized on issues related to HIV/AIDS epidemic.
• The biannual stakeholders’ forum has become an effective mechanism for coordination, information sharing, and decision-making.

Challenges

• Mainstreaming HIV/AIDS activities in the departmental work plans is still a major problem.
• Information sharing is still lacking as even reports are not readily submitted to the DFP/O.
• The formation of coordination structures at lower levels is yet to be carried out.

Implementation Strategy

• The district leadership will ensure the formation and the functionality of all coordination structures at all levels.
• The DAC will sensitise all departments to mainstream HIV/AIDS activities.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Progress

• The district M&E framework for HIV/AIDS has been drafted and is awaiting finalisation.
• The inventory of the stakeholders in the district response for HIV/AIDS is already in place.

• A data collection tool is underway for development.
• Five district trainers on M&E are available.

 Challenges

• The objectives and strategies and activities of the NSF are silent on the issue of M&E.
• Limited human resource knowledgeable on M&E.
• The multiplicity of unused or poorly maintained databases and tracking systems and their lack of harmonization present a significant barrier to achievement of M&E objectives.
• Districts are requested to complete different M&E forms for various agencies and yet no feedback is given hence creating a barrier to full participation in the M&E process at the lower level.

Implementation Strategy.

• Monitoring is recognized as an important management tool and, as such routine monitoring will be encouraged.
• Planning and budgeting for monitoring will be included in regular work plans and will be separated from evaluation at operational level.

The Tororo HIV/AIDS Strategic Framework has been developed to provide strategic direction to the HIV/AIDS response at the district and community levels. The framework has the following goals:

Goal 1: To reduce HIV prevalence by 25%

Goal 2: To Mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS

Goal 2 (a):  To mitigate the health effects of HIV/AIDS and improve the quality of life of         PLWHA

Goal 2(b): To mitigate the psychosocial and economic effects of HIV/AIDS

Goal 2©:   To mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on the development of Uganda

Goal 3: To strengthen the district capacity to coordinate and manage the mult-sectoral response to HIV/AIDS.

The Local Government Act requires district and lower level participation in the development and implementation of HIV/AIDS activities. This should be taken within NSF policy framework and the decentralized HIV/AIDS response. The decentralized HIV/AIDS response has the following objectives:

• To attain the goals of the National Strategic Framework by decentralization of the national HIV/AIDS response,
• To create a rallying point for HIV/AIDS activities at the district level,
• To provide a forum for dialogue for local government, the private sector, NGOs, CSOs and communities on HIV/AIDS,
• To ensure the mobilization of human, financial and material resources for HIV/AIDS at the district level.
• To present a comprehensive implementation strategy for the prevention, care and support priorities of the HIV/AIDS National Strategic Framework.

As required the District has developed a strategic HIV/AIDS plan to operationalize the NSF, harmonize and coordinate HIV/AIDS activities and facilitate grassroots participation and community involvement in the response to the epidemic, within the framework of the decentralization policy.

Environment Issues and Impact

Forests:

Natural forests in Tororo have been cleared to create fields for crop and livestock production, raw materials for construction and furniture, fuel for cooking and burning of bricks.  Deforestation took place 30 years back as a result for a need for more cultivatable land, also due to Population pressure (307 density, 2.4% growth rate), which was responsible for the devegetation.

In order to reverse the state of affairs, the District has developed a programme for short-term timber tree planting. The District council has passed an environmental protection ordinance, and developed the district environmental action plan.

In the past five years there has been advocacy to plant trees for wood fuel and firewood; the response has been limited to one out of 200 households.

Soil Erosion and fertility decline:

Since there is clearance of vegetation, and cultivation without fallow in most of the parishes, there is soil erosion and leaching of nutrients.  Soil fertility decline is observable on the declining crop and pasture yields. Soil analysis reports indicate low organic matter of below 6.8%, which is the critical level.

Road construction has lead to excavation of marrum which has created barrow pits, most of which are not refilled hence becoming an environmental issue however currently all contracts to be signed has provisions for filling these pits

Wetlands:

Population pressure on upland for crop production has pushed the community to reclaim wetlands for crop production especially rice.  In Tororo and West Budama counties, most of shallow wetlands have been converted to arable land.  Major wetlands are still in existence in the county of West Budama.  However, the reclamation and rice cultivation continue to reduce the remaining wetlands.

