Browsing: @EPRC

A new report by the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) reveals troubling conditions in Uganda’s hospitality sector. Workers earn just 31% of a living wage, with women making even less at 27%. Many endure 12-14 hour shifts with no overtime pay, lack employment contracts, and have no health insurance or pension. Despite the booming tourism industry, hospitality employees remain trapped in financial insecurity. Can policy reforms fix this broken system?

A new study by the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) exposes major gaps in Uganda’s government-supported care services. Despite significant infrastructure investments, access to childcare, healthcare, and disability support remains limited due to long distances, high costs, and entrenched social norms discouraging their use. The report highlights the underutilization of government childcare facilities, with less than 7% of households accessing them, while gender norms continue to place the burden of care work on women. Although the P.O.W.E.R. intervention model helped shift public attitudes toward government-supported care, actual service uptake remains low. Experts stress that policy reform, behavioral change campaigns, and increased affordability are essential for progress.

Uganda’s revised lower secondary curriculum, introduced in 2020 to foster practical skills and workforce readiness, faces significant implementation challenges. A study by the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) and the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) highlights gaps in teacher training, ICT resources, and parental support. Despite these obstacles, students are gaining valuable skills through project-based learning. The report calls for continuous teacher retraining, improved digital infrastructure, and clearer assessment guidelines to ensure the curriculum’s success.

Unpaid care work in Uganda, including cooking, cleaning, and caregiving, is overwhelmingly performed by women, who dedicate an average of 7 hours daily compared to 5 hours for men. Entrenched social norms, especially in rural areas, reinforce this imbalance, limiting women’s economic opportunities and perpetuating inequalities. While education and urbanization show promise in challenging these norms, the report emphasizes the urgent need for interventions like the POWER model to redistribute responsibilities, engage men as change agents, and improve infrastructure.

Uganda’s second-hand clothing (SHC) market continues to thrive, contributing significantly to tax revenues and household affordability. Despite the proposed ban by the East African Community, SHC imports have grown, with China emerging as a dominant supplier. This analysis explores the market dynamics, re-export trade, and the socioeconomic implications of transitioning to local textile production.

A recent report reveals that while Uganda’s agricultural sector generated UGX 5.5 trillion in 2019/2020, most farmers earn too little to contribute to a social insurance scheme. With incomes that fluctuate seasonally and remain unstable, many small-scale farmers struggle to save. The study suggests targeting high-income crops like bananas, coffee, and sugarcane for initial insurance schemes, while offering flexible, subsidized contributions to make social insurance accessible.

Business conditions in Uganda declined sharply in the first quarter of 2024, driven by rising inflation, increasing costs, and Uganda’s suspension from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The Uganda Business Climate Index dropped 11 points, signaling a challenging outlook for key sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and services.

A new study by the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) reveals that households engaged in cane growing in Uganda are generally more food secure than their non-cane-growing counterparts. However, the findings also highlight significant food insecurity challenges, particularly in regions like Bunyoro and Busoga. The study emphasizes the importance of effective land use and coordination between farmers and millers to ensure that the economic benefits of cane growing do not come at the cost of food security.

A recent study by the Economic Policy Research Centre highlights a troubling rise in non-communicable diseases among Ugandan children, largely attributed to unregulated fast-food advertising. The research emphasizes the urgent need for stricter regulations on child-directed marketing and front-of-pack labeling to combat the increasing rates of childhood obesity and poor nutrition.

Kampala, Uganda – Stringent collateral requirements imposed by commercial banks are significantly hindering women-owned businesses from accessing crucial financial support…