Abstract
<p>This study was conducted to interrogate local perceptions and expectations from the discovery of oil in the Albertine Graben of Uganda. We interviewed 50 residents (30 men and 20 women) from Butiaba and Wanseko (Buliisa district), Kyehoro and Kabaale villages (Hoima district). The villages were purposively selected to have a representation of the districts in the Albertine region where Oil discovery activities are currently being implemented but also to explore any differences in perceptions that may be linked to livelihood options of the respondents. We applied narrative analysis. Overall, we observed minimal pessimism as residents expressed concerns over environmental degradation, political tensions and land conflicts following oil activities, but there was a dominance of optimism as communities envisaged that the oil industry will create employment, infrastructural development, improved access to electricity, and enhanced social status. The findings demonstrated that communities living in areas where extractive resources such as oil and gas have been discovered tend to be more optimistic with very minimal pessimism in their expectations during the phase of upstream activities of the oil value chain. The findings challenge the dominant narrative that residents where energy development and other land use changes are being implemented tend to have negative expectations -a phenomenon known as NIMBY (Not-In- My-Back-Yard). We identify the need to develop strong institutional frameworks that harness benefits from oil to improve local livelihoods without compromising the environment and enhancing participation of locals in decision making processes.</p>
Highlights
The findings demonstrated that communities living in areas where extractive resources such as oil and gas have been discovered tend to be more optimistic with very minimal pessimism in their expectations during the phase of upstream activities of the oil value chain
It is still unclear whether the observed optimism will be sustained as Uganda moves towards midstream and downstream activities of the oil value chain
The positive expectations are hinged around expected improvements in social service delivery, infrastructural developments, employment opportunities and poverty reduction while the negative ones are mainly centred on insecurity of land tenure, environmental degradation, insecurity of human lives and insufficient community participation in oil and gas processes
Summary
The narrative that mineral resources are a curse than a blessing in most developing economies has remained dominant (Luong and Weinthal, 2006).The common dimensions of the resource curse that are often mentioned in literature include slow economic growth, poor governance and institutional quality, violent civil strife, displacement of local people and environmental degradation (Collier and Hoeffler, 2004, Kitula, 2006, Mehlum, Moene and Torvik, 2006, Opukri and Ibaba, 2008, Sachs and Warner, 2001, Van der Ploeg, 2011) This narrative has been challenged by others who argue that resource abundance can be associated with growth, institutional quality and income (Brunnschweiler and Bulte, 2008, Brunnschweiler and Bulte, 2009) and positive real income spillover effects for the local community (Aragón and Rud, 2013). With this paradigm in mind, we examine the community expectations and perceptions with regard to an expected windfall due to natural resource exploitation in Uganda’s Albertine Graben
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