Arua Vision

Arua District Local Government has a Vision to have a healthy, productive and prosperous people by 2017. It is also hoped that by 2015, most of the United Nation's 8 Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) will be achieved.

With the resourceful information posted on this Blog and Website (@www.arua.go.ug), it is hoped that those involved in Arua's development are well informed about the issues affecting the district and the measures being taken to alleviate the problems.

Feel free to contact the Local Government on any issues of your concern or dealings. Located on Arua Avenue, opposite Catholic Centre and adjacent to the Arua Central Police Station, you will be attended to by dedicated civil servants.

For GOD and my Country!

Facebook Description:
Established on 14th June 1914, Arua Town (the Ancient Capital of Pan-Africanism) is 64 Km away from the Sudan Border, 39 Km South of Koboko Town, 14 Km East of the Congo Border and about 530 Km from Kampala (Distance according to Gaagaa Coach's first female driver Kenyan Alice Nyambura). Widely regarded as the Capital of West Nile and a business hub linking Northwestern Uganda to Sudan, Congo and the rest of the world, Arua is home to mainly the Lugbara tribe and other smaller groups like the Madi, Kakwa and Alur.

During the 1945 African Chiefs/ Heads Conference in Manchester (England), the Pan Africanism Association was formed and ARUA was chosen as its Head Quarters in the independent Kingdom State of Lado. Ghanaian Kwame Nkrumah (His First Name was Francis ) became the Secretary and Kenya's First President Jomo Kenyatta (His Real Name was Johnston Kamau) became Assistant Secretary while the Agofe/ King Atabua was Chairman. [WARNING: This King is not recorded in African History. He was assassinated because he asked USSR (Russia) to raise the question of Lado Independence at the United Nations in 1947]

In 2005, Uganda was included among third world countries allowed to export honey to the European Union. Consequently, a factory for natural bee products that meet EU standards was set up in Arua. The factory provides a ready market for honey from local farmers. Arua is the hive to one of the World's Best Honey (and won a Gold Medal at the 2000 Lisbon Expo in Portugal). Also, the farmers here produce 50 percent of Uganda's tobacco. It is home to World Champion Athlete Dorcus Inzikuru, the first female gold medalist from Uganda. The World Famous President Idi Amin Dada (a Kakwa with a Lugbara Mother) has a house in Arua District and made it famous...

Welcome to the Little City named Arua; it's inside Uganda’s Sunshine District: Area Code 0476, something like the Toronto of Ug*. Some natives fancy calling it 'California' (USA - United States of Arua which comprises the break-away Districts of Moyo, Koboko, Yumbe, plus Nyadri or Maracha and Terego). You can see Mount Wati from atop Arua Hill which has a fantastic panoramic view of the municipality (while you enjoy tinned fish from Morocco or the Barifa Forest breeze with your partner on the Lovers' Rock - East Side of the hill) plus will find abundant Mangoes everywhere during harvest season, Maize from Vurra, White Ants, Honey, Ope (Lugbara for 'Guinea Fowls' which are reared most by people in Arua compared to anywhere else in Uganda), Green Fields, Nice People, Fresh Air, Good Food, Rocks, and Picturesque Thunderbolts… The Beauty of the Golf Course can get you closer to GOD.

'Sunday Magazine' inside Uganda’s Best Selling Newspaper 'Sunday Vision' on 18th September 2005 called Arua a 'Sleeping Giant awakening'. Meanwhile, Joel Obetia the West Nile Diocesan Archbishop on Christmas Day 2007 prophesied that, “In five years time, Arua will be a city…” That is by 2012, the whole world should fathom Arua as the Sweetest Place on Earth two years before its 100th Anniversary.

Requirements for City Status include: Ability for quality service delivery, enough water resources connected to the national grid and a population of over 500,000 people. Arua somehow meets the standards including the old one of having a cathedral. Arua has more than two cathedrals already. The only problem is that the advancement is not extended to a wide area but it is happening steadily even despite local opposition. Tourism is a major investment in terms of financial dividends and as the government tries to promote it in Arua, there is no limit this small Northwestern town will not reach.

To get to Arua, you can either fly Eagle Air, United Airlines, Challenge Air, West Nile Air, Royal Daisy to the Idi Amin Aerodrome (Uganda's Second Busiest after Entebbe Airport) or ride in a matatu/ coach (Nile, ANKK, Gateway, Regional, Gaagaa, KK Transporters) most of which passengers board on Johnstone Street behind King Fahd Plaza. Travellers who prefer Posta Bus services can board from the Main Post Office in Kampala. No railway network was constructed up to Arua Town from Pakwach or Congo (despite plans in the ancient times) so you will miss that experience here. Crossing the Albert Nile from Adjumani might require a ferry though. The journey can be quite enchanting especially at places like Karuma Falls, Pakwach or Paraa Ferry Crossing (Pure Paraa-dise, allow me to quip here!).

Rhino Camp used to be the home of white rhinos that were unfortunately wiped out but there is a (wildlife) game reserve at Ajai. Currently, the reserve is experiencing fast growth in Hippos, Colubus Monkeys, Velvet Monkeys, Baboons, the Bush-buck, Uganda Kob, Water-buck, Warthogs, Statunga, Leopards and bird species. Ajai offers campsites at Tangi Gate, about 200 metres away from the banks of the Nile that flows gently in this area. Lugard's Fort in Maracha County is of national significance and could be developed in order to diversify the tourism products in the Northern Region. Barifa Forest which encloses the Dorcus Inzikuru Sports Ground is also a major attraction. You may be surprised to find that the Arua Kids League (AKL) has more technical talent than the Kampala outfit KKL sometimes. Other Places of Interest include the heavenly Catholic Media Centre that houses Radio Pacis plus Vineyard in Ediofe - West Side, Hotel Pacific, Slumberland, Heritage Group of Restaurants and Guest Houses, Kuluva Hospital, 'Aci Engine' (WENRECo Power Station), 'White Castle' with swimming pool in Ewuata - 5 Km outside Arua, Falls on rivers, Night Spots like Discotheques, Picturesque meanders at Ragem Beach, Fort Wadelai near the Albert Nile, Emmanuel Cathedral in Mvara - East Side, Ediofe Cathedral (which will celebrate 100 Years in 2012), Mount Wati, the West Nile Golf Course and much more...

Overview of Arua District

BACKGROUND: HISTORY

Arua is one of the 80 districts of the Republic of Uganda. It is one of the 21 districts of the Northern Uganda Region; and one of the 7 districts of the West Nile Sub Region. Arua District was curved out of the then West Nile and Madi District which was founded in 1912 during the colonial period. In 1953 Madi District comprising of the current Moyo and Adjumani districts was granted a district status leaving West Nile as a District. In 1973 West Nile was given a provincial status but reverted back to a District in 1979 with Nebbi being curved into a District of its own. Arua District got its name from Arua town. In 1979 when the Ugandan president at the time Godfrey Binaisa declared that all districts/ provinces acquire their names from their regional capital so that is how Arua district inherited the name from Arua town. In 2001 Yumbe District was curved out of Aringa County of the then Arua. Koboko District was similarly curved out of Koboko County of the then Arua District. In 2006, a District comprising of the counties of Maracha and Terego was curved out of Arua though its political organs are not yet operational due failure to resolve on the location of the district headquarters. Arua District as of now comprises of the counties of Ayivu, Vurra, Madi-Okollo and Arua Municipality.

Key Development Challenges

INTRODUCTION:

This chapter presents some of the development challenges facing Arua District. It gives an analysis and explanations regarding service delivery levels in the district. It further highlights key investment priority areas for collaboration.
Arua District local government is mandated to deliver quality services to the community so as to realise improved quality of life for the populace. However, the district is faced with a lot of development challenges in realizing its development goal. The development challenges are discussed as below.

POOR FARMING PRACTICES:

Over 80% of the district’s active labour force is engaged in agriculture and most of them are in rural areas. The goal of production department is to improve the livelihoods of the people through transformation of farming from subsistence to commercial farming. The department also aims at improving household food and income security. However, this goal has not been realised due to insufficient extension services, most farmers are still small holders who produce on small plots and using traditional tools that is responsible for poor yields. There is limited farmers’ access to improved planting materials. Above all the farming community heavily rely on natural weather which is not easily predicted. There have often been situations of late start of rain which often affected agricultural production. This unreliable rainfall both in quantity and timing is still a big challenge to farmers as it often results into crop failure and loss of livestock during adverse weather conditions hence household food insecurity. The Government of Uganda has focused on increase of production and productivity in the agricultural sector as one of the major ways of improving the livelihoods of the population. This is expected to address the challenges of low household incomes and food insecurity.

