MOUs signed by UAE government include a 2,500 ha SEZ zone with Uganda for large-scale agricultural development and another with Al Dahra Holding for collaboration on the implementation of the National Strategy for Future Food Security.

The 2,500 hectare free zone will allow private companies from the UAE to invest in agricultural production and development in Uganda.

During the first ever feminist school in Uganda, the Rural Women’s Movement underlined that land is central to people’s identity, livelihoods and food security.

The Uganda government began handing over tracts of land for palm-oil production to Wilmar International Ltd.’s local unit, removing the final hurdle for an expansion project that’s been delayed for almost a decade.

Since 2006, a section of conservationists have been opposed to the Kalangala Oil Palm project as was the case with the BIDCO Buvuma project saying it is a big threat to the environment.

Payoff follows mediation by the dispute resolution office of the World Bank’s IFC but of the 36 farmers who were compensated, eight later rejected the deal and are expected to take their case to court this month

About 5,000 residents in the Island district of Buvuma have rejected a government proposal to compensate them for their land to pave way for oil palm growing for Bidco Uganda, claiming their property was undervalued.

An increase in land grabbing in Uganda has pushed Slow Food to launch a campaign against it

The company plans to spend $300 million over the next five years, mostly on increasing processing and production, as well as expanding into farming in Africa, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, Dhawan said.

The struggle for land in northern Uganda has been going on for a decade but has taken a violent turn recently. The government is currently trying to amend the constitution so that it can acquire land quickly in cases where compensation is disputed.

"We currently manage over 50 000 acres of agricultural land in East Africa and are growing over 20 different crops."

L’objectif est de mettre sur pied des projets d’agriculture et d’élevage.