Research Institute for Social Sciences

Thesis Title

“Social Dimensions of Development Policies in Acholiland (Uganda): Land Relations, Post-war Resettlement and the State”

Themes/Keywords: War, Land relations, Resettlement

The study explores whether and how the long war of 22 years in Acholiland and forced removal of the Acholi people from their lands to camps, destroyed their relationship with their lands. It investigates whether displacement facilitated the predatory expansion of commercial agricultural interests onto these lands. It draws on global and national studies on similar topics to support this inquiry. It reveals that for the Acholi, the shock of war and displacement has been replaced by new anxieties about potential dispossession or loss of land due to the changes in land tenure and agricultural relations in Uganda; raising questions about international and national interests in land. The project analyses how the local Acholi population, is mobilising to respond to all these changes, including commercial farming on customary land.

Methodology: A combination of qualitative and ethnographic approaches 

Risk: Land is a sensitive cultural and political issue in Uganda, hence steps were taken in the research planning stage to ensure (participants/researcher) were protected (through clear data protection and confidentiality) protocols in case the study revealed politically sensitive information.

Paper’s Presented:

1. Northern Uganda Conflict and Current Acholi Land Dilemmas, presented at Keele University Research Symposium

2. Treading Across Rights, Senses of Belonging & Place in Acholiland (Uganda), Gulu University Conference

3. Territorialism, Ethnicity & A Market in Land, LSBU-UMI Joint Conference , Kampala Uganda