Suchergebnisse

Since Uganda discovered commercial oil deposits in 2006, there have been many extraction activities resulting in many social impacts. Uganda is still one of the poorest countries in the world. It does need opportunities for development if it is to escape the extreme poverty that grips it. In this PhD thesis, I discussed how the emerging oil industry in Uganda can be an opportunity if well managed, and how it will potentially lead to 'resource curse', 'Dutch Disease' and/or the 'Nigerian Disease' if poorly managed. I considered the implications of this for conflict and social development in Uganda. The research question explored in this PhD is: To what extent, and under which conditions, does the exploitation of natural resources lead to a resource curse? In order to answer this broad question, the emerging oil & gas industry in Uganda was examined by considering several subordinate questions: 1) What is the 'resource curse'? 2) What are the potential benefits of resource development (particularly oil) in Uganda? 3) What are the possible negative consequences of resource development? 4) How can the possible negative consequences be better managed to reduce their likelihood of occurrence or their impact? 5) What can be done to ensure that the potential benefits of resource development are secured, and how can they be enhanced? 6) What are the significant socio-economic and political aspects (including potential for conflict) of the context (Uganda and the Great Lakes Region) and of resource development in general and oil in particular?

We consider the different types of rent-seeking practices in emerging oil economies, and discuss how they contribute to social conflict and a local resource curse in the Albertine Graben region of Uganda. The rent-seeking activities have contributed to speculative behavior, competition for limited social services, land grabbing, land scarcity, land fragmentation, food insecurity, corruption, and ethnic polarization. Local people have interpreted the experience of the consequent social impacts as a local resource curse. The impacts have led to social conflicts among the affected communities. Our research used a range of methods, including 40 in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation, and document analysis. We argue there is an urgent need by all stakeholdersincluding local and central governments, oil companies, local communities, and civil society organizationsto address the challenges before the construction of oil infrastructure. Stakeholders must work hard to create the conditions that are needed to avoid the resource curse; otherwise, Uganda could end up suffering from the Dutch Disease and Nigerian Disease, as has befallen other African countries.

We consider the impacts of the development of oil resources (exploration and extraction) on the lives and livelihoods of people living in the Albertine Graben region of Uganda. These impacts are both positive and negative and include: employment opportunities; infrastructure development; project induced displacement and resettlement; in-migration and influx; inflation; reduction of food security; restrictions on access to fishing, firewood and herbs for cooking and medicinal purposes; inadequate compensation; land grabbing; prostitution; environmental degradation; annoyance and inconvenience; fear and anxiety; and changes to their communities, livelihoods and landscape. In-depth interviews were carried out with key informants, including with leaders at the village, parish, sub-county, and district levels in Uganda. Focus group discussions and participant observation were also used. We argue that there is need for all stakeholders – especially the government of Uganda, oil companies, the local communities, the Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom, and civil society organisations – to collaborate in order to address the deficiencies in the development of oil resources and the region, and to create the conditions needed to avoid the resource curse and associated Dutch disease and Nigerian disease, and instead to achieve a social licence to operate for oil development in the region.