Secure land rights for displaced people

Secure food and reduced conflict: settled land rights are improving the lives of displaced persons and host communities in Uganda. More than 100,000 households benefit from regulated access to land, greater security of supply and more peaceful coexistence. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), we support the East African country in these areas.

This also involves clarifying who owns which areas of land. Traditional land rights often still apply in Uganda. Land access, ownership and use are not formally documented. Besides leading to conflicts, this causes women in particular to be excluded, with their inheritance rights overlooked. Together with the Dutch non-governmental organisation ZOA, we have supported the competent rural authorities in West Nile Region and elsewhere in marking out areas of land and issuing certificates to the rightful owners. And with some success, as the ownership of more than 1,800 plots of land has now been cleared regulated.

Regulated land rights create opportunities

In addition, we have supported the use of almost 1,000 lease agreements between landowners and land users. As well as setting out the rights and obligations regarding land use, these formal agreements create certainty for both parties and reduce conflict in the host communities. Around 80 per cent of the conflicts have now been resolved thanks to clear land rights. This creates the prospect of a better future for displaced persons: besides having planning security, they need not fear that their harvested crops will be taken from them and can use their areas of land on a more sustained and productive basis for agriculture. This in turn allows them to supply food more independently.

Jane Awate is grateful for the leases. ‘My landlord provided me with the land and we signed a tenacy agreement. I feel secure because of the protection given by the agreement,’ she explains. Thanks to the agreement, the 45-year-old widow, who was forced to flee South Sudan, farms her land successfully. This way, she is able to secure a livelihood for herself and earn a regular income. ‘Last year I harvested seven sacks of cassava flour. That helped me to restart my tea business. I also bought chickens and goats and used the proceeds from what I sold to pay for my children’s school fees,’ she says.

For Jane Awate and many other displaced women in West Nile Region, secure access to land is therefore the foundation for a better future.