Ugunja
Encyclopedia
Ugunja town is a market town in Western Kenya
, located in Ugunja Division, Siaya District
, Nyanza Province
. It has a population of approximately 17,000 and is rapidly growing. Ugunja Division had a population of 79,113 according to the 1999 Kenyan census. Most of the inhabitants in Ugunja are Luos
.
Ugunja is located on the Kisumu
-Busia
highway, which links Kenya and Uganda
. Ugunja town is 72 km north of the nearest city, Kisumu
, which sits on the shores of Lake Victoria
. The equator
is 40 km south of Ugunja town.
Rural residents of Ugunja mainly depend on agriculture as their main source of food and income. The area receives two rainy seasons a year: March to June and September to December. The farming is mostly subsistence based and major crops grown are sorghum, potatoes, cassava, beans and maize. When farmers have surplus crops they sell in local markets for income. In the past some farmers have grown cotton and coffee as cash crops, but due to market unreliability most farmers now prefer to grow food crops for their own families and local markets.
Ugunja town serves as a trading center for the community around it and the nearby urban centers. In the town most people work in small businesses and offices. There are a number of retail shops, bars, hotels, cafes, and residential houses. There is also a bank, a post office, transport service companies, supermarkets, chemists, 3 health centers, dispensaries and some private clinics. Ugunja town is also the location of the Ugunja Community Resource Centre.
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, located in Ugunja Division, Siaya District
Siaya District
Siaya District is one of the twelve districts that make up Nyanza Province in the southwest part of Kenya. It is bordered by Busia District to the North, Vihiga and Butere/Mumias Districts to the North-East, Bondo District to the South, and Kisumu District to the South-East. The total area of the...
, Nyanza Province
Nyanza Province
Nyanza Province of Kenya, is one of Kenya's eight administrative provinces. It is located in the southwest part of Kenya around Lake Victoria. Nyanza includes part of the eastern edge of Lake Victoria and is inhabited predominantly by the Luo. There are also Bantu-speaking tribes such as the...
. It has a population of approximately 17,000 and is rapidly growing. Ugunja Division had a population of 79,113 according to the 1999 Kenyan census. Most of the inhabitants in Ugunja are Luos
Luo (Kenya and Tanzania)
The Luo are an ethnic group in Kenya, eastern Uganda, and northern Tanzania. They are part of a larger group of ethnolinguistically related Luo peoples who inhabit an area including southern Sudan, northern and eastern Uganda, western Kenya, and northern Tanzania.The Luo are the third largest...
.
Ugunja is located on the Kisumu
Kisumu
Kisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...
-Busia
Busia town
Busia town may refer to:* Busia, Uganda, a town in Uganda at the border with Kenya* Busia, Kenya, a town in Kenya at the border with Uganda...
highway, which links Kenya and Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
. Ugunja town is 72 km north of the nearest city, Kisumu
Kisumu
Kisumu is a port city in western Kenya at , with a population of 355,024 . It is the third largest city in Kenya, the principal city of western Kenya, the immediate former capital of Nyanza Province and the headquarters of Kisumu County. It has a municipal charter but no city charter...
, which sits on the shores of Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named for Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, by John Hanning Speke, the first European to discover this lake....
. The equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
is 40 km south of Ugunja town.
Rural residents of Ugunja mainly depend on agriculture as their main source of food and income. The area receives two rainy seasons a year: March to June and September to December. The farming is mostly subsistence based and major crops grown are sorghum, potatoes, cassava, beans and maize. When farmers have surplus crops they sell in local markets for income. In the past some farmers have grown cotton and coffee as cash crops, but due to market unreliability most farmers now prefer to grow food crops for their own families and local markets.
Ugunja town serves as a trading center for the community around it and the nearby urban centers. In the town most people work in small businesses and offices. There are a number of retail shops, bars, hotels, cafes, and residential houses. There is also a bank, a post office, transport service companies, supermarkets, chemists, 3 health centers, dispensaries and some private clinics. Ugunja town is also the location of the Ugunja Community Resource Centre.