Uganda

When Gulf nations face food, security, and water scarcity issues, one response is to seek lucrative agricultural investments in fertile African lands. Yet, while such deals can bring benefits to the countries involved, there are also sizeable risks

More than 35,000 people from 20 villages are homeless after being evicted from about 9,300 acres [3,764 ha] of land in Kiryandongo District to pave way for large scale farming by foreign-held companies

Letter calls on UK, US and Dutch governments to investigate the growing humanitarian crisis in Kiryandongo district, Uganda, where thousands of families are being evicted by an agribusiness company that they are backing.

An agribusiness company supported by the governments of the UK, US and the Netherlands is pushing ahead with a land grab that will displace thousands of families in Uganda.

Companies from countries across the world have acquired fertile Nile-irrigated land for growing food crops, non-food agricultural commodities such as alfalfa, flowers, tobacco, and biofuels, rearing livestock and logging trees.

With the backing of Kiryandongo district police, Great Season Company, owned by the South Sudan nationals is violently and forcefully evicting hundreds of native families off their land.

The land defenders were arrested for defending over 3000 people from being violently evicted by local businessman George Kaweesi, many of whom were previously evicted by Kaweeri Coffee Plantation limited in the early 2000s.

The government has prioritised provision of land to investors, mainly large scale and foreign-based, free of charge or for a nominal sum, under an incorrect assumption that this will result in livelihood improvement for all the people.

Hainan Qinfu Foods Company Limited from China is looking for 5,000 acres of land to invest a total of $450m in a specialized aquaculture industrial park.

Uganda’s government is supporting the rapid growth of extractive industries, but ranged against this is the swift growth of an eco-feminist movement that regards protection of the environment as essential to the protection of human rights.

28 villagers from Mubende district in Uganda have been illegally detained, arraigned and remanded without trial in prisons outside their jurisdiction for opposing the grabbing of their lands.

The view of Chinese agricultural investments in Africa from Luwero, Uganda, where there are two different Chinese-owned farms, is one of inaction and incompetence.