ESAFF Uganda is set to bring its 6th Land Camp to Apac District from August 19 to 21, with the initiative focusing on helping customary landholders understand, protect and begin documenting their land rights.
The Apac Land Camp 2026 will be held at Boma Grounds, Mayor’s Garden, and is being organised through ESAFF Uganda’s Land Rights Support Centre under the Cultivating Change on a Warming World project.
The initiative is supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and is being conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development (MLHUD).
For communities in Apac where customary land remains important to rural livelihoods, the three-day programme is intended to address challenges around land tenure insecurity, disputes and limited access to documentation.
Many households in the area continue to hold land without formal documentation, according to the information provided by the organisers.
The lack of documentation can leave families vulnerable to boundary disputes, inheritance conflicts, land grabbing and possible dispossession, with women, widows, orphans and other vulnerable groups specifically identified as facing these risks.
The situation is also linked to limited knowledge of land laws, the cost of documentation and inadequate access to land administration services.
Rather than limiting the programme to legal sensitisation, ESAFF Uganda plans to connect information with practical assistance through a new self-financing land documentation model.
Under the model, interested households will contribute towards the costs of surveying, demarcation and documentation as they begin pursuing Certificates of Customary Ownership.
ESAFF Uganda aims to identify, register and support at least 500 households in Apac District to begin the Certificate of Customary Ownership application process through the model.
The initiative is intended to give participating households greater ownership of the documentation process while providing a practical pathway towards securing customary land.
The programme will also involve the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development through Land Information System viewing, allowing citizens to search and verify land title information.
Other activities will include mass legal awareness sessions covering land rights, registration, dispute resolution and natural resource governance.
Participants will also have access to free legal aid through one-on-one consultations, case screening, mediation and referrals.
The programme will extend beyond land documentation, with women’s shelter and psychosocial support, including counselling and referrals, also planned.
Health and wellbeing services will include blood testing and voluntary blood donation in partnership with Apac Referral Hospital.
The camp will additionally address natural resource governance as communities consider their rights and responsibilities around wetlands, forests and other natural resources.
The Land Camp builds on ESAFF Uganda’s existing community-based land rights work through its Land Rights Support Centre.
The organisation’s Land Camps combine legal education, paralegal support, dispute mediation and practical registration assistance at community level.
Between 2022 and 2025, ESAFF Uganda’s land rights interventions reached 742 citizens with legal aid services and provided land rights information to more than 22,800 farmers.
During the same period, the organisation supported 20 women-led households to pursue Certificates of Customary Ownership.
The upcoming camp therefore places land documentation alongside legal awareness and access to justice, particularly for small-scale farmers and vulnerable groups.
The Resident District Commissioner for Apac District, Onyuk Andrew, has also emphasised the broader significance of land, describing it in terms of its economic, social, historical and intergenerational value.
He stressed the importance of transparent, sensitive and accountable land management and cautioned against treating possession as automatically equivalent to ownership.
The organisers have also highlighted the distinction between land rights and land wrongs, particularly in circumstances where registration processes could potentially be exploited by powerful or well-connected individuals.
Stella Rose Akutui, Programs Officer, Policy & Research at ESAFF Uganda, said the focus of the initiative is to move communities beyond simply understanding their rights.
“Land rights are about having the knowledge, support and practical means to protect the land on which our families and livelihoods depend. Through the 6th Land Camp, we want communities to move from awareness to action by supporting households to begin securing their customary land through documentation.”
The emphasis on women and other vulnerable groups also gives the programme a wider social dimension, as access to secure land can affect inheritance, livelihoods and the ability of households to maintain control over productive resources.
For small-scale farmers, the organisers say the broader objective is to promote equitable access to and control over productive resources while encouraging inclusive governance and sustainable management of land and natural resources.
The 6th Land Camp is scheduled for August 19–21 at Boma Grounds, Mayor’s Garden, in Apac District.
During the event, ESAFF Uganda plans to launch the self-financing land documentation model and begin identifying and registering households interested in pursuing Certificates of Customary Ownership.
The organisers have set a target of at least 500 households to begin the CCO application process through the model.
Small-scale farmers, community members, local leaders, land actors, government institutions, development partners and members of the media have been invited to engage with the programme.
The supplied information does not confirm the amount households will contribute towards documentation, the total number of Certificates of Customary Ownership that will eventually be issued, or whether all 500 targeted households will complete the application process.
The Apac Land Camp 2026 therefore arrives with a focus on turning land rights knowledge into practical steps, bringing legal support, land information and documentation assistance closer to communities whose livelihoods depend on customary land.
