The Future of Smallholder Farming in Eastern Africa - Uganda ...

1.3 Statement of the problem
Land scarcity is increasingly becoming a major concern in agricultural production. The
mounting pressure on land has resulted in many land disputes, violent clashes and pending
suits in courts. It has also resulted in overexploitation of water catchments, leading to
declining river water flows and lower groundwater levels. Continuous use of the same
piece of land every year has led to declining maize crop yields over time (Figure 2). In
most cases, the decline has been caused by gradual loss of soil nutrients through erosion
and leaching, necessitating greater dependency on fertilizers, erratic weather conditions
from deforestation, and market-related constraints (MOALD, 2001, MOFP, 2001b).
Figure 2: Kenyan Maize Productivity, 1994-2000
25
Ýiels in bags per ha
20
15
10
5
0
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Source: MOALD, 2001
Sustainable crop production is important for any economy. But for this to occur,
increasing crop yields today should not be accompanied by increased environmental
degradation. It is important to evaluate the relationship between land tenure, land
productivity and the environment since a better management of land resources is good for
poverty reduction (DFID et al 2002).
Land tenure issues are increasingly becoming significant in rural development and are
emerging as the most serious agrarian issues in the 21 st century. Sensitivity to land issues
reflects the real and perceived value attached to land (FAO, 1993). In Kenya, the problem
of tenure security has increased as evidenced by many cases of illegal encroachment into
public and private land, as well as conflicts related to land.
Cases of discrimination in access to land or possession of tenure security are common.
Despite being the main agricultural producers, only 2 percent of women own land; most