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Uganda is an East African country with population of 33,398,682 and a geographical size of 241, 038sq km. With main industry in agricultural related activities, Uganda has a strong base for production of Cotton, Sugar and Tobacco. It is one of the known tobacco producing country in Africa. Gross Domestic Product, (GDP) real growth is put at 6.6%, with purchasing power of $43.22 billion (2009 est.)
Although Uganda is a party to several conventions on Environment including the Frame Work Convention on Tobacco Control, FCTC, its economic dependence on tobacco production makes tobacco control a big economic and political debate.
In June 2007 Uganda ratified FCTC, however it is yet to implement all provisions. At the moment it is in the process of adopting the FCTC guideline into its domestic legislation, there is also a draft bill awaiting presentation. Documents showing the prevalence rate of smoking are varied but generally show an indicative increase among young people.
According to United Nations Development Program, UNDP (1997) Ugandans spent $75million on tobacco. It is reported that Tobacco is the second largest cash crop grown in over 16 districts and source of revenue for 16 districts, with a total planting mass area of 7.550sq km (about 13% of total land mass) devoted to cultivation.