INADEQUATE AND LIMITED ELECTRIFICATION:

A greater part of Arua District lacks electricity. The old thermal generator with a capacity of about 1.5MW of electricity which provides power for only a few hours a day, has for the last few months been non operational. The Nyagak hydro electric scheme from which the District is expected to benefit is far behind schedule. Lack of a reliable and sufficient source of electricity has kept the District backwards in terms of attracting investments in spite of its strategic location to the two neighbouring countries of the DRC and the Sudan; the high potential of the area of agricultural production and agro processing; and the high population which constitutes a big market for manufactured products among others. Only 0.8% of the households had access to electricity by 2002 population and housing census report. Lack of reliable power in the district is a big disincentive to investors and hampers value addition to agricultural products. The district has got a number of potential sites for hydro electricity generation. The district is now faced with the challenge of attracting investors and needs to intensify its efforts in lobbying from the government through the rural electrification programme to develop the various sites for hydro electricity supply in the region.

Environmental degradation and poor natural resource utilization practices
Given that the majority of poor people depend on the environment for their livelihood, the state of the environment has a huge implication for poverty reduction: Over 89% of the population of the district lives in the rural areas and depends on natural resources for their livelihood. 80 percent of the population is employed in agricultural sector. Ninety nine percent (99%) of the population rely on wood fuel for their domestic energy needs. Degradation of the environment leads to low productivity of the natural resources and consequently poverty.
The sector's efforts to improve environmental conditions contribute to productivity and poverty eradication.

PRESENT SITUATION:

Arua District has high natural resource potentials such as fairly fertile soils forests, wildlife, water resources, wetlands, and a favourable climate with rainfall ranging from 900mm to 1500mm per year. However, several factors have led to the degradation of the Environment. These factors include high population increase and unsustainable utilization of natural resources, poverty, desire to increase per capita, low levels of technology, low levels of environmental awareness, introduction of tobacco growing in the district and influx of refugees.

The above strain has resulted into a number of environmental issues
(a) Soil degradation:
Soil degradation is one of the most disturbing environmental problems affecting the district. This is particularly so in lower Ayivu, some parts of Vurra and Madi counties.

(b) Deforestation:
The District has 39 gazetted forest reserves totalling 60 425 Ha. Between 40 to 60 percent of the forests has been removed. However, deforestation is mainly taking place in communal and private lands.

(c) Poor waste disposal/sanitation:
Solid waste management is one of the major problems in the district both in the urban and rural areas. Arua Municipal Council is currently not in position to manage the waste properly as stipulated in the Public Health Act of 1964 and Local Government statute of 1997.
Equally, most households do not have disposal pits. Latrine coverage in the district is still low (58 percent). Waste is disposed of in unhygienic manner.
Water supply in Arua District is equally not very good. Only 65% percent of the people in the District have access to safe water.

(d) Wetlands & river bank degradation:
Wetlands cover approximately 2.8 percent (87 km2) of the total land area of the district. This allows water to stay in one place long enough to maximize infiltration. The water holding capacity and buffering effect of wetlands ensure that rivers and streams continue to flow during the dry season and ground water is sustained. There has however been a lot of wetlands and river banks degradation through drainage for cultivation, brick making, sand mining and burning of vegetation. Unless the above trend is reversed, the district’s wetlands will be completely destroyed in future.

(e) Loss of biodiversity
Arua district contributes very little to the wildlife resources of the county in spite of the fact that the district has Ajai Game Reserve that covers an area of 15,800 hectares and is located in the south-eastern part of the district. Ajai, the main wildlife area was initially gazetted as a White Rhino Sanctuary in 1937. Other fauna included elephants, hippopotamus, buffaloes, monkeys, baboons and many birds. By 1981, some of these animals were reduced to extinction including; (e.g. white rhinoceros, elephants, hartebeest). This was as a result of poaching. The current wildlife present in the reserve is hippopotamus, antelopes, bushbucks, warthog, and monkeys (Vervet,Potas Dorcupine Monkeys), Cane rats, Baboons, birds and reptiles. The main causes of poaching are: Political turmoil and lawlessness which prevailed in the district in the 1980; Poorly managed resource base; Ill-provided for and demoralized game workers; Lack of awareness on the importance of wildlife.
The negative attitude of the local people to conservation.
Poachers have taken advantage of all these leading to severe poaching and extinction of some animals. People should also be educated about the advantages of conserving wildlife so that they are not alienated from their conservation.
The maintenance and management of wildlife resources is often affected by varied and often opposing view points and interests especially where matters of resource allocation an accessibility are to be decided. Many times the local community surrounding game reserves are not involved in the protection of reserves. Information on community participation in the management of wildlife resources in Arua district is inadequate.
Some encroachment has been reported in the game reserves. Human activities taking place in the reserve are cultivation and grazing which is seasonal. Squatters have occupied a few localities in the reserve. There has also been legal settlement of inhabitants who were residents in the reserve prior to 1964 who were issued with certificates. There is no record of the number of livestock, huts and human settlement to show the exact impacts of human activities in the reserve. As a result of encroachment, the wildlife habitat has been disturbed. In some areas it has led to complete loss of habitat forcing animals to migrate. All these together with poaching have not only caused reduction in number of wildlife but even led to complete extinction of some species.
As a result of the above state of affairs, Arua District is not exploiting the potential of income generation and employment from the wild life reserve as much as it should have done.

GENDER INEQUALITY:
Gender imbalances still do exist in the district especially in ownership and access to productive assets such as land. Generally women do not own nor control land. They only have access to the land but the decisions on what to produce and in what quantities remain the domain of men. Furthermore, women do not control proceeds of neither what ever is produced nor what they sell in the market. This explains why many women are poorer in Arua District than men. Gender Based Domestic Violence (GBV) is also common although there is no clear statistics on this matter. The existing gender disparity still remains a challenge to development of the District. A more detailed analysis is presented in Chapter Three.

POOR ACCESS TO SOCIAL SERVICES:
Availability and access to quality social services (health, education, extension services, clean and safe drinking water) translates directly into the quality of life of the people. In Arua district, access to quality social services is still undoubtedly limited with the following implications for the quality of life of the people.
The key actions in this Sector shall include,
• Capacity building of the Communities to demand for services in a participatory manner.
• Improve and promote social mobilisation for development planning and management at all levels amongst the community.
• Support the Youth, the elderly, and the cultural groups to participate fully in all development initiatives.
More detailed analysis and current service levels are presented in sectoral analyses.
The District intends to squarely address these challenges in the short and medium term using strategies and objectives outlined in the Arua DDP Policy 2009 - 2010 available at the Local Government offices on Adumi Road.

Potential Investment Areas for Cooperation

This section presents some of the potential investment priority areas of the district for cooperation. Due to limited resource envelop the district could not fund within available central government transfers, local revenue and donor funds that the district receives. The district expects development partners, private investors as well as well-wishers to support and complement the district’s effort in these key investment priority areas that would have great impact in improving the quality of life of the people.

ENERGY AND RURAL ELECTRIFICATION DEVELOPMENT:

The West Nile sub region has some potential sites that could be developed for generation of hydro electricity. The district hospital and health centres lack sufficient and reliable power supply for successful operation and storage of vaccines. There are a number of secondary schools, tertiary institutions and sub-county head quarters and up coming trading centres which all require power. The production and generation of stable power supply would help improve on effective teaching and learning of science in secondary schools and promote trade. This would also promote agricultural productivity through value addition. The district encourages private developers to explore this opportunity in partnership with the district for energy and rural electrification development as there is high demand for it.

TOURISM PROMOTION AND DEVELOPMENT:

Arua District has some history sites that could be preserved and developed for tourist attraction. The wild life reserve at Ajai could be improved to make it more attractive. The district would like to join hands together with the private investors to promote and develop tourism industry.

