Poverty and the devastating effect of HIV/AIDS are the major challenges faced by the people of Uganda today. Decades of tribal conflicts has further increased poverty in Uganda especially in the north eastern part of the country.
Although Uganda has one of the fastest growing economies in Africa since 2000, the country is relatively poor and ranked 157 out of 182 countries in United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) 2009 Human Development Index. UNDP estimates that 51.1 percent of Ugandans live on less than $1.25 a day. The recent economic growth has benefited mostly people in urban areas, with majority of the population heavily dependent on agriculture especially in the rural areas.
HIV/AIDS has left a devastated landmark in the country of Uganda. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Uganda reached a height of about 30% in the early 1990s and decreased to nearly 6.3% by 2004/2005. However, the gain made in the 1990s is being reversed, with an estimated prevalence rate of 7.3% in 2012 from recent studies.
As a result of the level of poverty and devastation caused by the civil war in the northeastern part of Uganda that left the country in ruins, ACF Missions Inc. chose to operate in the Kumi district, and the Kabarore District in the western part of the country that has high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Frequent droughts witnessed by the northeastern region have also made subsistence agriculture an insecure means of livelihood, and consequently, left many people to suffer from hunger and malnutrition.
