They came from forests, coastlines, grazing territories, and farmlands. In total, 45 women from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and communities across DRC, South Africa, and Zimbabwe gathered in Limuru, Kenya, for the East Africa Land and Climate Justice Convergence. Through plenaries and group discussions, storytelling, drawings and celebrations, they shared stories of trauma, injustice and despair. But they also told stories of resilience, movement building and leadership in the fight against land dispossession and big extractive projects. Each discussion reinforced that protecting the commons through collective stewardship is a powerful alternative to the current development model that encloses, destroys and dispossesses people and the environment.

A central theme throughout the convergence was the role of indigenous knowledge systems in the protection and care of communal land. The women participants shared various examples of governance practices that enable balance between human and non-human life, resolving conflicts, and sustained territories across generations.

Identifying the patterns across struggles

The women were very clear about the struggles they faced and could name the forces behind them. Across all the countries represented, women identified the same patterns: government gazette communal land and other resources, corporations move in, laws are poorly enforced, and Indigenous voices are pushed out. In this process, women suffer the most. They suffer twice — they lose land, and they carry the burden of survival when food, water, and dignity disappear.

Participants pointed to problems within their communal governance, which often grants women little to no control of the communal resources even though women are the primary users and the most consistent stewards of these resources. Alongside privatisation, male dominating structures in the governing systems of the commons continue to undermine women’s rights, agency and leadership.

Despite enclosure and violence, communities keep holding each other. In Namakwaland, South Africa, women organise protests against mining related dispossession. In Loliondo, Tanzania, a union of 50 women is taking land cases to the African Court in Arusha. In Kenya, the Ogiek fought 17 years through domestic courts until the African Court ordered reparations in 2022. In each of these iconic struggles, and many others across the continent, women are at the centre of the evidence, the advocacy, and the resistance.

“Protecting land means protecting life”

The convergence was not an end. It was a vessel to bring women together to deepen analysis and understanding of the struggles of the commons as well as to identify collective action. And the women planned – they spoke of the need for cross-country radical solidarity, mental health support programs for the women in the frontline of the resistance, political and leadership development trainings, and support for strategic litigation as tools to enhance the struggle.

While the convergence is over, the struggle is not. As one participant said: “Maybe the biggest thing we found here is each other. We are not just fighting for land. We are fighting for a way of living where no one is left behind.”

Because as women from Turkana reminded us: “No land, no life. Protecting land means protecting life.”

The graphic documentation shown throughout this article was developed in collaboration with Kenyan artist, MariaStella Kamuti. Each piece offers visual representation of the daily critical conversations and knowledge-sharing that took place throughout the convergence. They also serve as important popular education tools as we cultivate and expland the Land Commons and Care thematic area of work in East Africa and across the continent.

Source: Womin.africa

As climate change impacts various parts of the globe, Kasese District in South-Western Uganda serves as a stark example of environmental vulnerability. Global warming has accelerated the melting of glaciers in the Rwenzori Mountains. Satellite data from scientific monitoring groups reveals a striking 30% reduction in ice surface area between 2020 and 2024.

For the farming communities of Munkunyu Sub-county, this environmental challenge has created a complex crisis. The altered landscape has heightened resource competition between local Bakonzo crop farmers and Basongora cattle keepers from neighbouring Nyakatonzi Sub-county, as both communities navigate severe strains put on nature and land.

Why the land crisis is growing

Before diving deeper into the unfolding situation on the ground, it is critical to understand the primary triggers forcing these communities into confrontation:

The Glacial Melt: A 30% loss of Rwenzori ice cover in just four years is drastically altering local river volumes and weather predictability.

The Climate Double-Whammy: Farmers and pastoralists are trapped in a punishing cycle of back-to-back disasters, first catastrophic flash floods, immediately followed by extreme dry spells that leave no grass for livestock or food for households.

How floods and hungry cattle sparked a quiet war

Just eight months ago, Munkunyu’s farming families faced severe flash floods that wiped out their entire agricultural investments. In the wake of these disasters, herdsmen seeking surviving pastures moved their cattle directly into the cultivation zones. Farmers report that on 30 May 2026, livestock grazed across 217 hectares of food crops. This created immense economic and psychological strain for hundreds of households already struggling with food insecurity and school fee obligations.

Wide acres of local farmland left bare and ruined after hungry cows moved into cultivation zones to eat growing food crops. (Photo Credit: KYL)

Matsiko Loyce, a local councillor and farmer, outlines the collective weight of losing both crops and land resources:

“In October last year, we lost our crops to floods. As we began to recover with hopes of feeding our families, livestock grazed on our remaining income. It is a deeply distressing situation.”

Local herds of cattle walk through agricultural fields, destroying the remaining green crops. (Photo Credit: KYL)

The escalating pressure soon led to physical friction. When local youths attempted to block cattle from entering the remaining fields, a violent altercation broke out. Matsiko emphasises the critical need for peaceful intervention:

“Two young men trying to protect the crops were injured during the confrontation. The matter has been formally reported to the police to ensure a peaceful, lawful resolution.”

