Changing driving forces, imposed tenure regimes, and tree-cover change on village landscapes in the west mengo region of Uganda, 1890-2002

Abstract

Rapid growth in local and urban populations in Africa over the last decades of the twentieth century greatly increased demand for fuelwood, construction timber, and staple foods and drew concerns over the fate of forest and tree cover across the continent. Few places have greater pressures on land and forest resources in Africa than the densely populated West Mengo district of Uganda that borders the rapidly growing capital Kampala, in the Buganda region of the Lake Victoria basin. Recent studies have shown and clarified why forest cover in West Mengo remained largely stable through much of the colonial era, under increasing market and population pressures. There is evidence, but little understanding, that tree cover on lands used for perennial cropping (coffee and banana) has gradually increased over the same period, despite the extreme pressures. This chapter argues that treecover growth resulting from increased intensity of agroforestry is explained by the interplay of markets and land tenure and important shifts in those factors over the study period.