In northern Uganda, common grazing lands are central to village life. While nominally used for grazing livestock, communities also depend on their grazing lands to collect basic household necessities such as fuel, water, food, building materials for their homes, and traditional medicines. Yet growing population density, increasing land scarcity, weak rule of law, and the 1998 Land Act’s legalization of a land market have created a situation of intense competition for land in northern Uganda.

markdownabstractConcerns about the potential gender and equity implications of land-related investments on labour and
income-generating opportunities and access, use and control of land come in the context of the current
global policy interest in supporting agricultural investment in developing countries in general.
However, there is a long history of land-related investments in developing countries, particularly
agricultural investments, which partially explains the current concerns. Over the last 60-70 years,

Land management reform has re-emerged as a priority for many African countries and strongly supported by so-called development partners. This time round, a more nuanced theme combining the classic goals of enhancing tenure security, improving investment and productivity of land with those of poverty reduction and equity in land access. Many continue to question the neo-classical premise which perceives customary systems to not provide the necessary security to promote agricultural investment and productivity due to the lack of clearly defined private and enforceable property rights.