KAMPALA, March 11, 2025 – Most of the communities we come from still believe in their cultural norms where gender is not a consideration for any activity or ownership of property. Resources were owned and taken charge of by elderly males, boys were the heirs, yet women and girls were considered inferior and weren’t allowed to have any opinion over resource ownership, mainly land.
Communally, women perform nearly half of the agricultural labour, yet they own no land pieces. In many societies, including my own village, Nyahaira, cultural norms dictate that only male heirs inherit land, while daughters are expected to marry and benefit from their husband’s property. Ironically, these same women are considered income generators for their husbands and parents. This limits women’s ability to make decisions, rendering them economically dependent and vulnerable.
This ancient mindset still seems to be creeping into today’s generation in communities that still believe in the past. From this point, I have reasons to have my thoughts penned down, as land is more than just soil; it’s power, security, and a pathway to economic independence. Just like land, our mothers, sisters, women, and girls, too, need power, security, and that pathway where they can freely and easily manage their economic ties independently. Yet, this is still a blockage among women and girls in most societies today.
How then shall we restore the lost hope among our innocent mothers? Gender equality is the way to go. When women own land, they have better access to credit and resources, thus helping reduce poverty. In addition, granting women land rights will ensure better agricultural production, improving nutrition and food abundance for families and communities, and promoting food security.
Moreover, land rights will increase women’s bargaining power in the house and societies at large, allowing them to participate in decision-making processes, and reducing their vulnerability to gender-based violence and discrimination. When girls inherit the land like boys, it will build a generation where women will be seen as rightful landowners, resulting in a cultural shift towards gender equality.
On the other side, government programmes like the Parish Development Model (PDM) do support all people, including women and men. For instance, Agnes, a resident of Nyahaira village, started a small business of selling silverfish to earn a living from the PDM money. Some NGOs, CBOs, and media houses, such as the Oil Refinery Residents Association (ORRA) and Nature Talk Africa (NaTA), have taken good initiatives to come out and advocate, sensitize, and organise training for youth and women, teaching them their rights of land ownership.
This initiative is helping our mothers and the girl child in the Albertine (Kabaale-Buseruka) communities to firmly stand and talk about their rights over land. I, therefore, call upon the government, other non-governmental organisations, religious leaders, and cultural leaders to ensure that girls and women enjoy equal land rights through collaborations, implementing laws that favour both men and women to own property, and customary practices that favour male heirs must be changed to favour all genders.
Government and NGOs should offer legal aid and support for local women and youth activists to better understand their community rights (Laws governing Human Rights and Environment). We must ensure that land ownership is documented in women’s and girls’ names to prevent family disputes and strengthen their security.
In conclusion, women and girls deserve the same opportunities as males, and securing their rights is a fundamental step towards achieving true gender equality. Let us create a safe space for property ownership, local advocacy strategists for our youth community activists, and Environmental Human Rights Defenders (EHRDs).
========================================================================
The writer, Stephen Okwai is a Field Officer at Nature Talk Africa
Email. Stephenokwai2@gmail.com
