Farmers have been asked to utilize their land to keep off encroachers.
The call was made on Thursday during the national launch of the “Keep Your Land, Keep Your Seed” campaign in Dokolo district. The campaign by the Land and Equity Movement in Uganda (LEMU) is aimed at creating awareness and preventing loss of land, loss of land productivity and loss of indigenous food varieties in Uganda.
Naume Kabanda, the acting director of land management at the Ministry of Lands explained that the ministry is working on safeguarding the land rights of every community member to curb land wrangles.
She was, however, quick to note that land has to be in use to be safe.
With the rampant cases of land conflicts, Kabanda explained that the country’s outdated land laws make it hard to bring land justice under the land administration system.
Prof Alfred Olwa, the Bishop of Lango Diocese wondered why disputes over family land, and the grabbing and encroachment by powerful individuals are common in the Lango sub-region.
Christopher Odongo, the Diocesan Secretary for Education, who represented Olwa called for the enactment and implementation of stringent policies on Land.
Jimmy Ochom, the Land Right’s Coordinator at Oxfam Uganda attributed the increasing incidences of food insecurity to the loss of Land. He hopes that the government can regulate land sales.
Dr. Theresa Auma, the Executive Director of LEMU says the campaign will reveal the close connection between land ownership and the ability of local farming communities to produce their food.
Patience Baganzi, the Dokolo District Police Commander advocated for women’s land rights saying without access to land, cases of domestic violence are rampant.
The “Keep Your Land, Keep Your Seed” campaign is a call to action for especially land owners to overcome the pressures that render them vulnerable to losing their land through land sales, land evictions and even unfair conditions of land rentals which have led to massive loss of land and land productivity in the country.
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