Assessing the effectiveness of the in-kind resettlement strategy among project-displaced people in Buseruka Sub-County, Hoima District, Uganda

Abstract

Despite the increasing emphasis by development partners on consideration of in-kind resettlement as a compensation strategy in areas where most of the livelihoods are rural and land -based, the effectiveness of the in-kind resettlement strategy is not comprehensively documented. The study assessed the relationship between the in-kind resettlement strategy and livelihood restoration of the PAPs in Kyakaboga village, Hoima district. A cross sectional study design was used during the study. Given the small population, census method was used as a sampling technique to select all the 41 household heads to participate in the study. Purposive sampling was used to select five key informants from Hoima district, Buseruka sub-county, MEMD, AFIEGO and NAPE. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected. Qualitative data was collected through key informant interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) and field observation while quantitative data was collected using structured interviews. Quantitative data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) whereas qualitative data was recorded and later transcribed and texts coded and grouped. The findings revealed that alternative livelihood options shrank from a diverse percentage of 50% pre-resettlement to 2% post-resettlement. The majority (85.3%) of the PAPs faced a reduction in income after resettlement. A chi-square test showing the relationship between the in-kind resettlement strategy and livelihood restoration revealed that he P-value (0.554) was greater than 0.05, implying that there was no relationship between the in-kind resettlement strategy and livelihood restoration in the study area. The study concluded that lack of training in small-scale rural business as well as inadequate reinstatement of social infrastructure, including health centres, schools and credit, were major constraints on livelihood restitution of the PAPs. The study concluded that the government should undertake vocational training of the PAPs to prepare them for the new environment. Basic infrastructure like roads, schools and health facilities should also be established because they have immense potential to contribute to the livelihood restitution of the PAPs. Additionally, developers and project planners should make sure that livelihood assets substitution is adequately addressed during resettlement planning to provide affected households with a wider range of livelihood options after relocation.