RESOURCES
Resource abundance and wealth are direct sources of neither economic underperformance nor development. The instruments by which the resources are utilized in order to generate income and by which the resource wealth is redistributed, better determine how the resource endowment and resource wealth will affect the performance of the overall economy.
According to (Philippot, 2010) a resource is defined as supply from which a benefit is produced.
Resources can also be defined as materials, energy, services, staff, knowledge, or other assets that are transformed to produce benefit and in the process may be consumed or made unavailable.
The process utilization of resources has numerous benefits like increased wealth or wants, proper functioning of a system, or enhanced well being.
Resources can be broadly classified on bases upon their availability they are renewable and non renewable resources.
Renewable resource
A renewable resource is a natural resource which replenishes to overcome resource depletion caused by usage and consumption, either through biological reproduction or other naturally recurring processes in a finite amount of time in a human time scale. Renewable resources are a part of Earth’s natural environment and the largest components of its ecosphere.
Examples of renewable natural resource include;
Alcohol – Used in the production of biodiesel
Algae – Can be harvested and made into jet fuel, biodiesel and biobutanol
Animal fat – Used to make biodiesel or bioplastic
Geothermal energy – The heat of the Earth and comes from under the ground. Power plants use this as well as geothermal heat pumps for homes.
Hydropower – Uses moving water to generate electricity in dams, rivers, ocean surface waves and the tides in the ocean
Nuclear power – Created through nuclear fission
Palm oil – Used to make biodiesel
Solar energy – Energy from the sun. The sun can be used to charge batteries, can be collected with solar cells to make electricity, or used passively to heat a building.
Wind power – Used to make electricity and mechanical energy. There are wind turbines from residential homes to wind farms.
Examples of Non renewable natural resource
Gas
Natural gasses gather below the Earth’s crust and, like crude oil, must be drilled for and pumped out.
- Methane and ethane are the most common types of gasses obtained through this process.
- These gasses are most commonly used in home heating as well as gas ovens and grills.
Russia, Iran, and Qatar are the countries with the largest recorded natural gas reserves.
Coal
Coal is the last of the major fossil fuels. Created by compressed organic matter, it is solid like rock and is obtained via mining.
- Out of all countries, China produces the most coal by far.
- According to the Statistical Review of World Energy, published in 2011 by BP, they produced an astounding 48.3% (3,240 million tons) of the world’s coal in 2010, followed by the United States who produced a mere 14.8%.
Coal is most typically used in home heating and the running of power plants.
Nuclear Fuels
The other form of non-renewable resource used to produce energy, nuclear fuels, is primarily obtained through the mining and refining of uranium ore.
- Uranium is a naturally occurring element found within the Earth’s core.
- Most uranium deposits occur in small quantities which miners gather together, refine, and purify.
Resource mobilization
Resource mobilization is the process of getting resources from resource provider, using different mechanisms, to implement the organization‘s work for achieving the pre-determined organizational goals.
It deals in acquiring the needed resources in a timely, cost-effective manner. Resource mobilization advocates having the right type of resource, at the right time, at right price with making right use of acquired resources thus ensuring optimum utilization of the same.
According to resource mobilization theory, a core, professional group in a social movement organization works towards bringing money, supporters, attention of the media, alliances with those in power, and refining the organizational structure.
The following are the importance of resource mobilization
- To diversify and expand resources.
- Resource Mobilization helps to formulate an independent budget. To break the tradition of running the specific programs of any donor agencies only.
- To decrease dependency on others.
- To save oneself/lessen the chance of becoming contractors of foreign donor agencies.
- For sustainability of the Organization and program.
- For maximum use of domestic capital and skills.
- To expand deep relations with the stakeholder and community.
- To clean the image of the Organization and expand relations.
- To fulfill responsibilities towards the community.
- To run programs based on the genuine needs of the community and to advocate for such programs.
BACKGROPUND OF THE NDP II
The Plan (NDP II) is the second of the six five-year NDPs that will be implemented under Vision 2040 and covers the fiscal period 2015/16 to 2019/20. It builds on the achievements attained under NDP I, mitigates the challenges encountered during its implementation, and seeks to take advantage of regional and global development opportunities. Unlike its predecessor, NDP II will serve as the point of reference to inform government planning processes, thereby eliminating parallel planning.
The number of prioritized growth opportunities and development fundamentals has been narrowed to only three and two respectively to increase impact and create growth momentum.