District wetland Action Plan and DEAP are programmes set in the District to mitigate the negative imparts.

Poor Sanitation:

This problem is high in the urban centres.  The mushrooming trading centres and towns, set without Physical Planning, have no Sold Waste Disposal Systems.  Latrines are lacking in markets, Urban Centres and Roadside Eating-houses.  Some homes lack pit latrines, school sanitation is below the expected standard.  These need vigorous supervision, if good health status is to be maintained and disease out break is to be prevented.

Other issues include overgrazing, riverbank cultivation, hill slope cultivation, quarrying and road works impacts.  Many issues come up daily as the population grows.  This Action Plan is set to be reviewed from time to time to include new issues.

This Action Plan, therefore, calls for all stakeholders in the District, well wishers and friends from Uganda and abroad to join in the struggle of Sustainable Management of our Natural Resources and Environment.

Development projects, their impact on environment and proposed mitigation measures

As earlier mentioned all sectors have integrated environment concerns highlighted in the District Environment Action Plan. Most projects to be under taken are environmentally friendly, for instance soil conservation and tree planting, however some projects that have impact on the environment have been indicated and mitigation measures proposed mentioned below.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT PLAN FOR 2010/11-2014/15.

NGOs and development partners

In the formulation of the District Development Plan the District has fully recognized the contribution of other players in the process of developing the district. To this end, the District Development Plan has captured and reflected the efforts of NGOs and Sub-county Local Governments.

STRENGTH WEAKNESS OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS (SWOT) ANALYSIS

DISTRICT SWOT

SECTROL SWOT

 Poverty and Livelihood Analysis

Tororo District is one of those Districts with diverse culture. There are very many tribes in the District however there are two distinct ones, these include the Japadhola who form the largest number, they are located mainly in West Budama County, then the Iteso found mainly in Tororo County, whereas in the Municipality various ethnic groups are found ranging form the Japadhola, Banyole, Iteso, Somali’s, and Kenyans.

Poverty analysis

Chronic development challenges face Tororo District. For instance, available statistics in the District Planning Unit indicate the following worrying development indicators:

1. Out of every 1000 children born in Tororo District, 98 die before reaching their first birth days, and 86 before reaching their fifth birth days – Mortality Rate
2. The average number of years any body born can be expected to live is only 47 years- Life expectancy
3. The average number of children a woman produces during her child bearing period is as high as 7.1 (about 7 children).
4. Only 55% of the people of Tororo District can read and write with women’s level as low as 41.7%
5. Whereas there is no hard statistics to show, there is every indication to believe that there are high poverty levels with an estimated over 50% of the population live on less than a dollar per day.

Given the distressing state of affairs and based on service provision indicators presented under the sectrol situational analysis, the problem analysis undertaken by the different Technical Sectors, Tororo District Local Government identified the major core problem as Low household incomes

With low household income the following will result (effects)

Narrow District revenue base

Poor health

Low level of education

Low productivity

Reduction of the human life span

Low standards of living

Poor family planning

Causes of Low Household Incomes has been shown in a chart form

Poverty strategy implementation trends

Poverty pockets in Tororo District

The general level of poverty is adverse in the rural areas that are isolated from basic services though, there are some few urban areas that are severely affected.

The notable areas include;

Some parts of Kisoko, Paya, Petta and Nabuyoga in West Budama County then, Mollo and Kwapa in Tororo County, then Kasoli, Bison Maguria, Amagoro and Agururu in the Municipality, however, this is not to say that other areas of the District are not affected by poverty. Details are as per the table below;

Source: Uganda Bureau of Statistics Poverty Report

The following are some of the indicators used to justify the level to which the named areas are affected by poverty;

Poor housing status/shelter

Food insecurity

Poor nutritional status

Inadequate Clothing/Dressing

High illiteracy rate

Poor infrastructure i.e. road networks, schools, health centres and recreational centres

Low levels of household income

Shortage of land

High death rate

Limited access to market

Excessive alcohol consumption

Rapid population growth

Unsafe water and poor sanitation

In addition unequal sharing of resources within a household reflects cultural factors as well as unequal gender relations. Poverty manifests it self also as a society wide phenomenon, including insecurity, low quality of public services, the scarcity of jobs and the lack of physical, technical and health information through out the society

However there are a number of programmes in the mentioned areas trying to reverse the poverty situation amongst the Community which include, The Mifumi project, Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA), National Agriculture Advisory Services (NAADS), Plan Tororo Programmes, World Vision programmes, Universal Primary Education, School Facilities Grant and Local Government Management and Service Delivery Programme (LGMSDP) among others.

