Securing insecure livelihoods through group synergies: the case of violent Namatala transboundary wetland in Rural Eastern Uganda

Abstract

This article uses evidence from Namatala wetland in Eastern Uganda to examine the livelihood insecurity associated with wetland conflicts and highlights the implications of group synergies in securing the related insecurities affecting access and use of the violent wetlands and livelihoods. Adopting a qualitative approach, data was generated using eight focus group discussions and 12 key informant interviews in Namatala conflict area, in Eastern Uganda. The findings reveal that the unpredictable brutal conflict actions in Namatala wetland compelled people to construct groups as informal mechanisms of navigating the insecure environments to secure livelihoods. The groups acted as a pool of labour, a means of maintaining employment, buffers against attack, financial safety valves and sources of predictive information gathering and sharing. Invoking the theory of practice, the article demonstrates that people experiencing conflicts make sense of their violent environments and devise informal group synergies as adaptive mechanisms of securing and sustaining their livelihoods.

Keywords: Group synergies, livelihoods, rural, transboundary conflicts, wetlands