Local politics of land and the restructuring of rice farming areas: a comparative study of Tanzania and Uganda

The paper presents a selection of empirical findings on land property in two rice farming areas, located in wetland ecosystems in Tanzania and Uganda. It connects a comparative appraisal of the different land policies and land law reforms in the two countries to an empirical examination of the politics of land at the local level. The consequences of large scale land transfers – and plans for transfers - on local land politics and on local structures of land properties are documented, leading on to a discussion of the empirical findings on the processes of land titling and formalisation of property rights and their reception in the rural societies affected by them. Valuation of land in rice farming areas is linked to the increase of large scale land transfers. The paper presents five conclusive points on the politics of land in Tanzania and Uganda, tracing connections between land dispossession and valuation processes.