The three prioritized growth opportunities include; Agriculture, Tourism, and Minerals, Oil and Gas and the development fundamentals are; Infrastructure and Human Capital Development. The NDPII emphasizes prioritization of interventions through a value chain analysis; a Spatial Framework; alignment of sector/MDA/LG priorities and budgets with NDPII priorities; appropriate financing modalities for the priority interventions; and addressing the challenges of weak public sector systems among others.
This is in line with the Uganda Vision 2040 which aims at transforming the country from being a predominantly peasant and low income to a competitive, upper middle income status with a per capita income averaging at USD9,500 by 2040. The Vision provides the development paths and strategies that will guide this transformation and is conceptualized around strengthening the development fundamentals in order to successfully harness the abundant economic opportunities.
The goal
The goal of this Plan is to attain middle income status by 2020. This will be realized through strengthening the country’s competitiveness for sustainable wealth creation, employment and inclusive growth.
The objectives
Thus, the Plan sets key four objectives to be attained during the five year period. These are:
(i) Increasing sustainable production, productivity and value addition in key growth opportunities;
(ii) Increasing the stock and quality of strategic infrastructure to accelerate the country’s competitiveness;
(iii) Enhancing human capital development; and
(iv) Strengthening mechanisms for quality, effective and efficient service delivery.
Sustainable development goals
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), otherwise known as the Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
These 17 Goals build on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals, while including new areas such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace and justice, among other priorities. The goals are interconnected – often the key to success on one will involve tackling issues more commonly associated with another.
The SDGs work in the spirit of partnership and pragmatism to make the right choices now to improve life, in a sustainable way, for future generations. They provide clear guidelines and targets for all countries to adopt in accordance with their own priorities and the environmental challenges of the world at large. The SDGs are an inclusive agenda. They tackle the root causes of poverty and unite us together to make a positive change for both people and planet. “Poverty eradication is at the heart of the 2030 Agenda, and so is the commitment to leave no-one behind,” UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said. “The Agenda offers a unique opportunity to put the whole world on a more prosperous and sustainable development path. In many ways, it reflects what UNDP was created for.”
The SDGs came into effect in January 2016, and they will continue guide UNDP policy and funding for the next 15 years. As the lead UN development agency, UNDP is uniquely placed to help implement the Goals through our work in some 170 countries and territories.
Our strategic plan focuses on key areas including poverty alleviation, democratic governance and peace building, climate change and disaster risk, and economic inequality. UNDP provides support to governments to integrate the SDGs into their national development plans and policies. This work is already underway, as we support many countries in accelerating progress already achieved under the Millennium Development Goals.
Our track record working across multiple goals provides us with a valuable experience and proven policy expertise to ensure we all reach the targets set out in the SDGs by 2030. But we cannot do this alone.
Achieving the SDGs requires the partnership of governments, private sector, civil society and citizens alike to make sure we leave a better planet for future generations.
Uganda’s ability to achieve sustainable development is facing serious challenges because of the rampant corruption in the country , according to (World Bank, 2017), Companies face significant risks when dealing with Uganda’s tax administration. Tax collection in Uganda is a major problem and lacks transparency, and some foreign investors have complained of tax rules being unclear and subject to change. Companies indicate that bribes and irregular payments are common when making tax payments. Nearly half of Ugandan citizens believe tax officials are corrupt, Therefore for Uganda to be able to have a sustainable development and an efficient way of mobilizing resources, the government has to be in position to eliminate corruption in the country.
For the government to be able to mobilize all the resources from the different parts of the country it has to ensure that it has to invest heavily in infrastructures especially the road sector, according to UBOS, (2009) Information available shows that Uganda’s road infrastructure comprises of national roads (10,800 km), district roads (27,500 km)2 , urban roads (4,800 km) and community access roads whose actual length is estimated at about 35,000 km. Project documents for the Road Sector Development Project 3 show that 36 per cent, 52 per cent and 27 per cent of national, district and urban roads respectively were in poor condition in 2008 which is the baseline. since the road sector is so crucial for the national development the government of Uganda will therefore need to invest heavily in the roads sector and their will ensure that the country is able to mobilize its natural resources and also enable the country achieve its sustainable development goals.
References
Miller, G.T. & S. Spoolman (2011). Living in the Environment: Principles, Connections, and Solutions (17th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks-Cole. ISBN 0-538-73534-1.
Eltantawy and Wiest (2011). “The Arab Spring: Social media in the Egyptian revolution and reconsidering resource mobilization theory”. International Journal of Communication. 5: 1207–1224.
- World Bank: Doing Business 2017.
