Abstract
This chapter examines the status of women’s land rights and their implications for agricultural productivity in Uganda. The study finds that women had ownership rights over 32% of the surveyed parcels and use rights over 16% of the parcels. It also finds that granting land rights to women enhances productivity, but ownership rights are more important than use rights. Yield was significantly higher on parcels owned by women compared to those where women only had use rights. Therefore, granting use rights alone is not sufficient to promote efficient land use by women, but granting ownership rights can and does enhance yield. These results suggest that there is a need to strengthen female land ownership rights to promote agricultural productivity and reduce poverty. Enhancing women’s land rights is key in achieving the first and fifth sustainable development goals—alleviating poverty and promoting gender equality, respectively.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
A parcel is considered to be in freehold and leasehold if the owner has a title. Titling and leasing are still rare in Uganda because of high costs such as surveying and demarcation costs involved in obtaining land a title.
References
Agarwal, B. (1994). Gender and Command over Property: A Critical Gap in Economic Analysis and Policy in South Asia. World Development, 22(10), 1455–1478.
Ali, D. A., Deininger, K., & Ronchi, L. (2015). Costs and Benefits of Land Fragmentation: Evidence from Rwanda. Policy Research Working Paper 7290.
Besley, T. (1995, October). Property Rights and Investment Incentives: Theory and Evidence from Ghana. Journal of Political Economy, 103(5), 903–937.
Burke, C., & Kobusingye, D. N. (2014). Women’s Land Rights in Northern Uganda (West Nile, Acholi, Lango, Teso and Karamoja). Oxfam.
Busingye, H. (2002). Customary Land Tenure Reform in Uganda: Lessons for South Africa. International Symposium on Communal Tenure Reform. Johannesburg: Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS).
Deininger, K. (2010). Towards Sustainable Systems of Land Administration: Recent Evidence and Challenges for Africa. African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 5(1), 205–226.
Deininger, K., & Ali, D. A. (2008, November). Do Overlapping Land Rights Reduce Agricultural Investment? Evidence from Uganda. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 90(4), 869–882.
Deininger, K., Ali, D. A., & Yamano, T. (2008). Legal Knowledge and Economic Development: The Case of Land Rights in Uganda. Land Economics, 84(4), 593–619.
Deininger, K., & Castagnini, R. (2006, July). Incidence and Impact of Land Conflict in Uganda. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 60(3), 321–345.
Deininger, K., & Jin, S. (2006). Tenure Security and Land-Related Investment: Evidence from Ethiopia. European Economic Review, 50, 1245–1277.
Feder, G., & Feeny, D. (1991). Land Tenure and Property Rights: Theory and Implications for Development Policy. World Bank Economic Review, 5(1), 135–153.
Fenske, J. (2011). Land Tenure and Investment Incentives: Evidence from West Africa. Journal of Development Economics, 95, 137–156.
Goldstein, M., & Udry, C. (2008, December). The Profits of Power: Land Rights and Agricultural Investment in Ghana. Journal of Political Economy, 116(6), 981–1022.
Holden, S. T., & Otsuka, K. (2014). The Roles of Land Tenure Reforms and Land Markets in the Context of Population Growth and Land Use Intensification in Africa. Food Policy. Article in Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2014.03.005.
Lawry, S., Samii, C., Hall, R., Leopold, A., Hornby, D., & Mtero, F. (2017). The Impact of Land Property Rights Interventions on Investment and Agricultural Productivity in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review. Journal of Development Effectiveness, 9(1), 61–81.
Monchuk, D. C., Deininger, K., & Nagarajan, H. K. (2010). Does Land Fragmentation Reduce Efficiency: Micro Evidence from India. Paper prepared for presentation at the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association.
Mwesigye, F., Matsumoto, T., & Otsuka, K. (2017). Population Pressure, Rural-to-Rural Migration and Evolution of Land Tenure Institutions: The Case of Uganda. Land Use Policy, 65, 1–14.
Ochieng, J., Ouma, E., & Birachi, E. (2014). Gender Participation and Decision Making in Crop Management in Great Lakes Region of Central Africa. Gender Technology and Development, 18(3), 341–362.
Palacios-Lopez, A., Christiaensen, L., & Kilic, T. (2017). How Much of the Labor in African Agriculture Is Provided by Women? Food Policy, 67, 52–63.
Place, F. (2009). Land Tenure and Agricultural Productivity in Africa: A Comparative Analysis of the Economics Literature and Recent Policy Strategies and Reforms. World Development, 37(8), 1326–1336.
Place, F., & Otsuka, K. (2002). Land Tenure Systems and Their Impacts on Agricultural Investments and Productivity in Uganda. The Journal of Development Studies, 38(6), 105–128.
Republic of Uganda. (1998). The Land Act, 1998. Entebbe: Uganda Government Printing and Publishing Corporation.
Republic of Uganda. (2013). The Uganda National Land Policy. Kampala: Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development.
Republic of Uganda. (2015). Second National Development Plan (NDPII). Kampala: National Planning Authority.
Uganda Bureau of Statistics. (2016). National Population and Housing Census 2014—Main Report. Kampala, Uganda.
WFP & NPA. (2017). Towards Zero Hunger. A Strategic Review of Sustainable Development Goal 2 in Uganda. Kampala: National Planning Authority.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mwesigye, F., Guloba, M., Barungi, M. (2020). Women’s Land Rights and Agricultural Productivity in Uganda. In: Konte, M., Tirivayi, N. (eds) Women and Sustainable Human Development. Gender, Development and Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14935-2_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14935-2_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-14934-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-14935-2
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)