From conflict to conflicts: War-induced displacement, land conflicts, and agricultural productivity in post-war Northern Uganda

Abstract

This paper examines conflicts in northern Uganda over land rights and land demarcation between neighbours who returned from absence due to displacement caused by armed conflicts. It uses detailed parcel-, household-, and community-level data collected in 2015 from villages in northern Uganda. The results are noteworthy: households that were displaced to locations far from their homes are more likely to have new land conflicts and more likely to be concerned about land conflicts. Household number of years spent without doing farming in the home village and weakening informal land governance institutions appear to be the main mechanisms of the above results. Furthermore, land conflicts are found to have a negative effect on agricultural productivity because they reduce farmers’ incentive to invest in their plots due to insecure land rights.