By Joshua Kato
Joyce Mugwanya, like most women, does not own the land on which she practices her farming.
The land is owned by her husband. The fact that most women do not own the land reduces their voice in controlling the earnings from such land and worse still, getting loans to improve farming on their farms.
Mugwanya does her farming on a piece of land allocated to her by her husband.
However, the allocation was done verbally, so in reality, the husband still owns it. This means that she cannot use it to get money from the bank.
“Even if I wanted to get a bank loan, I cannot because I do not own the land on which I am farming,” she says.
If Mugwanya had security, she would try accessing the Agricultural Credit Facility (ACF), for example. All that she would require is security and a good farming plan.
In most cases, security is the land on which the farmer is practising farming. Unfortunately, however, she does not own this land.
According to the 1998 Land Act, there are five recognised land tenure systems in Uganda. These are Mailo land ownership — where the owner has a land title and owns land indefinitely, the customary tenure system — where the land is owned communally, freehold system, leasehold system and public land ownership.
Traditionally, land ownership is seen as a sign of strength in society, yet women are not supposed to be strong members of a traditional society. In many tribes in Uganda, women do not own land.
“Ironically, women own only a third of the land they use for agriculture,” Stella Tereka, a gender researcher, says.
This means that women cannot make big financial decisions about the money from the land.
And yet, according to Joseph Paschal Bbemba, the deputy country director of Sasakawa Africa Association, the role women and youth play in the agriculture sector in Uganda is big.
“Over the years, the proportion of women working in purely subsistence agriculture has remained higher than for men,” he says.
According to Uganda Bureau of Statistics, there are 56.1% of women engaged in agriculture, compared to 39.1% of the men.
Bbemba, together with his colleagues, were addressing the country under a theme Inclusive Agriculture Extension Services; Escalating the Opportunities for Women and Youth.
This was on the sidelines of the National Agriculture Extension Week, which started on May 22 and ended on May 26.
David Wazemba, the country director of Sasakawa Africa Association, explains that the group has over the years championed key turn farming interventions, many of which have targeted women and youth.
“We note that vulnerable segments, like women and youth need extra input when it comes to extension knowledge,” he said.
He pointed out that given the key roles of women in ensuring food and nutrition security among their households and high youth unemployment rates, women and youth must be put at the forefront of the agricultural transformation in Uganda.
“They must be involved in effective utilisation of available productive resources, such as land and labour,” Wazemba said.
Sasakawa recommended that skills for youth and women should be escalated in the sector and opportunities for women and youth in a climate – smart, efficient, effective better funded agricultural extension service delivery system must also be promoted.