VOCATIONAL AND TERTIARY EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT:

The district has only two government aided vocational school at inde and ragem.The unemployment level among the youths is quite high due to lack of skills. The youths who have dropped out of school could be made productive through skills training especially in metal fabrication, motor vehicle repair and carpentry and joinery in vocational schools.
Whereas a number of tertiary institutions has sprung up in the District, the is need to improve infrastructure and amenities in these institutions to enable them provide better services.

AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY ENHANCEMENT:

Over 80% of the districts active labour force is engaged in agriculture and most of them in rural areas. Majority of the farmers lack knowledge and skills on modern farming practices due to poor extension services caused by limited number of extension staff. Most farmers are still small holders with limited access to information and use rudimentary tools for land opening which could not manage big acreage. A few people have access to ox-traction. Therefore, the district would like to cooperate with other development partners to support the District in Agriculture development and research and knowledge sharing among farmers. Increase agricultural productivity and yields by increasing acreage through mechanization by use of tractors. There are plenty of mangoes and other fruits which often get wasted due to lack of skills and capacity to preserve them. The district would encourage investors to exploit this business opportunity for value addition not only in fruits but also in fish and honey which are being produced in large quantities.

Land and Climate in Arua

LOCATION:

Arua District lies in the North Western Conner of Uganda between latitude 20 30'N and 30 50'N and longitude 300 30'E and 310 30'E. It is bordered by a District comprising of the counties of Maracha and Terego in the North West; Yumbe District in the North East; Democratic Republic of Congo in the West; Nebbi District in the South; and Gulu District in the East.
Arua town, the Administrative and commercial headquarters of the district is 520 kilometres away from Kampala, Uganda’s capital city.

LAND AREA:

The district covers a total area of 3,112.85 Km2 area is about 2,702 square kilometres 87% of which is arable.

County [Sub-County] Land Area Km2 (Parishes) Villages


Arua Municipality
[Arua Hill] 6.38 (3) 22
[Oli River] 3.76 (3) 28
SUB TOTAL 10.14 (6) 50

Ayivu
[Adumi] 113.68 (9) 102
[Aroi] 42.42 (6) 52
[Dadamu] 50.13 (7) 51
[Manibe] 40.14 (8) 69
[Oluko] 80.71 (9) 66
[Pajulu] 64.11 (9) 78
SUB TOTAL 391.19 (48) 418

Madi-Okollo
[Offaka] 306.52 (6) 53
[Ogoko] 603.57 (6) 33
[Okollo] 419.34 (4) 30
[Rhino Camp] 247.21 (6) 50
[Rigbo] 233.93 (8) 68
[Ullepi] 130.24 (3) 18
SUB TOTAL 1,940.81 (33) 252

Vuraa
[Ajia] 274.38 (9) 32
[Arivu] 170.49 (6) 55
[Logiri] 207.24 (7) 48
[Vurra] 118.6 (10) 84
SUB TOTAL 770.71 (35) 219

TOTAL [18 Counties] 3,112.85 Km2 (119 Parishes) 939 Villages

[Source: Population and Housing Census 2002]

TOPOGRAPHY:

Arua district comprises mainly of rolling plains rising from the Nile floor in the rift valley (600m above sea level) to the Zaire - Nile water divide (1200 to 1400 meters above sea level). Arua’s landscape can generally be grouped into three topographical zones.

a) Madi Plateau - Occurs at an altitude of about 900 meters above sea level. It occupies the eastern parts of the district in Terego and Madi - Okollo counties. Several broad valleys that cut across to enter River Nile dissect this plateau.

b) Western highland - this upper plateau occurs at an altitudinal range of 1200 to 1800 metres above sea level. The parent rocks include basement complex metamorphose which is responsible for the formation of the hilly terrain. The zone generally covers the central western parts of Arua district especially in Ayivu and Vurra Counties. The slopes in Vurra consist of many facets.

c) Rift valley - The rift valley escarpments are highest in the South and fade off to the North. They consist of several faults carps arranged, roughly parallel with the Albert Nile. These scarps separate the Rift valley plains from the Madi plateau. The rift valley low lands consist of wide seasonal swamps. All major valleys are aggraded and consist of alluvial and swamp deposits.

GEOMORPHOLOGY:

Arua District consists of a monotonous Madi vast plain with occasional hills rising abruptly from it termed as zone of tors and inselburgs. At the Nile, rift valley, faults are seen at about 300 meters in height. Rift valley deposits occur and are backed by a series of scarps arranged in an echelon, which separate the rift valley plain from the Madi Plain. Large scarps in the West, above which the West Nile is Plateau in turn, stop the plain. This succession of plains is largely due to rift valley movement hence two erosion surfaces have been established, the Madi plain which is part of the African end of tertiary surface, and another principal erosion surface which is the older Gondwana surface.
The major valleys are aggraded with alluvial and swamp deposits. The aggradations are partly geomorphic, but also associated with dense growth of papyrus and other plants which block streams and cause deposition of sediments.

CLIMATE:

Arua district has a bi-modal rainfall pattern with light rains between April and October. The wettest months are normally August and September which receive 120mm/month. The average total rainfall is 1250mm. The mean monthly evaporation ranges from 130mm - 180mm. In the dry season (December -March) temperatures remain high throughout.

The table below displays average monthly climate indicators in ARUA based on 8 years of historical weather readings.

Temperature by:Centigrade
ARUA 1211 meters above sea level.
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec


Avg. Temperature
25 25 25 25 24 22 22 22 23 23 23 24

Avg. Max Temperature
30 30 29 28 28 26 26 26 27 27 27 28

Avg. Min Temperature
16 18 18 18 18 17 16 17 17 17 17 17

Avg. Rain Days
0 0 0 0 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 0

Avg. Snow Days
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0



AdministrativeLY, Arua District comprises 4 counties, 18 Sub-counties (including the divisions in the Urban Councils), 119 parishes (LCIIs) and 939 villages (LCIs). The district has one Urban Council namely Arua Municipal Council.

Natural Resources in Arua District

SOILS:

Arua district is underlain by Pre-cambrian rocks of Basement complex, which include granitic and metamorphic rocks. The rocks are composed largely of aplitic granulites, which generally form enclaves in the gneiss complex. These cover parts of Vurra and Ayivu counties. They are part of the tectonic groups.
A wide range of Basement rock type represented includes quarzites, schists, amphibolites, charnockites, phyllites, mylonites and others.
Other rock types of Cainozoic era are part of rift valley deposits of Pleistocene age, which occur in Madi Okollo county. Red course sands, silts and subordinate amounts of clay, gravel and diatomite, represent them.
Most of the hills are of inselberg type and rise abruptly from the plains as steep, bare marsses of fresh solid rock usually with no soil cover at all. Ollier (1960) described their formation.
On hilltops grey granite and gneiss are left exposed over wide areas. These gneisses and granites are intensively metamorphosed and deformed. Soil depth is not more than 15 Cms. However, it is fairly fertile along valleys due to alluvial deposits found on the lower portions of slopes.
The predominant soils are ferralitic and sand loams covering large areas in Arua district. These soils are fine textured with loose structure erodible and easily erodible and easily leached. Most soils are acidic.
Vertisols are found in the northwestern parts of the district. These soils have poor drainage and thus easily become water logged.
There is a lateritic layer in most soils. This reduces the rooting depth and moisture conditions, where it is close to the surface, making the land difficult to cultivate. Sub-soils lack minerals for plants. They are good for building/construction purposes. Soil types in Arua include: There is a lateritic layer in most soils. This reduces the rooting depth and moisture conditions, where it is close to the surface, making the land difficult to cultivate. Sub-soils lack minerals for plants. They are good for building/construction purposes. Soil types in Arua include:
• Yellow-red sandy, clay loam latosols varying from dark grey to dark brown which are slightly acidic and mainly derived from granite, gneissic and sedimentary rocks. They occur on gently undulating-hilly topography.
• Brown-yellow clay loams with laterite horizon with a variation of dark brown to dark greyish brown, which are slightly acidic. These occur on flat ridge tops or on top of undulating topography.
• Light-grey white mottled loamy soils with laterite horizon ground (water laterite), structureless loamy sands. They are acidic-alkaline and are mainly found on the lower and bottom slopes.

