Land and peasants in western Uganda: Bushenyi and Mbarara districts
Kasfir, N.
Uganda now between decay and development: 158-174
1988
Document Number: 198304
The paper investigates the consequences for rich and poor peasants of increasing land scarcity in Bushenyi and Mbarara Districts, Uganda. Open land, using a system of customary tenure, whereby rights to the land are maintained through continuous use, insulates farmers from dependence on market demands because, as the land is not paid for, there is less need to generate a cash income. Open land in the above districts is disappearing due to population growth, and a change in the system of land tenure since independence. The result of this will be that peasants will be forced off their land, or forced to live on plots too small to support their families. This will create a greater differentiation of the peasantry as poor peasants work for rich peasants, greater dependence on the state, and further integration of peasants into the capitalist economy.