Commercial Agricultural Practices and Land Conflicts in Uganda A Case of Luwero District

ABSTRACT

This study assessed the influence of commercial agriculture on land conflict in Luwero District, Uganda. The following objectives guided the study: i) to assess how commercial agriculture practices has led to land boundary conflicts in Luwero district, ii) to establish how commercial agriculture practices has led to land inheritance conflicts in Luwero district, and iii) to examine how commercial agriculture practices has led to multiple sales conflicts in Luwero district. This study adopted cross-section research design. The study targeted 10,258 respondents. The sample size was 385 respondents. The study used questionnaires and interviews. The study used simple random and purposive sampling. The study used frequency and percentage tables, mean, and linear regression analysis. The study revealed that commercial agriculture practices does not have any significant effect on boundary land conflicts in Luwero district (Adjusted R2=0.001, p=0.276). The study further found that commercial agriculture practices does not have any significant effect on land inheritance conflicts in Luwero district (Adjusted R2=0.007, p=0.052). However, the study revealed that commercial agriculture practices significantly affects multiple land sales conflicts in Luwero district (Adjusted R2=0.107, p=0.000). The study concluded that commercial agriculture practices do not necessarily cause land conflicts. The study made the following recommendations: the elders, the clan leaders and the district officials should always establish clear and permanent boundaries such as stone-marks, monuments or plant trees to clearly show land boundaries thus avoiding any future boundary conflicts, regarding inheritance conflicts, the deceased should be encouraged to write their wills when they are still alive, specifying which land and property belongs to who, and lastly, in order to avoid or curb multiple sales of land, land buying should be in the witness of the local council (LC1 and II), clan elders, government representatives (for example officials from the land board and land registration departments), and an advocate.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ........................................................................................................................................... i

APPROVAL ................................................................................................................................................. ii

DEDICATION............................................................................................................................................. iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................................................... iv

LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................ v

LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................................................... ix

LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................... x

ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................................. xi

CHAPTER ONE...........................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................1

1.0 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................1

1.1 Background of the Study ........................................................................................................................1

1.1.1 Historical Perspective ..........................................................................................................................1

1.1.2 Theoretical Perspective ........................................................................................................................3

1.1.3 Conceptual Perspective ........................................................................................................................4

1.1.4 Contextual Perspective.........................................................................................................................5

1.2 Problem Statement..................................................................................................................................6

1.3 Purpose of the Study ...............................................................................................................................6

1.4 Objectives of the Study...........................................................................................................................7

1.5 Research Questions.................................................................................................................................7

1.6 Hypotheses..............................................................................................................................................7

1.7 Scope of the Study ..................................................................................................................................7

1.7.1 Geographical Scope .............................................................................................................................7

1.7.2 Content Scope ......................................................................................................................................8

1.7.3 Time Scope ..........................................................................................................................................8

1.8 Significance of the Study ........................................................................................................................8

1.9 Operational Definitions of Key Terms....................................................................................................9

CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................................10

LITERATURE REVIEW ...........................................................................................................................10

2.0 Introduction...........................................................................................................................................10

2.1 Theoretical Review...............................................................................................................................10

2.2 Conceptual Framework.........................................................................................................................12

2.3 Related Literature..................................................................................................................................13

2.3.1 Commercial Agriculture Practices.....................................................................................................13

2.3.1.1 Agricultural Marketing ...................................................................................................................16

2.3.1.2 Mechanized Agriculture..................................................................................................................17

2.3.1.3 Land Use Intensification .................................................................................................................20

2.3.2 Land Conflicts....................................................................................................................................20

2.3.2.1 Commercial Agriculture Practices and Land Boundary Conflicts..................................................26

2.3.2.2 Commercial Agriculture Practices and Land Inheritance Conflicts................................................27

2.3.2.3 Commercial Agriculture Practices and Multiple Sales of Customary Land ...................................27

2.3.3 The Effects of Commercial Agriculture on Land Conflicts...............................................................28

2.4 Gaps in Literature .................................................................................................................................29

CHAPTER THREE ....................................................................................................................................31

METHODOLOGY .....................................................................................................................................31

3.0 Introduction...........................................................................................................................................31

3.1 Research Design....................................................................................................................................31

3.2 Study Population...................................................................................................................................32

3.3 Sample Size...........................................................................................................................................32

3.4 Sampling Technique .............................................................................................................................33

3.5 Data Sources.........................................................................................................................................34

3.6 Data Collection Methods ......................................................................................................................34

3.6.1 Surveys...............................................................................................................................................34

3.6.2 Interviews...........................................................................................................................................34

3.7 Data Collection Instrument ...................................................................................................................35

3.7.1 Structured Survey questionnaire ........................................................................................................35

3.7.2 Key Informant Interviews..................................................................................................................35

3.8 Validity and Reliability......................................................................................36

3.8.1 Validity ....................................................................................................36

3.8.2 Reliability.....................................................................................................36

3.9 Data Collection Procedure ....................................................................................38

3.10 Data Analysis............................................................................................38

3.11 Ethical Consideration..........................................................................................................................40

CHAPTER FOUR.......................................................................................................................................41

DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ........................................................41

4.0 Introduction...........................................................................................................................................41

4.1 Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents.................................................................................41

4.2 Descriptive Statistics for Commercial Agriculture ...............................................................................44

4.3 Descriptive Statistics for Land Conflicts..............................................................................................47

4.4 The Effect of Commercial Agriculture Practices on Land Boundary Conflicts in Luwero District.....53

4.5 The Effect of Commercial Agriculture Practices on Land Inheritance Conflicts in Luwero District...55

4.6 The Effect of Commercial Agriculture Practices on Multiple Land Sales Conflicts in Luwero District ................................................56

CHAPTER FIVE ..............................................................58

DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................58

5.0 Introduction...........................................................................................................................................58

5.1.1 The Effect of Commercial Agriculture Practices on Land Boundary Conflicts in Luwero District..58

5.1.2 The Effect of Commercial Agriculture Practices on Inheritance Land Conflicts in Luwero District 59

5.1.3 The Effect of Commercial Agriculture on Multiple Land Sales Conflicts in Luwero District..........60

5.2 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................61

5.2 Contribution to Knowledge...................................................................................................................61

5.3 Recommendations.................................................................................................................................62

5.4 Areas for future studies.........................................................................................................................63

References...................................................................................................................................................64

APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................75

APPENDIX I: INFORMED CONSENT ....................................................................................................75

APPENDIX II: QUESTIONNAIRE...........................................................................................................76

APPENDIX III: KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEW GUIDE ....................................................................79