5 - Joint Ownership of family land in Uganda: Examining the responses, challenges and policy implications

Abstract

Many widows and orphans in get dispossessed of family land after the death of the head of
household, but this could be countered by registered joint ownership of the land. Based on a
study of two districts in Uganda, this paper examines the local responses, challenges and policy
implications of joint ownership. Over 260 households, and a variety of key informants, were
interviewed. The majority of respondents, especially women, agreed that joint ownership of
family land is useful, arguing that it provides family security and enhances marital stability.
Those who opposed joint ownership argued that marriage itself is unstable, and there is no
trust between the spouses. In practice however, the family land is mostly male-owned. Most
households do not have any ownership documents, and this is a challenge because joint ownership
needs to be registered in order to be legally binding. The growing commercialization of land
is also a challenge since it makes individual ownership more preferable. Joint ownership lacks
strong support among both men and women, it is constrained by cultural beliefs and practices,
and the institution of marriage in which it is anchored is getting weaker. Therefore in order to
be effective, any policies and strategies for securing the interests of the family members in the
family land must take account of these challenges.