Land acquisitions and rising land-inequality in rural East Africa

Lead Institute WI Institute of Rural Economics

In countries where agriculture is an essential source of livelihood, land is the main productive asset and therefore crucial for rural populations. Land inequality has long been recognized as a threat to inclusive and sustainable development. However, the role of growing outside interest in land and resulting land inequality is not well-understood, despite a growing body of research on large-scale land acquisitions.

Background and Objective

This project sets out to study how the concentration of wealth through land acquisitions in Kenya and Uganda, led by both international and domestic investors, affect land inequality and if not adequately addressed perpetuates the cycle of gender inequality and violence.

The project will generate novel research and policy outputs to address inequality arising from land acquisition, ownership, control and use. The project will also contribute to capacity building and university teaching in all partner institutions. Findings will be generated through inter-and transdisciplinary methods and will thus immediately speak to policymakers in the study regions and on the international level. The project team closely collaborates with non-academic partners, in Kenya and Uganda, and organizes stakeholder participatory workshops. The impact and sustainability of the project will further be ensured through capacity building with the aim to enhance inclusive land policies in East Africa.

In times of growing inequality and the accumulation of wealth, these findings are also important for Germany and Europe.

Approach

In order to understand the relationship between land acquisitions and land inequality our mixed-methods approach comprising of quantitative and qualitative methods focuses on two East African countries: Kenya and Uganda. These countries allow us to study two neighboring countries heavily targeted by land acquisitions with relatively similar land governance systems. Uganda and Kenya are currently grappling with the challenge of formulating appropriate policies on land acquisition and ownership in light of the high and growing inequalities. While land inequality is relatively high in both countries, there is considerable regional variation. We use these country case studies to shed light on different regional dynamics of inequality.
We start with a national-level view, and then zoom into specific regions also featuring specific case studies of individual investors. We combine both quantitative data sources that are available from existing household survey data and qualitative data that we collect during field research.

Our Research Questions

How has land inequality evolved across Uganda and Kenya against the background of land acquisitions in a context of a weak regulatory land governance?
What are the perceptions of land inequality in investment regions?
How do investors who acquire land (re)produce wealth and contribute to different forms of inequalities such as ethnic, social, economic and gender-based?