Livelihood and Food Security of Vulnerable People with Limited or no Land in Northern Rwanda: A Land Use Consolidation Programme analysis

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to investigate the effects of the Land Use Consolidation (LUC) programme on livelihood and food security of vulnerable local communities with limited or no land. It analyzed the experiences of vulnerable local communities and food security during implementation. It investigated the role of farming cooperatives with a focus on agricultural production and price fluctuation, access to credit, land rental market and social integration. The study identified two categories of vulnerable local people in the LUC programme. First, there are local communities with limited land who were in the LUC programme as their land was selected as suitable sites for the LUC programme. Secondly, there are people with no land who farm for other farmers or who have joined farming associations or cooperatives. The study also identified two different geographical areas, the low and high land. In the LUC programme, vulnerable local communities with limited land faced food insecurity in case all land is within the LUC programme. In contrary, those whose land is not in the selected sites for the LUC programme may have the opportunity to farm other than non-selected crops and feed their families.