Young Karimojong discuss land and the ironies of peace
A team of young Karimojong have recently started a piece of research into how the peace in Karamoja has affected land use and whether this is eroding customary land management systems. The team chose to study this after spending two months traveling around Moroto and Napak districts and discussing with a range of people issues of importance to them. The team, who have now been working together for around fifteen months, have also recently recruited twelve new members from Kotido district to join them. The Kotido team come from across Kotido district and are from a wide range of backgrounds – some from the town, some who have grown up herding. They have started looking into the same research question and building links across the district.
The team have put together their initial findings in a new bulletin called Ekoi. Here they tell stories told to them by different people with different experiences of dealing with land issues in Karamoja. They hear about how the peace has brought different groups together in some fertile areas and how these different groups are living together and dealing with their land, they tell of people doing small-scale mining in different parts of the district and the different ways in which land is now being managed.
The word ‘Ekoi’ means news – or the things people tell each other to catch up when they meet after a while.
The research teams are now continuing to talk to people across Napak, Moroto and Kotido districts to better understand how the customary systems of dealing with land are changing.
The team is supported by Restless Development Uganda, the Institute of Development Studies and PCI. Irish Aid is funding the research. (March 2013)