Livelihood analysis

The main source of livelihood is agriculture followed by livestock, and fishing.

The other sources of livelihood are derived from non-farming activities such as employment in the civil service, businesses, services etc.  There is an increasing trend towards non-farming activities due to uncertainty and seasonality of agricultural produce/income and also increase in new demands for households e.g. paying for tertiary education and health services.

Below is the source of livelihood in the District by percentage:

Source of livelihood

Source: Tororo District Planning Unit

Very few women work in the formal sector with 21.2% of the Sub Total labour force. The women are generally poor without independent sources of income and so have less access to resources.  Culture and low education among women are some of the factors that explain this scenario.

            Women and poverty

While poverty affects households as a whole, the division of labour between women and men and the responsibilities for household welfare, leads women to bear a disproportionate burden. They attempted to manage the household consumption and production under the conditions of scarcity. Women’s unpaid labour relives the state of social responsibilities. For example women look after the sick and elderly in the absence of medical care, and keep school going children at home when there is no school fees. Women’s health is at risk in the AIDS era, and their education gets adversely affected as girls are the first ones to be with drown out of school when parents fail to pay school fees.

Very few women work in the formal sector with 21.2% of the Sub Total labour force. The women are generally poor without independent sources of income and so have less access to resources.  Culture and low education among women are some of the factors that explain this scenario.

Gender analysis and main streaming

An analysis has been carried out, bring to light the constraints and challengers with regards to equitable distribution of resources amongst men and women. Gender imbalances in this District are rooted in values, norms, myths, taboos and traditions, widely accepted by both men and women. This is reflected in distorted decision making, unequal assess to land, unequal assess to and control over resources (land, capital, agricultural inputs, income) and a major work burden on the women

            Identified gender issues

• Gender analysis is not usually done and gender issues are often treated in terms of women specific needs leading to marginal action. Introducing and applying gender analysis is imported in enhancing all development programmes thus to promote ownership and sustainability
• Promotion of gender equality requires sectrol as well as cross cutting measures based on comprehensive gender analysis encircling society wide factor that influence gender relations at micro and macro levels.

Main streaming Gender therefore implies its integration into all policies and programmes. A specific objective, in addition to integration, can be very useful to guide the design of gender equality through out sector programmes and budgets.

The directorate of Community Based Services therefore underlines the promotion of Gender equality as one of the key guiding principles underlying its implementation, improving women land rights, and control over farm resources, access to credits, extension and general market information, as well as technology development are some of the core interventions proposed under this Three Year Development Plan.

Major Challenges

• The main challenge is how to identify Gender needs beyond men and women and how to implement gendered action plans through planning and budgeting
• Implementation of programmes that require attitude change poses great challenge to implementers at grass root level
• The time taken by women in domestic work in relation to the male counter part is a constraint to their participation in development projects
• Women are marginalized in as far as decision-making is concerned right from household level to community level. Very few women own the factors of production leave alone household property.

Strategies to address Gender inequality

• Gender inequality needs to be identified right from the start of the planning cycle (situation analysis) and tackled through all levels thus village, parish, sub County and District.
• Women’s time burdens are a significant constraint to their effective participation in development of projects. The design of projects needs to include measures that will optimise the use of the time available for women to participate effectively in project activities.
• Capacity Building for gender mainstreaming among key actors through awareness raising, skills training, designing gender enhancing tools, technical backstopping amongst others.
• Defining clear mandates and capacity building for gender structures from village level to District
• Establishing management information, coordination and monitoring systems in support of bottom up programming and linkage to ensure timely and adequate information on progress towards gender equality.
• Engendering review and evaluation systems in the sectors like check list review teams etc
• Training on skills to ensure that gender issues/concerns are integrated in sectrol programmes.

THE DISTRICT GENDER ACTION PLAN FOR 2010/11 – 2014/15

SUB COUNTY PROJECTS FOR THE MEDIUM TERM.

