Title Post-Conflict Soil Recovery and Food Security in Northern Uganda: Long-Term Land-Use Consequences of Armed Conflict in the Acholi Sub-Region
Author(s) Victorious Naggayi
Affiliation Wabyoona Investments Limited
Country Uganda
Contribution type case study; empirical study; community-based evidence).
Thematic area • War and Soil Systems• War and Freshwater Systems• War and Land-Use Systems
Conference framework connection • Analytical Track AT-01 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-02 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-03 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-04 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-05 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-06 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-07 — provisional title to be defined
Abstract Northern Uganda’s Acholi sub-region experienced prolonged armed conflict that deeply disrupted rural settlement, agricultural production, and land-use continuity. Although post-conflict recovery has often been assessed through resettlement, infrastructure restoration, and humanitarian return, less attention has been given to the ecological condition of the land to which communities returned. This paper examines the long-term consequences of conflict for soil recovery and food security in smallholder farming landscapes, with particular attention to districts such as Gulu and surrounding areas formerly affected by displacement, military presence, and disrupted cultivation cycles.The study focuses on three interrelated processes: degradation of topsoil fertility following prolonged disturbance and abandonment; possible localized contamination associated with former military encampments and conflict-related land use; and the difficulty of restoring productive farming systems after years of displacement, fallow disruption, and loss of agricultural continuity. Rather than treating post-conflict food insecurity only as an economic or humanitarian problem, the paper frames it as a land-use and soil-system problem shaped by the environmental afterlife of war.By combining available soil-condition observations, local farming challenges, and community-based evidence, the presentation proposes a framework for targeted soil rehabilitation in post-conflict agricultural landscapes. The framework emphasizes localized soil assessment, farmer knowledge, low-cost restoration measures, and land-use planning that recognizes war-related ecological legacies. The case of Northern Uganda contributes to the wider conference discussion by showing how conflict can continue to affect health and food security long after direct violence has ended.
Key points ● Post-conflict recovery in Northern Uganda cannot be understood only through population return; it also depends on the ecological recovery of agricultural land.● Soil degradation, disrupted cultivation cycles, and possible localized contamination may continue to constrain food security years after armed conflict.● Community-based soil rehabilitation can become a practical bridge between environmental recovery, land-use planning, and rural health protection.
Keywords Northern Uganda; Acholi Sub-Region; Post-Conflict Soil Recovery; Land-Use Systems; Food Security; Smallholder Farming; War-Related Environmental Legacy
Main discussion question How should post-conflict recovery programmes integrate soil assessment and land rehabilitation into food-security planning for rural communities returning to formerly disrupted agricultural landscapes?
OJS publication link https://pollution-diseases-ojs.org/index.php/pd/article/view/41
Note. Analytical TracksIn addition to the main thematic areas, the conference programme will include several cross-cutting analytical tracks. These tracks will be defined during the preparation of the programme, based on the submitted abstracts and the emerging links between presentations.At the preliminary stage, abstracts may be assigned to provisional analytical tracks marked as AT-01 to AT-07. Final track titles will be announced after the Scientific Committee has reviewed the submitted materials.