Navigating the Enigmas of Unregulated Nomadic Pastoralism on Peasant Farmer Communities

Résumé

This study investigated the profound implications of the roaming pastoral practices of the Balaalo on peasant farming communities in Northern Uganda, particularly the disruptions resulting from their free-range nomadic lifestyles. Employing a qualitative research design, data were collected through questionnaires and subsequently analysed using MAXQDA’s auto-coding, sentiment, and text-based analytical tools. The target population comprised 600 individuals across affected communities, with 400 participants ultimately completing the study. The reduced participation was largely attributed to the contextual challenges of unregulated pastoralism: seasonal cattle movements and recurrent land conflicts caused widespread displacement, insecurity, and mobility, which hindered consistent engagement. Furthermore, subsistence farmers often prioritised urgent survival activities over research commitments, making the final sample both realistic and representative of community realities. Findings reveal that loosely regulated mobile pastoralism exerts a significant strain on agrarian livelihoods. The Balaalo’s patterns of land encroachment and the destruction of farmlands have intensified tensions across the Acoli, Lango, and Madi subregions, with a high potential for replication in other parts of Uganda if left unaddressed. The study underscores the structural consequences of nomadic incursions, including disruption of local farming systems, heightened food insecurity, and increasing vulnerability among subsistence households. These dynamics highlight the urgent need for effective policy interventions to balance pastoral mobility with agrarian land rights. The study acknowledges certain limitations. Because the analysis draws on case studies within four districts, the findings cannot fully capture the breadth of livelihood adjustments or the nuanced belief systems of all affected communities. Nonetheless, the research provides valuable insights into ongoing structural transformations in northern Uganda. This work makes three critical contributions: first, it demonstrates the long-term consequences of unregulated pastoral mobility on smallholder farming systems; second, it highlights the formation of alternative and adaptive livelihood strategies within contested rangelands; and third, it situates these processes within broader debates on poverty reduction and vulnerability mitigation in pastoral–agrarian interfaces. By foregrounding the lived realities of farmers confronting the pressures of roaming pastoralism, the study advances both scholarly and policy dialogues on land use, livelihood security, and sustainable coexistence in Uganda and beyond.