Pardee Center-USAID Report Uses Satellite Data to Estimate GDP in Uganda

In a new report with the USAID/Uganda Monitoring, Learning, and Evaluation Contract Estimating District GDP in Uganda, Pardee Center researchers use nighttime lights imagery and data measuring crop production and prices to estimate the size of Uganda’s 116 district economies. These results show that the top 19 district economies make up 75% of the total GDP of Uganda, leaving the remaining 25% of the national economy coming from 97 districts. Seven of the ten largest district economies are in Central Uganda, which includes Kampala. This research provides the foundation for exploring poverty and income distribution at a finer spatial resolution than currently provided by surveys in Uganda. This research was done by Jonathan D. Moyer and Mickey Rafa of the Pardee Center, in close collaboration with Tony Wang (PhD candidate) and Professor Paul Sutton of the Geography Department at DU, as well as with researchers at USAID/Uganda Monitoring, Learning, and Evaluation Contract.