Summary of Lower Local Council Budgets

CHAPTER TWO

Goal of the Development Plan

The overall Goal of this Development Plan is to improve on service delivery by 35% and eradicate poverty among the population by promoting income generating activities during the next 5 years (2010/2011 – 2014/2015).

Specific Goals

1. Promote and sustain good governance
2. Increase access to social services
3. Improve on the economic infrastructure
4. Increase household incomes
5. To identify and collect sufficient revenue and to ensure service delivery standards are met

Objectives of the development plan

From the above goals the District has identified the following objectives as key for the next 5 years and their expected outputs.

STRATEGIES FOR REALISING THE DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES

Management Support Services

Resource mobilisation

Co-ordination of service delivery

Provision of facilities for service delivery

Supervision and monitoring of service delivery

Ensure effective and efficient use of the resources.

Finance and Planning

Revenue collection

Efficient allocation of resources for development

Ensure timely accountability for the resources

Promote participatory allocation of resources.

Ensure that the planning process is participatory

Production and Marketing

Provision of agricultural extension services to the population

To guide the population to good marketing facilities

Promotion of income generation among house holds.

Works and Technical Services

Provision of good road infrastructure and network that promotes economic development

Promotion of good housing among the population

Promote quality water and sanitation services to the communities.

Education and Sports

Provision of education services to the population, thus increasing literacy levels

Provision of education infrastructure e.g. classrooms, desks, teachers houses pit latrines

Ensure quality education services are delivered to the population

Promotion of co-curricular activities among the communities and in schools.

Health and Environment

Promotion of quality health care services to the population

Promote sustainable exploitation of the natural resources for development

Provision of health infrastructure

Council, Commissions and Boards:

Resource mobilisation

Efficient and effective allocation of resources

Monitor and utilisation of resources

Formulation of the framework for development

Manage council affairs as per established legal framework

With the formulation of the Strategic Development Framework the long-standing problem of parallel Planning where each sector pursues its own goals and objectives has been completely eliminated. Now all sector and all proposed investments are linked and are consistent with the agreed Development Framework. All the priorities listed in chapter six were subjected to an appraisal process to ensure that they comply with the agreed development principles and criteria.

Having the Development Framework is not an end in itself, there must be instruments to translate the framework into reality. The key vehicle for implementation of the District Development Plan in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), which derives from the Local Government Budget Framework Paper (LGBFP). The LGBF in turn stems from the Three Year Action Plan (Polling Plan). From the rolling Plan the District has prepared the annual work plan and budget by taking the interventions in first year of the three year rolling Plan and detailing the resources, timing of activity implementation, assigning responsibility for execution and other operational details.

CHAPTER THREE

MAJOR DISTRICT ACHIEVEMENTS FOR THE PERIOD 2009/2010-2010/2011

BUDGET PERFORMANCE

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS:

Under the water sector 47 deep wells were drilled, 5 hand dug wells were drilled, 20 spring wells were protected and 15 drama shows were held.

In the Roads sector 548 km of roads were routinely maintained, 30.4km of roads were periodically maintained, and 49.5kms where rehabilitated, a vehicle was purchased.

Under the Council and Statutory bodies sector, all the planned Council meetings were held, a study tour was conducted in Lira and Soroti for NUSUF and PRDP, key technical staff in for the District and Sub counties were recruited. An ordinance on bridal gifts was passed, the district hosted the national world food day celebrations, the contracts committee is now fully constituted, compensation rates were formulated and approved.

In the production sector 2,700 tsetse fly traps were procured, 5 crop pest and disease demonstrations established, 6 beehives were procured, 3,300 dogs and cats vaccinated against rabies, 440 improved cockerels were procured, 2,300 Cat fish fingerlings procured for demonstration, 182 farmers trained in fish pond management, a vehicle was purchased for the department.

In the health sector the proportion of health centre IIIs providing HCT services increased from 40% to 60%, the proportion of health centre IIIs providing PMTCT services has increased from 40% to 60%. The number of children less than 1 year receiving DPT3 stands at 27,468.There has been increase in OPD attendance due to increased awareness and improved service delivery, staffing in the health sector now stands at 71%, the proportion of deliveries in health facilities has increased from 26% to 29%.

In the Education sector 30 classrooms were constructed and are now in use, 1,806 primary school teachers are on the payroll, the teacher pupil ratio is 1:67. The education sector also managed to inspect all schools.