WATER RESOURCES:

Arua district generally lacks adequate surface and ground water resources. In Arua district the sources of water include ground water, rivers, springs, wells, gravity flow scheme. The coverage of water resources over various counties is fairly equal. Major problems attributed to water are only experienced in Madi-Okollo County where there are fewer water bodies and water quality is rather low.
Although the Nile is a very reliable water source and has attracted significant settlement pattern along it, it is not strategically located and covers less than 0.2% of the total area of the district. It benefits only Madi-Okollo County.
The Albert Nile is fed by streams and ground water during the heavy rains and loses its water during the dry season through evaporation and also to the surrounding unconsolidated sands, silt and gravel which recharge the water content of the surrounding countryside through natural means. Part of the Albert Nile is found in the east of the district. Other important rivers are Enyau, Jurei, Ala, Ora, Kochi which all drain into the Nile in the east. There are also numerous streams in the district.

WETLANDS:

Wetlands are vegetated areas of land that are flooded permanently or seasonally and stays wet long enough for certain plants and animals to grow even when there has been no rain. Wetlands are also defined as transitional lands between terrestrial and aquatic systems covered by shallow waters (SOER 1998). The water holding capacity and buffering effect of wetlands ensure that rivers and streams continue to flow during the dry season and ground water is also sustained. Wetlands also support a number of fauna and flora.

Wetlands cover approximately 2.8% (87 Km2) of the total land area of the district. This allows water to stay in one place long enough to maximize infiltration and thus access to water supplies for plants. There has however been a lot of encroachment on the wetlands for crop cultivation and unless the trend is reversed, the district’s wetlands will be completely destroyed in future.
In Arua district, the wetlands are being used for cultivation and livestock grazing crops such as sugarcane, yams, rice, maize, beans and sweet potatoes are grown at the edge of wetlands. During the dry season, grazing and watering of livestock mainly take place in the wetlands. Papyrus, reeds and similar plants are used for everyday necessities such as thatching, mats, baskets and other handcrafts. Palms and smaller sized trees are used as structural building materials.
Wetlands provide habitat for substantial population of fish, which have been caught for both domestic and commercial purposes. The fish species caught from the wetlands in the district include catfish (claricus), lungfish and Bagrus (catfish).
Other uses of the wetlands in the district include provision of water for domestic, hunting, sand mining The pressure can lead to ecological imbalances in wetlands as products are not used sustainably. There is no sound management of the wetlands and over-exploitation in some parts of the district. The most over-exploited wetlands in the district are in counties of Vurra and Ayivu. The policy, which discourages wetland drainage and conversion to unsustainable uses, should be enforced in the district.
Drainage is one of the major threats to wetlands in the district. Wetlands are drained for cultivation of vegetables, sugarcane, yams, maize and beans. They are also drained for excavation of clay for bricks making, sand mining and reducing incidence of mosquitoes breeding.
The main pressure on wetland is due to the location of factories near wetlands. Activities in these factories end up polluting the environment. Car washing directly in the river also pollutes the river. These factors disrupt ecological balances affecting the fauna and flora in wetlands, resulting in deterioration of the environment. To address the problem, land use should be properly planned. Feasibility studies of all projects and activities targeted around wetlands should be done before they are started. People should also be properly educated on land use in order to reduce environmental degradation of wetlands due to their activities.
Vegetation
The natural vegetation used to be characterized of open lands with equatorial type of savanna grasslands, with small pockets of natural forests on hills, especially along the northern parts of the district.
The original vegetation of Arua district was composed of mixed woody savanna, which has greatly been reduced by subsistence farming that currently occupies about 80% of the total land area.
Forests are an important part of the vegetation of Arua District. This is again divided into low and high altitude forests. But in Arua district the predominant type is the high altitude forests. The former are mainly found along valleys.
The Savanna by far is the predominant vegetation in the district. The vegetation is Butyrosparmum – hyparrhemia savana. It is characterised by such trees as Isobulinia doka, Danieh cliveer and Afzeha africana.
In the central parts of Arua, the vegetation consists mainly of butyropernum-Hyparrhenia Savana with dry hyparrhemia grass savana. Post-cultivation communities of Imperata-Panicum-Hyparrhenia and Hyparrhenia-Peridium are found on the lower ground. Palm savanna is found to the northeast. Also present are dry combretum Acacia-Heteropogan an d Butyrospermum-Hyparrhenia savana.

THE PEOPLE

The Lugbara, largely inhabit Arua District. They are the dominating settlers in all parts of the district. Other tribes are Kakwa, Madi, Alur and Lendu. The Madi live in the eastern parts while the Alur and Lendu are mostly found in the western parts of the District. The Lugbara and Madi are Sudanic origin while the Kakwa are Nilo-hamites. The Alur and Lendu are of Congo origin. All the ethinicities have similarities in culture.

Human Resources

INTRODUCTION:

A country’s most critical asset is its human resources. Human resources serve as means to and an end in development process. As a means, it provides labor force for production. To a large extent, educational level and health situation of a given population determines its labor productivity. As an end, the human development indicators show the level of development of a given society/country. Any development effort should therefore be based on and should aim at improving the welfare of its population.

POPULATION OF ARUA:

The geographical area comprising the current Arua District had a total population of 402,671 persons as of the Night of 12th/13th September 2002. This population has grown and currently stands at about 499,600 people.

SEX COMPOSITION OF THE POPULATION:

The sex composition of a population is useful in understanding the past trends of population change. The sex ratio defined as the number of males per 100 females is an index for comparing the numerical balance between the two sexes in different population groups irrespective of the size, location and time reference. Overall, during the 2002 Population and Housing Census there were 192,447 males compared to 210,224 females giving a sex ratio 91.5 males per 100 females.

POPULATION GROWTH:

Arua District population grew at an average annual rate of 3.97% between 1991 and 2002. This was much higher than the growth rate observed during 1980 to 1991 which stood at 2.83. The high growth rate is largely due to high fertility levels averaging about 7 children per woman, observed over the last four decades.
Given the high growth rate, the district needs to expand substantially its entire infrastructure especially in education, health, and water supply in order to enhance the welfare of its population.

HOUSEHOLD POPULATION:

In demographic terms, a household is defined as a group of persons that normally live and eat together. According to 2002 Census, out of the total population of the district (402,671), 98.6% (397,034) were living in the households while the remaining was institutional population. Total number of household in the district was 74,027. The mean household size (summary measure that gives the number of persons per household, obtained as the ration of the total household population to the number of households in the area) was 5.4. This is quite close to the previous censuses and shows that the mean household size in Arua has been fairly stable over the past four decades.

FUNCTIONAL AGE GROUPS:

A very high proportion of the district population is in the young age group. 23% of the total population is children aged between 0-5 years; 22% are aged between 6-13 years (primary school going age); 54% are aged between 0-17 years. Secondary school population (14-17 years) constitutes 9% of the total population. The productive age group (15-64 years) is 51% of the total population. Only 2.5% are aged 65% and above.
A young population like that of Arua District requires considerable investment in the services for children. For instance, immunization services, pre-primary and primary education, among other things.

Arua District projected (mid 2009) population by function by Age.

Population (of Selected Age Groups) Number [Percent/Proportion]
Primary School Age Population (6-12 Years) 104,916 [21.0]
Secondary School Age (13-19 Years) 82,933 [16.6]
Adolescents (10-24 Years) 167,366 [33.5]
University Age (20-24 Years) 42,466 [8.5]
Children (Below 18 Years) 275,779 [55.2]
Adults (18 Years and Above) 223,820 [44.8]
Youths (18-30 Years) 110,911 [22.2]
Working Age Group (14-64 Years) 259,292 [51.9]
Elderly (60 Years and above) 19,484 [3.9]
Girls Below 16 (Below Official Marriage Age) 126,398 [25.3]
Women of Child Bearing Age (15-49 Years) 118,405 [23.7]
Women 50+ Years (Above Child Bearing Age) 20,483 [4.1]

[Source: 2002 Population and housing Census]

The age structure also implies that a significant proportion of the population is dependent. This exerts a heavy burden on the few productive members of the population because they have to look after a number of other people, a fact that hampers the rate of investment in the productive sectors.

