Effects of development-induced displacement and resettlement on livelihoods of people along Mukono–Kyetume-Katosi road

Abstract

Over the past few decades, development-induced displacement and resettlement has potentially run the risk of affecting and threatening people’s livelihoods. Mukono-Kyetume-Katosi Road (MKKR) is one of the developmental projects in Uganda that is known to have raised concern. It has been argued that, far from improving the wellbeing of the people, the road caused problems following its upgrading. Therefore, this study was undertaken to examine the effects of development-induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR) on the livelihoods of the people along MKKR. The specific objectives of the study were analysing effects of DIDR on people’s livelihood assets, examining the social economic challenges faced, and identifying and assessing the coping strategies of project affected persons. To address the research questions, a cross-sectional survey employing both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used. A total of 104 households were randomly selected and interviewed using a household survey questionnaire. Qualitatively, a total of five Focus Group Discussions were organised inclusive of both male and female in the three affected Sub-counties (i.e. Ntenjeru, Nakisunga and Mukono Town Council). Five key informant interviews were also held. Quantitative data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Software while qualitative data involved transcribing audio-visual data recorded from the key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Findings indicate that there were negative effects on people’s natural assets especially those who lost their land. 51.9% involved in crop farming improved a lot because market for the produce was available, 23.1% improved a little, 5.8% stayed the same, and 3.8% became a lot worse. The respondents observed that because the land used for cropping was affected by the road upgrade, they had nowhere to carry out their farming from, their crops were destroyed and probably the other 15.4% did not do crop farming. There was a lot of dust during construction which caused cough and flu, as well as many tenants losing business as their rentals were affected. However, findings also indicated that there were positive effects among which were job opportunities, better housing condition which includes: increase in income, investment in business, owning assets like land, etc. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that much as Development-induced displacement has affected the lives of people along Mukono-Kyetume-Katosi road, it has to a certain extent given them an opportunity to improve their lifestyles.