Rural Women To Lead Call For Secure Land Rights at the Upcoming Women in Agriculture (WiA) Conference

ESAFF Uganda in collaboration with partners, will host the 7th Women in Agriculture (WiA) Conference from 9th–10th December 2025, in Gulu City.This year’s conference will convene rural women farmers, policymakers, youth leaders, civil society, and development partners to confront two interconnected challenges: insecure land rights and the rising cases of gender-based violence (GBV). These persistent barriers continue to undermine women’s empowerment and limit their full participation in agriculture and community leadership.

Rooted in the lived realities of Uganda’s rural women, the 2025 theme: “Empowering Women Small-Scale farmers for Secured Land Rights”, underscores the urgency of protecting women’s access to productive resources. The event also aligns with the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence.

Since 2019, ESAFF Uganda has used the WiA Conference to champion the voices of women in agriculture, building a respected platform for advocacy and collective action. Over the years, WiA has reached more than 5,000 women farmers and informed key national processes, including the National Agroecology Strategy, dialogues on Land Policy implementation, and increased women’s participation in local land governance. But despite these achievements, structural barriers persist that continue to limit women’s ownership, agency, and protection.

Despite contributing over 70% of Uganda’s agricultural labour force, women remain largely excluded from land ownership. Recent UBOS data shows that only 16% of women hold land titles, leaving many without decision-making power and vulnerable to economic and emotional abuse, forced evictions, inheritance conflicts, and other forms of GBV. The 7th WiA Conference therefore seeks to enhance women’s knowledge of land rights, GBV, and digital safety; creating inclusive spaces for experience sharing; and co-developing solutions that advance gender-responsive land governance. The conference will also push for stronger integration of resource-based and digital GBV prevention in national policy frameworks.

“When women don’t have secure rights to the land they depend on, they become more vulnerable to violence and have less power to make decisions for themselves and their families. With this 7th edition, we are working to change that reality by amplifying the voices of women, who have carried these injustices for generations,” - Nancy Mugimba, National Coordinator for ESAFF Uganda.

Masudio Magaret, a small-scale farmer from Adjumani District and Chairperson of the ESAFF Women Forum, stresses that securing land rights for women is fundamental to food security and household well-being. She explains that it is women who determine what families eat, what they wear, how children are educated, and many other central aspects of daily life in the home; hence, empowering them is essential for building stronger, healthier, and more resilient communities.

“Women shape what our families eat, how our children grow, and how our homes survive. When you secure a woman’s land rights, you secure the future of an entire household,” Masudio adds.

Christine Okot, a widowed farmer from Gulu district, recalls nearly losing her husband’s land to in-laws after his death. “A woman can work the land for years, but when conflict comes, she is the first to be pushed aside. We need laws that don’t just exist on paper but protect us in our everyday lives.” She notes.

Through dialogues, Campfire Storytelling, and a Tech Corner, the conference will ensure that marginalized and post-conflict communities are not just represented but central to shaping solutions that secure land rights, prevent violence, and influence policy.

ESAFF Uganda will organize the Women in Agriculture Conference alongside a women's shelter boot camp. Women leaders, guests and panelists will gather to discuss main issues affecting women, responding to community conference and camp fire recommendations, and the documentation of women’s success stories in agriculture. The boot camp will focus on the provision of psychosocial and legal support to victims of GBV.

Additionally, five Community Women in Agriculture Conferences across different regions. These decentralized gatherings will explore localized experiences of GBV, especially those stemming from land disputes and resource access inequalities. Women will engage in peer-to-peer learning, share coping strategies, and prepare district reports to be presented at the national conference.

Other activities include:

• A media campaign during the 16 Days of Activism, using radio, community forums, and social media to raise awareness on women’s land rights and GBV.

• Storytelling Campfire. Women small-scale farmers will "sit by the fire and tell it all", stories of their resilience, experiences on GBV, strengthening women-farmer networks for mentorship, market linkages, and collective advocacy.

The Women in Agriculture Conference will develop 5 minimum demands and a declaration that will be presented to the Ministry of Gender, labour and social development and the Ministry of lands housing and Urban development. This year’s WIA Conference will serve as a vital link between rural women and the systems designed to protect them. It will amplify their voices to drive policy reforms on land rights, stop GBV, and promote a fairer agricultural sector for all.