POPULATION DENSITY:

The population distribution in the district is far from even. There is a relatively heavy concentration of people in the counties of Arua Municipality; Ayivu and Vurra counties are moderately populated while Madi Okollo County is sparsely populated. Overall, the population density of the district, based on the 2002 census is 153 persons per square kilometre.

Economy of Arua District

Like many Ugandan districts, the economy of Arua is dependent on agriculture and 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 (80%) and takes place on smallholdings of approximately two acres using mainly simple farming tools (hoes, pangas and harrowing sticks). Only 0.5% of the population are engaged in commercial agriculture. Family members constitute the single most important source of labour.
Both food and cash crops are grown. The major food crops include cassava, beans, groundnuts, simsim, millet and maize. Tobacco is the major cash crop and is the main source of livelihood for the majority of the population in the district. It is grown mainly in the fertile highlands. Cotton used to be grown in the lower and drier plains but due to marketing problems, it has been largely abandoned. There is also an insignificant growing of coffee, which is done mainly in the temperate areas along the boarders of Arua and Nebbi district. There is renewed interest in the promotion of coffee production in many areas of the district now.
Other important economic activities in the district include formal employment, which employs about 9% of the population, petty and formal trade, which employs 3.8% and 0.7% respectively and cottage industry that employs 2.3%. The remaining proportion of the population depends on family support and other miscellaneous activities

Management and Administration

Arua district is managed and administered in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995 and the Local Governments Act 1997 and its amendments of 2001 and 2005. It is administered through politically established and civil service structures. The Resident District Commissioner (RDC), appointed by the president represents the president and central government in the District; advises the District Chairperson on matters of national nature that may affects the Districts plans and programmes; coordinates the administration of central government services in the District; and monitors and inspects activities of local governments among others.

POLITICAL LEADERSHIP
The District Council is the highest political authority and has the legislative and executive powers. It consists of a total 33 Councillors meet once in two months. The council is composed of:
a) The Chairperson who is the political head of the district and is elected through universal adult suffrage.
b) One councillor elected directly to represent an electoral area of the district;
c) Two councillors one of whom is a female representing the youths in the district;
d) Two councillors, one of who is a female representing person with disability
e) Women councillors forming one-third of the council such that the councillors mentioned under (b), (c) and (d) shall form two-thirds of the council.
The District Speaker elected from among members of the council presides over the meeting of the council. The District Council is the highest political authority within the jurisdiction of the of the District Local Government and exercises executive and legislative powers in accordance the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (1995) and the Local Government Act(1997).
Below the Council is the District Executive Committee which comprises of the Chairperson as the Chief Executive, Vice Chairperson and Secretaries responsible for the various sectors. The Executive Committee at the District level is the replica of the Cabinet at the national level and is responsible for policy formulation and monitoring the implementation of lawful decisions of the Council.
The Council conducts business through standing committees. There are committees responsible for the various sectors.
Since the start of the decentralization process, the quality of the district political leadership has continued to improve. The district council is gifted with persons with impressive educational levels and experience in various fields. They are therefore able to work with their appointed counterparts at more or less on equal footing. They are also better able to understand and interpret the laws and policies of government and hence able to make informed decisions and policies for the district. The working relationship between the district council and the civil servants has been quite good because the councillors understand their roles and that of the civil servants reasonably well.
There is still remain some gaps that needs to be addressed in order to make the political leadership more effective and efficient. Critical areas include:
a) Understanding of the laws governing Local Government operations. The LGA 1997 and the Local Governments Financial and Accounting Regulations 2007; are the basis of local governments operation, it is therefore imperative that all LG staff (political and appointed) is conversant with the relevant provisions. It is important that the councillors’ knowledge about the LGA 1997 and other laws governing local governments are enhanced.
b) Policy Formulation: the major domain of the political leaders is policy formulation. Many politicians are insufficiently versed with issues related to policy formulation. It is important that Executives and Committee Chairpersons are empowered with basic skills on policy formulation.
c) Lack of basic managerial skills for the Executives. The Executives play an important role of supervising civil servants in their respective line departments. Unfortunately, most of the Executives lack basic management skills and this makes it difficult for them to be effective.
d) Lack of basic monitoring skills. The Executives are responsible for monitoring and supervision of programmes. They require some basic knowledge in order to be able to do so. Many of the District Executives lack these skills.

STATUTORY BODIES
Boards and Commissions are statutory bodies established to carry out functions that fall outside of the normal council business. They are provided for to foster transparency and accountability in the delivery of services to the people. Boards and commissions perform very important functions in the service of the district, many of which have legal implications and if not properly discharged can cause financial loss to the District Council. It is important that the members serving in those organs are well versed with their roles. Given that members of these organs change from time to time, it is important that they are provided with opportunities to improve their performances through training and exchange of ideas with their counterparts in other local governments and central government.

a) The District Public Accounts Committee (PAC)
The District Public Accounts Committee comprises of four members appointed by the Chairperson of the district with the approval of the Executives and one representative from the urban authorities. Members of the Committee are non-members of a local government council and administration. The role of this Committee is to examine the reports of the Auditor General, Chief internal Auditor and any reports of commissions of inquiry. In exercising its role, the committee may require attendance of any Councillor or technical staff to explain matters arising from the reports. The Committee submits its reports to the Council and to the Minister for Local Government who in turn submits it to Parliament.
The District Chairperson and the Chief Administrative Officer are responsible for implementing recommendations of the Committee. Like other Committees of the council and the council itself, the LGPAC meets once in two months.

b) The District Procurement Committee (DPC).
The District Contracts Committee (DCC) consists of seven members appointed by the Chief Administrative Officer after approval by the Secretary to the Treasury. Members of the Contracts Committee are appointed from amongst civil servants within the Local Government and hold office for a period of three years and are eligible for re-appointment for one more term only. The DCC is responsible for awarding of all contracts for the procurement and disposal of services and works. In the discharge of its functions, the DCC in conformity with the standards established by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDPAA) for procurement of goods, services and works and is guided by The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act (2003) and The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Regulations (2003). They meet as and when required.

c) District Land Board (DLB)
The DLB is established to handle all issues related to land administration including lease of land to developers.

d) District Service Commission (DSC)
The DSC is established with the district wide mandate to recruit, confirm, promote, discipline and fire employees of the district. Members of the DSC are appointed by the District Council on the recommendation of the District Executive committee and with the approval of the Public Service Commission. Members of the DSC hold offices for a period of four years and are eligible for re-appointment for one more term of office. In the discharge of its duties, the DSC works according to the standards set up by the Public Service commission; and is not subject to the direction and control of any person or authority.

Civil Service Administration

The Civil service arm of the district consists of the appointed staff headed by the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). The CAO assisted by his deputy and Assistants head the civil service of the district. The Sub-county Chiefs and Parish Chiefs are responsible for Sub-county and parish administration respectively.
Within the CAOs office are departments responsible for personnel, office administration, record management, law and order and information and public relations.

The CAO is responsible for inter alia the: implementation of all lawful decisions of the district council; guiding the district council and its departments on the implementation of the relevant laws; supervision, monitoring and co-ordination of the activities of the district and lower council’s employees and departments and ensuring accountability and transparency in service delivery and management; supervision and co-ordination of the activities of delegated services and the officers working in those services; act as liaison between the district and central government; advise the Chairperson on the administration of the council; and assist in the maintenance of law, order and security in the district. The CAO is also responsible for staff appraisal and fully entitled to carry out spot checks and management audits in any department.

The Directors who report and are directly answerable to the CAO head sectors. The Directors are secretaries to their respective Sectoral Committees.
The CAO is answerable to the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Local Government.
With support from various development partners including central government, a lot of support has gone towards building an effective and efficient management system.

Notable achievements include the following:
Equipping of line departments with basic office equipment like computers, and furniture.
Heads of department and Sub-county chiefs have received training on basic management skills;
District and sub-county staff have received training on records management;
Studies on financial and planning systems have been done and recommendations for improving the systems made.

HIV/AIDS

There are four cross-cutting issues in the District: (a) HIV/AIDS, (b) Poverty plus Livelihood (c) Environment Degredation plus Natural Resources and (d) Gender.

