Due diligence on lands at risk of or subject to land acquisitions in Uganda | Land Portal

Resource information

Date of publication: 
September 2012
Resource Language: 
ISBN / Resource ID: 
Worldr-Duedil-201209
Pages: 
33

This research forms part of a larger study on large-scale land acquisition in Uganda. There are three main components of this study: (1) a “risk map” that identifies areas “at risk” for land acquisition due to their high suitability for biofuel crop production; (2) a due diligence report on the existing land uses and users of land identified as “at risk” in the first activity; and (3) an assessment of the land acquisition process, including applicable social and environmental safeguards.

Significantly, the results of Activity 3 highlighted that agricultural suitability is only one of many factors that influence which lands are acquired for large-scale agro-investments in Uganda. In fact, Uganda’s complex land tenure context makes it difficult for investors to acquire land that may otherwise be ‘suitable’ for investment. This suggests that identifying lands at risk of land acquisition based solely on their suitability for commercial agriculture would not accurately predict the location of future investments in Uganda. However, no geographical data on land rights in Uganda are available at a small-enough scale to inform land use planning. At the same time, compared to other countries in Africa where the impacts of large-scale land acquisitions have been well documented, relatively little has been published on the impacts of recent agro-investments in Uganda, particularly investments outside the protected estate1. Therefore, this paper seeks to draw attention to the potential social and environmental impacts of future agro-investments in Uganda by presenting existing evidence from recent agro-investments.

Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s): 

M. Mercedes Stickler

Publisher(s): 

Data provider

Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE) is an independent public policy research and advocacy think tank based in Uganda working in East and Southern Africa. ACODE was first registered in 1999 as a Non-governmental organization (NGO). In 2004, the organization was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee and without having a share capital. ACODE is one of the most dynamic and robust regional leaders in cutting-edge public policy research and analysis in a range of areas including governance, trade, environment, and science and technology.

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