IN the aftermath of the Kasubi fire security agencies engaged in running battles with riotous youth, which caused the death of three people. Similar scenes were seen during the pro-Kabaka riots last year and the demonstration against the proposed give-away of Mabira forest in 2007.

Such riots are fuelled by the large numbers of unemployed and impoverished youths in urban areas. Some of them will join a riot simply to vent their frustration even when they do not care at all about the issues at hand.

According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), seven percent of urban dwellers are unemployed and another nine percent are under-employed. This implies that we have more than 600,000 urban dwellers who have nothing to do the whole day or part of the time. Moreover, UBOS statistics indicate that the urban unemployment rate has been going up, for instance by 5% from 2007 to 2008.

Whereas there are many ways to reduce urban unemployment, one that needs urgent attention is to reduce rural-urban migration. Many of the unemployed youths in urban areas have come from rural areas in search of better opportunities. Agriculture has to be made more profitable to keep them in the rural areas.

The National Agricultural Advisory Services which was supposed to achieve this goal, has been a big disappointment and requires an overhaul. Alongside increasing agricultural productivity, the youths should be supported to engage in small-scale processing of the produce to earn a living.