Impacts of the oil boom on the lives of people living in the Albertine Graben region of Uganda

Abstract

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 stakeholdersespecially the government of Uganda, oil companies, the local communities, the Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom, and civil society organisationsto 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.

Conceptualizing Company Response to Community Protest: Principles to Achieve a Social License to Operate

“…For example, a change to a Western diet, which usually accompanies the presence of new large projects in a region, can have grave consequences for Indigenous people's health, wellbeing, and social capital, due to the reduction in traditional food-related practices and associated social events [92]. Social impacts that are not properly managed can create serious long-term consequences for communities, including impoverishment, landlessness, homelessness, joblessness, marginalization and alienation, food insecurity, reduced health and wellbeing, loss of access to common property resources, social disarticulation, and impacts on sense of place [86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97]. Such impacts are often difficult to mitigate after they have occurred and can create irreversible long-term impacts, especially for Indigenous communities, which can, in extreme cases, arguably lead to genocide or ethnocide (the destruction of a particular culture and its way of living) [98].…”

Rent-Seeking Practices, Local Resource Curse, and Social Conflict in Uganda’s Emerging Oil Economy

“…Uganda discovered commercially viable oil deposits in 2006 [1][2][3]. Studies have revealed both positive and negative expectations from the discovery of oil in the Albertine Graben region [4][5][6][7][8].…”

“…Studies have revealed both positive and negative expectations from the discovery of oil in the Albertine Graben region [4][5][6][7][8]. Many people are expecting that oil production will contribute to increased employment opportunities, higher incomes, improved roads, and improved access to public services [3]. However, the discovery of oil has also come with negative consequences for local people, including rent seeking, social conflict, and a local resource curse, which is similar to the experiences of other oil-producing countries [3,7,[9][10][11][12].…”

“…Many people are expecting that oil production will contribute to increased employment opportunities, higher incomes, improved roads, and improved access to public services [3]. However, the discovery of oil has also come with negative consequences for local people, including rent seeking, social conflict, and a local resource curse, which is similar to the experiences of other oil-producing countries [3,7,[9][10][11][12]. Many scholars have identified that oil tends to be associated with resource curse issues, including corruption, instability, and economic underperformance [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

“…In the global South [34], especially in Uganda, the discovery of oil will not necessarily guarantee that the country will come out of poverty [35,36], particularly if dubious deals and speculative practices are not dealt with, and if strong systems are not put in place to mitigate negative outcomes and perverse behaviors. With oil developments in Uganda being poorly managed and governed [37], Uganda is likely to join the growing list of resource-cursed countries, eroding its recent achievements and potentially plunging the country into armed conflict and instability [3]. Uganda is likely to suffer from the 'Dutch Disease', which is a situation where natural resource developments negatively affect other sectors of the economy [5].…”