Rethinking rural development from a smallholders’ perspective : how has the commercialization of sugar impacted on rural livelihoods in Hoima, Uganda?

Abstract

Over the years, the Ugandan government has continually promoted agricultural commercialization as a means to become a middle-income economy by 2020. In 2012, the current president himself made a remark that if all the 40 million acres of arable land was put to full potential, everyone will be richer. Sugar commercial agribusiness in a form of contract farming has been praised as one of the topmost ways to achieve that. Analyzing it from a historical and contemporary perspective, this research examines how the neoliberal state sponsored capitalism has ensued the surgency of large and medium sugar corporations unto Uganda’s countryside. The findings presented in this study seek to illuminate how social relations have been remade through sugar contract farming agribusiness and what impact (in form of change) it has had on rural livelihoods in terms of socio-economic, labour and land relations. The center space for this research took place in Kijayo, Kiswaza and other neighbouring villages of Muziranduru like Kikuuba, all found in Kizirafumbi sub-county, in a newly formed district of Kikuube, which was originally part of Hoima district. Generally, this research tries to show that although sugar contract farming business in Hoima region might provide employment, ready sugar markets and increase (some) rural outgrowers incomes; it is powered by an agro-extractivist industry that purely thrives on exploiting the social, labour, land and ecological relations to gain bigger profits. Drawing from the critical development studies, this research is based upon a qualitative research methodology which aims at bringing up neglected voices of outgrowers and internally displaced people of Kijayo while examining their experiences and or challenges resulting from their integration within the circuits of sugar commercialization.