In Uganda, nearly 50% of children do not complete primary school due to high levels of poverty that make it harder for parents and guardians to provide scholastic materials and other support needed for children to stay in school. The majority of families rely upon traditional agriculture practices for their livelihoods, and these are often affected by unpredictable weather changes and other adverse conditions that affect crop productivity.

These ongoing challenges are coupled with an extremely large youth population and the largest refugee population in Africa, creating a great need for both education and job opportunities.
This is worse in rural areas, where poor school infrastructure leads to extremely poor performance. In response, Development Alert is focused on initiatives like: