abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb
Article

24 Jun 2016

Author:
Evelyn Lirri, Reuters

Uganda: Displaced locals say Bidco's project has impoverished them; includes company's comments

“'All we ask is for is our land back': Uganda's Bugala Island farmers”

…Nakakeeto, 35, is one of more than 100 farmers who say they were left landless in 2011 when Ugandan palm oil company Bidco Africa cleared their fields to make way for commercial palm oil agriculture. "I lost 15 acres (six hectares). They just came and started clearing the land without our permission," said Nakakeeto, a mother of six. "We were told the government had sold the land but we have lived here for two decades. We can't just lose our land like this," she added.

Farmers on Bugula Island, the second largest in Lake Victoria, are now locked in a legal battle with Bidco, which says it has not been involved in any land transactions. "The Ugandan government was solely responsible for acquiring the land for the project," a company spokesperson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation… The decade-old Kalangala oil palm project is a public-private partnership set up to address high poverty levels in the area and only a small area of land is disputed, the government said.