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Disruptions as climate change hits Uganda

KAMPALA - The average temperature in Uganda will increase by up to 1,5 degrees Celsius over the next two years, severely damaging agriculture and the livelihoods of rural people, a report said yesterday.

KAMPALA - The average temperature in Uganda will increase by up to 1,5 degrees Celsius over the next two years, severely damaging agriculture and the livelihoods of rural people, a report said yesterday.

Countries in the Great Lakes region will also experience a rise unless human activity causing climate change is altered, said the State of Uganda Population Report 2009, published by the UN Population Fund.

"Human-induced climate change is likely to increase in Uganda by up to 1,5 degrees Celsius in the next 20 years and by 4,3 degrees Celsius by the 2080s.

"Such rates of increase are unprecedented," said the report.

The increase would dramatically reduce the land suitable for coffee, Uganda's leading agricultural export.

The report also forecasts major disruption in rainfall patterns, increasing both flooding and drought. It argues that women in rural, impoverished communities will be especially affected by climate change because as it gets hotter and rainfall more erratic, growing food will require more work.

As climate change compels Ugandan women to work harder to secure basic necessities, they have less time to get an education or earn an income. Girls are more likely to drop out of school to help their mothers, the report added. - Sapa-AFP

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