Project Location: Karamoja region (Amudat, Moroto and Napak districts)
Funder: Dan Church Aid
Duration: 2017 to date
Status: Running
Project Narrative: Given that 70% of Ugandans are employed in agriculture mainly on a subsistence basis, and that land-use practices directly impact climate change, land tenure security in Karamoja remains the key ingredient for household livelihoods, sustainable land use and economic development. Due to the influx of outsiders into Karamoja, the increase of land sales and grabbing (through registration) of large chunks of communal land by local/national elites, unregulated exploitation of natural resources, land conflicts and the vulnerability of rural customary-communal landowners is on the increase in Karamoja region.
This ongoing project implemented by LEMU in 2017 and funded by Dan Church Aid (DCA) is designed to improve the livelihoods of rural communities in the Karamoja region, by ensuring the security of tenure on customary-communal land resources and advancing land sustainable land-use practices that mitigate the effects of climate change on rural livelihoods. Some of the key approaches adopted by the project include the following;
i) Increase understanding of customary-grazing land rules and state laws
ii) Strengthen Communal Land Associations
iii) Develop local ordinances to challenge the illegal sale of communal land and promote proper communal land use.
iv) Demarcation of communal land boundaries using concrete pillars, Sketch maps, and GPS maps.
v) Resolve land-use conflicts, through a multi-stakeholder dispute resolution committee
vi) Strengthen community-monitoring system and ensuring accountability of both land-owners and community leaders towards adherence to agreed rules and bylaws for the management of communal lands.
vii) Strengthening women’s land rights;
