Karamoja: Colonial Roots of Famine

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Periodical article

Title:	Karamoja: Colonial Roots of Famine
Author:	Mamdani, Mahmood
Year:	1982
Periodical:	Review of African Political Economy
Volume:	9
Issue:	25
Period:	September-December
Pages:	66-73
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Uganda United Kingdom
Subjects:	Karamojong colonialism environment Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
External link:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056248208703517
Abstract:	Karamoja in Uganda's north-east corner has always been regarded as a backward and troublesome area. The implication always is that it suffers from an inhospitable environment and its people follow a primitive way of life. This review of the historical evidence reveals, to the contrary, that before the colonial presence the Karamojong operated a viable system of land utilisation that left the country a 'grass savanna', where today it is burnt out bush. The deterioration of the environment in fact came about during and as a result of colonial rule and the particular forms of exploitation visited on the Karamojong. This included the alienation of grazing land; the conversion of hunting into 'poaching'; and 'de-stocking' of cattle, which was urged as the solution to the resulting overgrazing. Bibliogr., tab. For a critique by B. Gartrell, see: Rev. Afr. Polit. Econ., 1985, 33, p. 102-110. Rejoinder by Mahmood Mamdani In: Rev. Afr. Polit. Econ., 1986, 36, p. 85-92.