High prevalence of HIV/AIDs threatens to wipe out the significant gains that have been registered over the years. Although there is no reliable statistics on the rate of infection and prevalence rate, because of lack of adequate reporting mechanism, it is common knowledge that the infection rate is unacceptably high.
While national statistics indicate that the infection rate is going down in urban areas, there is no doubt that in Arua district this is not yet happening because of the refugee factor, the effects of war and displacement, and being on the high way to the DRC and Sudan. Qualitative information available seems to indicate that the rate of HIV/AIDs infection is quite high in urban areas, which is a home to many unemployed persons.

Certainly, the rate of infection must be much higher given the fact that most of the HIV cases are not reported due to lack of comprehensive reporting mechanisms. HIV/AIDs testing are voluntary and not many people have the incentive to undergo the test, in part due to the stigma associated with being HIV positive. More over, there are very limited facilities for HIV/AIDS testing. The only testing centres remain the hospitals, Aids Information Centre and a few some scheduled outreaches. Subsequently, majority of the people particularly in the rural areas have limited access to the testing and counselling facilities.
The effects of HIV/AIDS are that many families have lost their productive members, since infection rate is highest amongst the working groups, thereby exacerbating the levels of poverty. Similarly, the burden of looking after the orphans left behind as a result of HIV/AIDs has shifted to the old people and children who in most cases have no gainful activities.
Mention must be made of the fact that women are more vulnerable to HIV/AIDs infection due to their rather low economic status.
Therefore the progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS needs a multi-sectoral approach. In Arua District HIV/AIDs has been streamlined in all Sectors. The District Development Plan wishes to address the issue by committing significant resources to halting the spread of the scourge. In Arua District the issue of combating the infection continues to receive great attention.

Poverty and Livelihood Analysis

The basic definition of poverty that emerged from the Participatory Poverty Assessment II (PPA2) was that; Poverty is lack of basic needs and services such as food, clothing, beddings, shelter, paraffin, health care, roads, education, clean and safe water, markets, information and communication. It also meant powerlessness or lack of ability to express one’s views in the community and to government. In rural areas, poverty was also associated with lack of assets for production where as in urban areas; it was characterized by lack of economic opportunities and employment.

Like in other parts of Uganda the people of Arua District view poverty as lack of means to satisfy basic material and social needs, as well as a feeling of powerlessness. There is gender and location specific variations in the way the local people of Arua define poverty. Source of monetary livelihood and comfort of accommodation like good sanitation are paramount in urban areas while possession of productive assets like land and livestock are more critical in the rural areas. Women are concerned more with lack of land, water, family planning services resulting in large family size, lacking assistance, household food and poor welfare of children when they define poverty. Men relate poverty mostly to the inability to engage in meaningful employment and lack of productive assets. To the youth, the degree and extend of social connectedness and family welfare indicate the level of poverty. These show that the challenge to address poverty requires multi faceted approaches. Gender and location specific material, income and social capital concerns must be addressed within the context of each community.

The people of Arua use a number of indicators that give meaning to the above characteristics. These indicators are generally grouped under material and non-material indicators. The most common material indicators include lack of food, clothing, shelter, money and inability to send children to school or for health services. In both rural and urban communities men were more concerned about income and assets of production – land and livestock as material indicators. Women on the other hand were mostly concerned with assets for domestic use and consumption such as lack of food, bedding, gardens and spending much on treatment of children.

The most used non-material indicators include sickly, elderly, beggar, lacking children for support, having dirty compound. Gender specific perceptions were apparent. Men were concerned about the quality of life of families such as naked children, quarrels in homes, none participation in family functions, and wife brew local beer. The women’s conception relates to the character of husbands such as lazy and drunkard husbands, and obligations of women pregnancy and travel long distance with produce.

According to the “official” poverty lines adopted by the government of Uganda from the work of Appleton (1999) which has been used for the poverty analysis in the district, over half of the household population live bellow the poverty line. In Madi-okollo county 67.80 percent of the population live below the poverty line while in Vurra County the percentage is 59.06 and for Ayivu County 53.65 percent of the people live below the poverty line. These figures portray a pathetic poverty situation. Most of the population in the district are unemployed, only 4.1% of the population are paid employees and 12.5% are self employed. The gap between the poor and the rich has widened, the poor are getting poorer, while are rich are getting richer which is not good for equitable distribution of resources in district. This has resulted in to generational poverty, which is a threat to development efforts in the district given that majority of the population live below the poverty line. This has led to a high dependency ratio of 107 per 100 persons of the productive population age group.

Poverty trends in Arua district differ from one locality to another. During the inter-censual period 1991 to 2002 the trends were as indicated below: Ajia, Aroi (20% Decrease); Rhino Camp, Vurra, Adumi (10% Decrease); Okollo, Ogoko, Rigbo (10% Increase); Offaka (20% Increase); Pajulu, Oluko (Over 20% Increase)

The Sub Counties of Ogoko, Rigbo and some parts of Rhino-camp and Offaka have high levels of poverty due to low crop production because of the poor soil and climate that affects the region. As a result, most the children in these Sub Counties are malnourished. This affects their growth and development leading to poor performance in schools. Most of these children as a result are not highly educated hence vulnerable to poverty.

Pajulu and Oluko sub counties; have high increase in poverty situation due to their proximity to the urban centre. They have high population and relatively smaller land for cultivation moreover majority of the population depends on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods. A very small percentage of the residents of these sub counties have access to gainful employment opportunities like income generating activities hence making the population vulnerable to poverty.

There is also gender differences in poverty situations, the women in the district are poorer compared to the male counter parts because most the women in the district are not employed only 5,457 of women are employed against 15,246 employed men according to the 2002 Uganda Population and Housing Census. Most of the employed women are in low paying positions. Given that 30.6% of women in the district are illiterate against 10.3% of men in the district who are illiterate.

90.2% of Arua’s population live in temporary houses only 6.8% live in permanent houses and 2.9% live in semi-permanent houses. This indicates that majority of the population are poor.

The major causes of poverty in the household include;

o Natural calamities like drought, flood, and hail storms which occur quite frequently.
o Laziness and alcoholism/ substance abuse among the community especially youth.
o Bad governance and corruption tendencies in both government and community levels
o High unemployment levels among the youths who preferred to work in offices than hard labour
o Poor health among the population caused by high morbidity and mortality due to malaria, HIV and AIDS
o Extended families and polygamous families with its associated responsibilities
o Presence of refugee community resulting into pressure on land and other social services
o Poor conditions of social infrastructure and other amenities like electricity
o Low community participation in most development programmes due to lack of awareness some of the programmes especially programmes that they implemented by our development partners this leads to lack of ownership of some of the poverty reduction programmes.
o Over dependence on subsistence agriculture.. According to Uganda population and housing census report, 91,790 of Arua’s rural population depends on subsistence farming they mostly produce agricultural products for home consumption and minimal cash crops.
o Poor marketing systems resulting in low farm gate prices.
o Soil degradation; due to poor farming methods, high deforestation and poor waste disposal that affects the quality of soil. This leads to food insecurity over the last three years there has been low food production in the district making the population vulnerable to hunger and hence poverty.


POTENTIALS FOR REDUCING POVERTY:

Arua district has a lot of potential for reducing poverty. The following are the potential areas of the district for poverty reduction.
• Most parts of Arua District are fertile and suitable for agricultural production. Given that over 80% of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods, fertile land constitutes a potential for poverty reduction.
• Arua has man power that could be used for poverty reduction both in agricultural and other sectors like business, formal employment given that all the human resource are fully engaged in viable economic activities.
• Arua has a good number of schools going age population which is a good long term poverty reduction potential and of the school going age only 39.5% are full time students.
• Arua many NGO’s and community based organizations; if their potential are fully utilized then poverty reduction will be achieved faster.
• Arua has got a number of micro-finance institutions which are good stepping stone for rural and urban poverty reduction.
Arua District is committed to support the government’s primary objective of poverty eradication. The overall objective of this three-year development plan is therefore the quest for poverty eradication in the district.
Poverty reduction can only take place through individuals, families and communities taking advantage of the opportunities available to them by working, investing and innovating to improve their livelihoods. The district has set the following strategies for poverty reduction:

• Increasing agricultural produce by building the capacity of the farmers in the district through introduction of modern methods of farming and provision of market information and creation of favourable environment for cooperatives for farmers.
• Promotion of income-generating activities (IGAs) for the population to ensure that the population has access to such programmes in order to reduce the poverty levels in the district.
• Building the capacity of the business community by supporting capacity building programmes in business skills, given that Arua district is strategically located especially international businesses between democratic republic of Congo and Sudan.
• Improving educational levels of citizens through increase in enrolment of pupils and students at school from primary to institution of higher learning to ensure that a bigger portion of the population has accesses to education, to break down the generation poverty in district.
• Increasing the ability of the population to understand and appreciate developments issues through increasing the literacy levels of the citizens using Functional Adult Literacy programmes.

