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.
