About the project
The Wadelai Irrigation Scheme is one of the four irrigation schemes under the African Development Banks’ Farm Income Enhancement and Forestry Conservation Project (FIEFOC-2). The project intends to improve household incomes, food security, and climate resilience through sustainable natural resources management and agricultural enterprise development. The project is estimated to cost approximately USD 91.7 million from the African Development Bank (USD 76.7 million), the Nordic Development Fund (USD 5.9 million) and the Government of Uganda (USD 9.1 million).
About the community-led struggle
In October 2021, a group of representatives from the Paten clan raised a complaint with the Independent Recourse Mechanism (IRM) of the African Development Bank. Several local and international organizations supported the community in the complaint and the related advocacy efforts, including Buliisa Initiative for Rural Development Organization (BIRUDO), the Uganda Consortium on Corporate Accountability (UCCA), the International Accountability Project (IAP), and the Coalition for Human Rights in Development.
In the complaint, the community raised concerns around limited consultations by the project team, retaliation against community members who voiced their concerns, and restricted access to community lands, which resulted in loss of livelihoods.
Another key concern is also related to land-grabbing. In the initial consultations the authorities demanded an area of 365 acres. Later on, however, the community found out the authorities had assigned to the project 365 hectares (corresponding to 902 acres).
Attempts to raise their concerns were met with violence. Community members have reported shooting, harassment, and unlawful arrests by government security forces. In August 2021, as reported by the journalist Sofi Lundin who traveled to the Pakwach District to meet with the affected community, security forces attacked people, including pregnant women, with tear gas and gunfire.
In parallel, apart from the IRM complaint process, the community has also engaged in a series of negotiations at the local level.
Further resources
- “A step towards justice: AfDB accountability mechanism’s report confirms human rights violations in two projects in Uganda“
- “Heard at last: Project suspended for a community in Uganda to negotiate with government and investors” (By John Mwebe)
- Human Rights Violations in Development Project in Uganda (translation by Kios of an article by Sofi Lundin)
- Human rights violations in the AfDB-funded LEAF project