Environment Degradation and Natural Resources Analysis

Given that the majority of poor people depend on the environment for their livelihood, the state of the environment has a huge implication for poverty reduction: Over 89% of the population of the district lives in the rural areas and depends on natural resources for their livelihood. 80 percent of the population is employed in agricultural sector. Ninety nine percent (99%) of the population rely on wood fuel for their domestic energy needs. Degradation of the environment leads to low productivity of the natural resources and consequently poverty.
The sectors efforts to improve environmental conditions contribute to productivity and poverty eradication.

Present situation:
Arua District has high natural resource potentials such as fairly fertile soils forests, wildlife, water resources, wetlands, and a favourable climate with rainfall ranging from 900mm to 1500mm per year. However, several factors have led to the degradation of the Environment. These factors include high population increase and unsustainable utilization of natural resources, poverty, desire to increase per capita, low levels of technology, low levels of environmental awareness, introduction of tobacco growing in the district and influx of refugees.

The above strain has resulted into a number of environmental issues:
(a) Soil degradation:
Soil degradation is one of the most disturbing environmental problems affecting the district. This is particularly so in lower Ayivu, some parts of Vurra and Madi counties.

(b) Deforestation:
The District has 39 gazetted forest reserves totalling 60 425 Ha. Between 40 to 60 percent of the forests has been removed. However, deforestation is mainly taking place in communal and private lands.

(c) Poor waste disposal/sanitation:
Solid waste management is one of the major problems in the district both in the urban and rural areas. Arua municipal council is currently not in position to manage the waste properly as stipulated in the Public Health Act of 1964 and Local Government statute of 1997.
Equally, most households do not have disposal pits. Latrine coverage in the district is still low (58 percent). Waste is disposed of in unhygienic manner.
Water supply in Arua District is equally not very good. Only 62.82 percent of the people in the District have access to safe water.

(d) Wetlands & river bank degradation:
Wetlands cover approximately 2.8 percent (87 km2) of the total land area of the district. This allows water to stay in one place long enough to maximize infiltration. The water holding capacity and buffering effect of wetlands ensure that rivers and streams continue to flow during the dry season and ground water is sustained. There has however been a lot of wetlands and river banks degradation through drainage for cultivation, brick making, sand mining and burning of vegetation. Unless the above trend is reversed, the district’s wetlands will be completely destroyed in future.

(e) Loss of biodiversity
In 1960s the district had a variety of wildlife including white-rhinos, elephants, buffalos, kobs, bush bucks, baboons, varies species of birds and other animals. This is because of the varies habitats ranging from swamp vegetation along the Nile to wood savannah towards the west. Due to poaching, encroachment for agricultural land, lawlessness of 1970,s white rhinos and elephants were extinct.

Gender Analysis

The relationship between gender, poverty and development is very crucial as not only does poverty impact differently on women and men but they also experience poverty differently. Understanding these differences is crucial in fighting poverty, and requires analysis of how gender discrimination contributes to poverty and acts as an obstacle to poverty reduction. It is important to understand the synergies between gender and poverty and the following section presented in tabular form seeks to underscore the link between poverty and the core development challenges facing the district.

Physical Planning and Organisational Analysis

PHYSICAL PLANNING

Land has not being planned fully in Arua district. Zoning of the land according to use and type of development has not taken root firmly in the district. As a result of lack of attention on the planning of the rural growth centres, there is disorderly development taking place uncontrollably especially in the rural areas. People tend to emphasize on the economic development at the expense of physical planning and yet all developments have a physical dimension.


ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS

a) Governance.
Good governance is a means to achieving meaningful and sustainable development. It is also an end in itself in that the level of development of a society can be adjudged by kind of governance at play.
Good governance encompasses things like justice, law and order, observance of human rights, equity, transparency and accountability in the delivery of public goods and services, participation of the citizenry in public decision making, public awareness among others. Considerable progress has been made in enhancing good governance in the district over the years. Notable areas of improvement include the process of decentralisation, community empowerment through functional adult literacy, information and publicity. However, a lot of challenges remain to be addressed. The following areas represent some of the issues that require further attention:
Deepening the process of decentralisation right up to the grassroots;
• Enhancing the process of participatory planning;
• Enhancing transparency and accountability in service delivery and fighting corruption in the public sector;
• Empowerment of the vulnerable groups to effectively participate in the development process.
These and many more are some of the key areas that the district will be able to focus on in the DDP.

b) Management Career development for staff.
Career development opportunities are fewer for local government staff compared to their counterparts who work with central government. As a result some of the study opportunities have been privately sponsored by the beneficiary officers.
Some officers have been in one post and on the same salary scale for as many as 20 years. Others are given responsibilities to head departments without corresponding increase in remuneration. Study opportunities especially long courses are equally limited. Consequently, many staff are not adequately motivated to work. The district should continue in its endeavours to work out ways and means of enhancing career development for its staff.
A commendable effort has gone towards improvement of record management including establishment of the central registry in CAOs office and training of staff. This was achieved using funding from the Institutional Capacity Building Project of the Ministry of Local Government. However, there is need for continued support to strengthen the system. There is need for continued support in strengthening records management at the departmental and Sub-county levels through training, provision of equipment
1. Systems and procedures: systems and procedures are in most cases not written down for follow up of staff.
2. Poor co-ordination: there is still the problem of co-ordinating departmental activities as well as programmes from the central government. These affect the performances of departments.
3. In adequate skilled and trained staff of lower grades in some sectors
4. Poor Management Information System i.e. records management, computerized accounting system;
5. Lack of well documented procedures and systems;
6. Lack of Personnel Management skills among Heads of Department;
7. Lack of accurate data from the field

c) The planning functions.

A lot of powers, functions and responsibilities have been devolved to local governments within the framework of Uganda’s decentralization policy and programme. Schedule two of the Local Governments Act, 1997 provides for a range of functions and responsibilities that are mandated to the local governments.

In fulfilling those mandates, local governments are required by law to formulate, approve and execute their own development plans and budgets District local governments are obligated to prepare comprehensive and integrated District Development Plans integrating the plans of lower local governments for submission to the National Planning Authority. Like wise, Sub-counties are required to prepare comprehensive and integrated Sub-county Development Plans integrating plans of lower local councils for submission to the districts for incorporation into the District Development Plans.

For purposes of carrying out development planning functions at the district and sub-county levels, the following institutions are provided for by the LGA 1997:


(a) The District Council: The District Council is the supreme planning authority in the district. In executing its planning functions, the Council is guided by its established procedures and also in accordance with the guidelines stipulated by the National Planning Authority. The National Planning Authority is not yet fully operational. The Ministry of Local Government has prepared and made available to the district, guidelines for Development Planning for Local Governments to guide the planning processes.

(b) District Technical Planning Committee: District Technical Planning Committee (DTPC) chaired by the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), consisting of Heads of Department and any other technical person who may be co-opted by the CAO co-ordinates and integrates all sectoral plans and the plans submitted by the lower level local governments.

(c) District Planning Unit: To facilitate the Councils in carrying out their planning functions, District Planning Units (DPU) have been established. The DPUs serve as a secretariat for the DTPC. In addition, the DPUs support the Executives in the carrying their monitoring and evaluation function.

(d) Sub-county/division Technical Planning Committees: The sub-county/division TPCs consist of the Sub-county Chiefs/Town Clerks as the chairpersons and all heads of department or sector within their areas of jurisdiction as members. They are responsible for the co-ordination and integration of all sectoral plans of the lower councils within their areas of jurisdiction.

(e) Sub-county Investment Committees: Within the context of the Local Government Development Programme, there are established Sub-county Investment Committees. The Sub-county Investment Committees are intended to allow for the participation of other stakeholders such as opinion leaders, retired civil servants, representatives of religious institutions, CBOs, NGOs etc. that may be available within the sub-counties in deciding priorities for investments.

