Natural Resource Management in the Northern Albertine Rift Landscape, Western Uganda: Modelling Household Land Utilisation for Conflict Reduction

Abstract

The discovery of oil in the Albertine Rift Landscape has increased pressure on natural resources and heightened the potential for resource use conflicts. Central to these natural resource use pressures are competing interests over land for agriculture, settlement and industrial development. This undermines people’s livelihoods and threatens biodiversity conservation. In this project, we had two broad aims: firstly, to increase our understanding of land utilisation patterns and related decision-making through participatory modelling, in order to fill knowledge gaps regarding how the negative effects of the oil industry can be reduced. Secondly, to contribute to thinking about conflict mitigation over land utilisation and access through solutions simultaneously generated through participatory approaches. The study was conducted in four villages around Budongo forest (in mid-western Uganda): Nyabyeya I, Nyabyeya II, Kibwona, and Nyakafunjo whose area is approximately 3.23 km2, 1.06 km2, 6.35 km2, and 1.29 km2 respectively. We employed mixed methods including: Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), with a composition of 10 members each (5 male, 5 female), Remote Sensing (RS) data analysis, and participatory modelling through Role Play Games (RPGs) – with a composition of 8-10 members each (4-5 male, 4-5 female). Mapping community resources was also done through village transects. Members drew resource maps during the FGDs (and later compared with RS products): this was followed by discussions on resource use, access and conflict. The groups also generated seasonal calendars to get a sense of time and (gendered) labour resource budgets throughout the year. The emphasis was on understanding utilisation of community resources, especially the interactions between the expanding sugarcane outgrower scheme (see Twongyirwe et al. 2015), strict forest protection and the emerging oil production in the region.