In the natural resources sector structural planning for Merikit and Molo town boards has gone through the first and second phases, 3 wet land management plans have been prepared land titles for 8 sub counties have been processed.

In community based services 15 sub county orphans and other vulnerable committees were formed, the department prepared an orphans and other vulnerable children 5 year strategic plan, aware was created among different stakeholders in the district in reference to the OVC policy, 60 water user committees were trained and 16 motorcycles were procured for the department, 2 laptops were procured.

Departmental Challenges

Administration

• Inadequate essential working equipment and machinery.
• Inadequate staff

Statutory bodies

• Council expenditures amounting to 20% of the previous financial year is not enough to run council affairs

Production

• Intermittent dry spells/drought.
• Declining soil fertility and soil productivity.
• Increasing prevalence of animal diseases.
• Inadequate artificial insemination services.

·       Inadequate staff (Veterinary officers).

Health

• Inadequate staff houses at health facilities.
• Frequent stock out of key medical supplies and drugs.

Education

• School establishment ceiling not HIV/AIDS friendly
• Inadequate Staffing
• Lack of vehicles and funds to facilitate school inspections.

Works

• Lack of  a vehicle for technical supervision
• Inadequate staffing

Natural resources

• Lack of land and land use polices.
• Lack of community wetland management plans

Community based services

• Shortage of staff
• Low literacy levels and disease.

Planning Unit

• Currently the Planning Unit is under staffed.
• Lack of GIS data collection equipment

Opportunities

• The district has a vast resource of phosphate deposits in the sub counties of Rubongi and Osukuru.
• The district has lime deposits.
• There in land to attract investors.
• Availability of a training institute for the Production sector.
• Availability of river sand deposits at the Malaba river and pit sand in various parts of the district.
• Availability of stone deposits  and a quarry so far identified in Petta and Nagongera Sub counties

Strategies to exploit the opportunities

• Lobby for investors to build industries in areas where the mines are located.
• Create a conducive environment to attract investors.
• Mine the sand in an organized manner.

Interventions:

Council is committed to planned interventions to improve implementation of its objectives.  In the financial year 2010/2011, Council plans to improve on revenue collection and mobilization by motivating and facilitating staff on revenue mobilization, widening the revenue base by creation of income generating projects and facilitating all revenue generating departments especially in the Lands section.

MAJOR DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES FACING THE DISTRICT

All organisations whether public or private that exist, or are established for the purpose of addressing critical problems that affect the people they serve. Tororo District Local Government is not an exception. Constitutionally, Districts were established to among other things render basic services to the population within their areas of jurisdiction.

Chronic development challenges face Tororo District. For instance, available statistics in the District Planning Unit indicate the following:

Out of every 1000 children born in Tororo District, 98 die before reaching their first birth days, and 86 before reaching their fifth birth days;

The average number of years any body born can be expected to live is only 47 years;

The average number of children a woman produces during her child bearing period is as high as 6.91 (about 7 children).

Only 55% of the people of Tororo District can read and write with women’s level as low as 41.7% while that of men stands at a fair 64.1%;

Whereas there is no hard statistics to show, there is every indication to believe that a high poverty level with an estimated over 50% of the population live on less than a dollar per day.

Given the distressing state of affairs and based on service provision indicators presented under the sectrol situational analysis, the problem analysis undertaken by the different Committees of Council and Technical Sectors, Tororo District Local Government identified and prioritised seven major problem areas:

1. Low household incomes
2. Limited access to social services
3. Poor economic infrastructure
4. Inadequate skilled manpower
5. Low level of functional literacy
6. Accelerating environmental degradation
7. Low revenue base
8. Food insecurity

 CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF THE CORE PROBLEMS

The District Technical Planning Committee analysed the root causes and effects of the problems in sector working groups. This is presented in the following tables:

Low Household Incomes

Inadequate Access to Social Services

Poor Economic Infrastructure

Inadequate skilled manpower

            Low level of Functional Literacy

Accelerating environmental degradation

In order to eradicate these problems the District has formulated a Strategic Development Framework, which spells out the direction (as defined by both its vision and mission) it will take to tackle the identified problems. However, before reaching this final destination, there are long term and intermediate results that have to be realised. These are embodied in the strategic and intermediate objectives that are directly targeted to tackle the current negative conditions or problems. The strategic and intermediate objectives are presented in Chapter four.