(f) Standing Committees of the Councils: At the district and Sub-county levels, there are committees responsible for Education, health and social services, security, works and technical services, production and Finance and planning. Before sectoral plans are tabled before the TPCs, they are thoroughly discussed and prioritised within the sectoral committees.

HOW THE PLAN WAS DEVELOPED

Arua District fully embraces the Policy of Decentralization as mandated by the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995 under Article 196 and the Local Government Act (1997).

Therefore Arua District Local Government considers Decentralization as a powerful cornerstone in her efforts to implement her Development Plan in line with the framework of Government Poverty Action Plan (PEAP) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Arua District reviews and rolls over its Development Plan every year. The main aim is at achieving the District Development Goals, both the Strategic and immediate Objectives through the implementation of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) which has been derived from the Local Government Budget Frame Work Paper (LGBFP). The main steps undertaken in producing this Development Plan include among others the following:

Firstly, the District had opportunity to take stock of the major achievements registered during the 2008/09 financial year, constraints that were encountered during the implementation of programmes and lessons learned. This was in the month of February 2009.
Secondly, the district reflected further on its strategic development framework in terms of its adequacy in responding to the development challenges and aspirations of the people.
Thirdly the District set new targets for the future (next three years-2009/10-2011/12) in a participatory manner including all the Stakeholders namely all the Lower Local governments, non Governmental Organisations and Civil Society organisations had representations during the Budget Conference.
Finally, a truly integrated and harmonised Plan does not only take care of sectoral linkages and bottom up priorities and needs but must be consistent with the national priority programmes policies and standards. Arua District Development Plan is fully compliant in these areas. The problems that the district is tackling are all poverty related.
Besides from the outcome, the process has also been more rigorous. The priority projects are appraised and screened using a set of nine criteria namely;
1. Consistency with the district strategic and intermediate objectives;
2. Technical feasibility;
3. Availability of funds (especially for the first year)
4. Number of people benefiting;
5. Development of local potential;
6. Sustainability considerations including provisions for recurrent costs;
7. Environmental considerations
8. Gender responsiveness and
9. Political acceptability

The appraisal aimed at screening and prioritising investment proposals. Investments that failed to fulfil the first three criteria were dropped outright. While those that passed the minimum requirements (first three criteria) were then ranked based on the total score obtained from the remaining criteria where each criterion was given a score on a scale of 1-5.

MENTORING

The district has constituted a Resource Pool consisting of heads of departments from the different sectors charged with the responsibility of identifying critical capacity gaps that exist at both higher and the lower local Government Levels.

Environmental indicators like mitigation measures, garbage disposal management, and drainage maintenance, pollution of rivers and general utilization and sustainability of the resource base have been considered as serious capacity gaps especially at the lower Local Governments.

The District has mentored the Lower Local Government Staffs in scream lining environmental issues in the development plans but these still exits in some LLGs.
Mentoring has also been done in Planning and financial management. The Sub-Counties have varying capacities in handling their books of accounts.

Issues of gender, poverty and HIV.AIDs have been handled in the capacity building component of the LGDP11. In some instances, some staff and local Councillors have been mentored through tailor made courses and some have gone for long courses like Post graduate diplomas in various disciplines in different institutions in the Country.

Acronyms in the Arua District Blog

ACAO - Assistant Chief Administrative Officer
ACDO - Assistant Community Development Officer
ACORD - Agency for Corporation and Research in Development
ADB - African Development Bank
AECG - Agricultural Extension Conditional Grant
AIDS - Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome
ANC - Anti Natal Care
AWP - Annual Work Plan
CAO - Chief Administrative Officer
CAP - Community Action Plans
CBP - Capacity Building Plan
CBEW - Community Based Extension Worker
CBF - Community Based Facilitators
CBO - Community Based Organization
CBPP - Contagious Bovine Pleura Parasite
CDA - Community Development Assistant
CEFORD - Community Empowerment for Rural Development
CEPAP - Counselling & Education Programme on AIDS Project
CFO - Chief Finance Officer
CHAI - Community HIV/AIDS Initiative
COMA - Community Management Agency
CREAM - Community Rural Enterprise Activities Management
CWO - County Water Officer
DANIDA - Danish International Development Association.
DCDO - District Community Development Officer
DDP - District Development Plan
DE - District Engineer/Economist
DEC - District Executive Committee
DEO - District Education Officer
DHI - District Health Inspector
DHMT - District Health Management Team
DHO - District Health Officer
DHSP - District Health Support Program
DHSSP - District Health Services Support Program
DHT - District Health Team
DIS - District Inspector of School
DMIC - District Marketing Information Committee
DPAC - District Public Accounts Committee
DRC - Democratic Republic of Congo
DSOER - District State of Environment Report
DTPC - District Technical Planning Committee
DWO - District Water Officer
EA - Environmental Alert.
EDF/ MPP - European Development Fund – Micro Projects Program
EIA - Environmental Impact Assessment
EMCBP - Environment Management Capacity Building Program
FAL - Functional Adult Literacy
FEW - Field Extension Worker
FY - Financial Year
GoU - Government of Uganda
Ha - Hectares
HC - Health Centre
HIV - Human Immuno Virus
IEC - Information Education and Communication
ILO - International Labour Organization
IPF - Indicative Planning Figure
JCRC - Joint Clinical Research Center
LC - Local Council
LEC - Local Environmental Committee
LGDPII - Local Government Development Program II
MAAIF - Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries
MAP - Multi – Sectoral AIDS Control Program
MDG - Millennium Development Goals
MoLG - Ministry of Local Government
MoWTC - Ministry of Works Transport and Communicatio
NAADS - National Agricultural Advisory Development Services
NEMA - National Environment Management Authority
NEA - National Environment Act
NFA - National Forestry Authority
NGO - Non – Governmental Organization
NOVIB - Netherlands Organizational Development
NSADP - North West Small Holders Agricultural Development Project
NURP - Northern Uganda Reconstruction Program
NUSAF - Northern Uganda Social Action Fund
OPD - Out Patient Department
OPM - Office of the Prime Minister
PAF - Poverty Action Fund
PEAP - Poverty Eradication Action Plan
PEARL - Program for Enhancing Adolescent Reproductive Life
PHC - Primary Health Care
PMTCT - Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission
PMA - Plan for Modernization of Agriculture
PRDP - Peace Recovery and Development Programme
PWD - Persons With Disabilities
RGC - Rural Gross Centre
RWT - Rain Water Tank
S/C - Sub County
SDP - Support to Decentralization Programme- European Union
SFG - School Facility Grant
SHS - Shillings
SRS - Self Reliance Strategy
SSS - Senior Secondary School
STI - Sexual Transmitted Infection
SWOT - Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats
TB - Tuberculosis
UG - Uganda
UNHCR - United Nations High Commission for Refugees
UNICEF - United Nation Children and Education Fund
UNMHCP - Uganda National Minimum Health Care Package
UPE - Universal Primary Education
UPPAP - Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Project
USAID - United State Agency for International Development
WSC - Water Source Committee

Taking care of the Sweetest Place on Earth

Established on 14th June 1914, Arua Town is 64 Km away from the Sudan Border, 39 Km South of Koboko Town, 14 Km East of the Congo Border and about 530 Km from Kampala (Distance according to Gaagaa Coach's first female driver Kenyan Alice Nyambura). Widely regarded as the Capital of West Nile and a business hub linking Northwestern Uganda to Sudan, Congo and the rest of the world, Arua is home to mainly the Lugbara tribe and other smaller groups like the Madi, Kakwa and Alur.

In 2005, Uganda was included among third world countries allowed to export honey to the European Union. Consequently, a factory for natural bee products that meet EU standards was set up in Arua. The factory provides a ready market for honey from local farmers. Arua is the hive to one of the World's Best Honey (and won a Gold Medal at the 2000 Lisbon Expo in Portugal). Also, the farmers here produce 50 percent of Uganda's tobacco. It is home to World Champion Athlete Dorcus Inzikuru, the first female gold medalist from Uganda. President Idi Amin Dada (a Kakwa) was born in Arua District and made it famous...