Strengthening Women's Potentials and Capabilities: A Perceived Strategy to Narrow the Gender-Gap in Land Rights in South-Western Uganda (original) (raw)
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Dynamics of women's Secure Land Rights for Sustainable Rural household Food Security in Uganda
Rwangire, M & Muriisa, K. R. (2021). Dynamics of women’s Secure Land Rights for Sustainable Rural household Food Security in Uganda. Journal of African Interdisciplinary Studies, 5(1), 4 – 31., 2021
Food security is a major concern of a global agenda as reflected in the UN Post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, 2000, 2016). Globally more than 2 billion people are food insecure and this situation is on the rise and has turned into a crisis especially in Sub Saharan Africa. Uganda which was the focus of this paper has had multiple food crises in various regions at different times. Isingiro district where this chapter is situated has been experiencing food crisis in recent times. Women who are the main producers of food lack secure land rights to enhance food production. The goal of this study was to explore how women's secure land rights can be strengthened to enhance sustainable rural household food security in Uganda. Our methodology was largely qualitative. We interviewed 102 respondents including local women, local leaders and key informants. We held three focus group discussions one in each sub-county where we collected data from. Our findings indicate that women have limited land rights with regard to control of land, but majority of them have access rights but with minimal decisions on what to produce. Our findings indicated that barriers to women to secure land rights are from institutional as well as lack of enforcement of the legal frameworks in place. Owing to the sensitivity of land ownership and patriarchal nature of Ugandan societies, Isingiro district in particular, we therefore concluded that secure land rights for women can be strengthened through active sensitization of both men and women on the value of women's rights to land and its implication on sustainable rural household food security.
In sub-Saharan Africa, colonial influences have altered traditional practices as a way to manage that which Polanyi contended were "fictitious commodities" of land, labor and money. Land has now become a highly marketable commodity and an intrinsic part of the global economy. Over the past century, Uganda"s land rights have evolved from communal rights to that of male-dominated, individual ownership practices which have excluded women. Despite Constitutional provisions which confer title of both a deceased husband"s property rights and equal rights to property within a marriage to a wife, post-colonial patriarchal tradition prevails.
In this paper, the context within which the National Land Policy ascribes to tackle gender issues and especially provide for entrenchment, opportunity, and strengthening of women’s land rights is analyzed. In the first part acknowledgment of influencing context conditions that refine gender issues are detailed these include; the nature of women’s rights, position of women given their transient rights, the consequences of gender inequality on land, and the effect of dispute resolution on land matters. The economic efficiency and equity theory together with the human rights discourse have provided a firm foundation for negotiating and demanding for women’s rights in national policy, which has either had to make choice between options or promote concurrent ideologies to accommodate evidence-based demands to tackle two key issues; access to land and control of land (including its outputs) through adaptation of tenure and legal dualism, making a choice between representation, participant or professionalism in land management and purchase or inheritance under customary or registered tenure. This paper concludes by outlining the key implications of gender for PSIA data collection and ex-post analysis, as well as implications for systematic demarcation projects.
GENDER AND THE LAND REFORM PROCESS IN UGANDA Assessing Gains and Losses for Women in Uganda
2004
Land in Uganda is the core factor of production and one of the three basic resources, next to people and time. It is the backbone of our agriculture-based economy, and as such a sensitive matter. Women’s struggle for gender balance with particular regard to land is a direct result of the fact that whereas women have played the central role in agriculture and food production, history, tradition and customs (such as polygamy, bridewealth, and succession) have deprived them of actual ownership of land.
Policy Brief: Securing women's land rights in Eastern Africa. Time for a paradigm shift
The importance of land to poor people's livelihoods cannot be over emphasized. Land provides the foundation upon which people construct and maintain livelihoods. Consequently, secure access to land is a prerequisite for securing livelihoods. Women are the majority of the poor as they have limited access to social and economic resources. This increases their dependence on basic resources like land. The majority of women rely on a land based livelihood mainly as subsistence agricultural producers. A secured access to land will enable women to improve their welfare and that of their families. Women's capacity to develop and improve their situation is hampered by limited access to resources like land, financial capital, economic capital, labour and technology. In recognition of this, various initiatives have been undertaken at the government level to improve and secure women's access to land. The initiatives have had limited impact partially because of the limited resources and effectiveness of government. Research in East Africa has revealed how community based interventions can not only compliment but also provide more effective means through which government policies can be implemented for the benefit of women. The paper draws on research carried out in Uganda and Kenya to illustrate the ways in which local level and non-governmental institutions can improve women's access to land by drawing on existing government policies and legislation. Introduction 1 1. Women's Access to Land: A review 2 2. Research overview of women's land tenure status in East Africa 5 3. Harnessing women's agency to secure women's access to land 6 4. The role of intermediary institutions in increasing women's land tenure security 10
Mainstreaming Gender in Land and Water Governance: Perspectives from Rural Uganda
Land and water constitute the most important livelihood resources on which the majority of Africa’s population depends, either directly (in the form of agriculture, forestry, etc.) or indirectly (through services like tourism and trade). Over 60 percent of Africa’s population derives its livelihood and income from land activities. In Uganda, 66 percent of the working population is engaged in agriculture, of which the majority are women. Agriculture contributes 22.9 percent of the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 90 percent of the total export earnings. While it has been relatively easier for women to make some gains in education, access formal employment and participate in politics, achievements in land rights have been rather difficult because of the male-centric nature of land tenure systems in many societies of Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite national attempts at land reform in Uganda, indigenous and customary land inheritance systems driven by patriarchal norms persist, and wo...
2021
Despite their key role in agriculture, in many African regions, women do not have equal access to or control and ownership over land and natural resources as men. As a consequence, international organizations, national governments and non-governmental organizations have joined forces to develop progressive policies and legal frameworks to secure equal land rights for women and men at individual and collective levels in customary tenure systems. However, women and men at the local level may not be aware of women's rights to land, and social and cultural relations may prevent women from claiming their rights. In this context, there are many initiatives and programs that aim to empower women in securing their rights. But still very little is known about the existing strategies and practices women employ to secure their equal rights and control over land and other natural resources. In particular, the lived experiences of women themselves are somewhat overlooked in current debates a...