The broken 15 million shilling compensation deal

Following local mediation efforts, the pastoralists initially agreed to a compensation package of 15 million Ugandan Shillings (approx. $4,110 USD) for the 150 hectares of ruined crops.

However, the agreement faced a major setback when the June 12 deadline arrived. The pastoralists shifted their position, offering to pay only 5 million shillings (approx. $1,370 USD) with no clear assurance of whether or when the remaining 10 million shilling balance (approx. $2,740 USD) would be paid. The farmers reportedly refused this reduced offer, demanding the full fulfillment of the original 15 million shilling agreement. According to human rights defenders monitoring the situation, this delay has severely fractured community trust.

A history of lost grazing land

This resource competition is deeply linked to historical migration patterns. The Basongora are an ancient pastoralist community whose traditional lifestyle was disrupted between 1925 and 1954. During this time, colonial administrations gazetted over 90% of their ancestral grazing lands to establish Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Displaced and hit by a devastating rinderpest epidemic in 1931, many Basongora crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) before returning to Kasese in subsequent decades. Concurrently, the Bakonzo have long cultivated food and cash crops in lowlands like Nyakatonzi and Munkunyu. While these groups have maintained a delicate coexistence for decades, accelerating climate change has disrupted that balance, renewing historical anxieties over land access.

Bakonzo and Basongora elders convene near the boundary of Queen Elizabeth National Park to initiate a collaborative resource-sharing framework aimed at preventing future land disputes. (Photo Credit: KYL)

Choosing to survive together over fighting

Kato Ronald, the Executive Director of Kasese Youth Link and a human rights defender, appeals for structured mediation over conflict:

“Both the livestock and the human populations require sustenance. There is an urgent need to resolve this climate-induced conflict through a framework that ensures human security.”

Local leaders call for dialogue

As the conflict drags on, local leaders are calling for restorative justice rather than increased criminalisation to prevent further escalation. Mr. Ndyoka Isaac Kabunzu, the LCIII Chairperson for Munkunyu Sub-county, noted that recent arrests

have only heightened anxieties.

“These developments have increased community tension. Any individuals held without sufficient evidence should be released. Sustainable peace requires structural intervention over criminalisation.”

Kabunzu strongly advocated for a transparent judicial review, urging district leaders, security agencies, cultural institutions, and all stakeholders to immediately convene a dialogue aimed at addressing the root causes.

While the air in Munkunyu remains tense as communities await a resolution to the compensation agreement, the path forward relies on restoring mutual trust, establishing green compensation frameworks, and choosing joint survival over resource division.

Source: Peace Journalism Foundation East Africa

By the Witness Radio team.

NAIROBI, Kenya: As governments across East and the Horn of Africa accelerate efforts to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, experts have warned that the shift could deepen inequality and further trigger human rights violations if affected communities are excluded from decision-making processes.

The warning came at the 5th East and Horn of Africa Business and Human Rights Conference in Nairobi, organized by Danchurch Aid and its partners. Climate justice advocates, business leaders, and human rights experts met to discuss how the increasing investments could better align with human rights standards and responsible business conduct.

Just transition was among the key issues discussed during the two-day conference held last week, with experts emphasizing the need for inclusive approaches as East Africa attracts growing investments in renewable energy.

While there is a need and an urgency to address climate change, experts argue that the global race toward clean energy is already producing unintended consequences elsewhere, offering important lessons for Africa.

“The transition to renewable energy is inevitable, whereas justice isn’t,” Mr. Andrew Byaruhanga, the Executive Director of Resource Rights Africa, said during a panel discussion on just transition pathways.

Byaruhanga said governments and investors risk prioritizing energy targets and financial returns over the rights and welfare of communities whose land and livelihoods are affected by transition-related projects.

“The finance sector must be mobilized, not just for returns, but also for impact. Public and private sectors must align their efforts, share risks, and invest in long-term partnerships. The success of this transition, therefore, depends on empowering those most affected. Governments have a role to play in making sure that the financing architecture takes cognizance of these realities,” he added.

His remarks reflected growing concerns that renewable energy projects, despite their climate benefits, can reproduce the same patterns of exclusion and dispossession that have historically accompanied large-scale development projects.

Across the world, communities are increasingly raising concerns about land acquisition, displacement, inadequate compensation, and restrictions on civic space linked to renewable energy infrastructure and critical mineral extraction.

A recent report by the Coalition for Human Rights in Development, Financing the Transition, Silencing Defenders, documented cases across Asia where communities and environmental defenders faced intimidation, arrests, displacement, and violence while opposing energy transition projects.

Among the cases highlighted was the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project in the Philippines, where Indigenous Tumandok communities reportedly faced inadequate consultations and displacement threats linked to the construction of a hydropower dam. In India’s Assam state, local communities opposed a major solar project over concerns that it would displace more than 20,000 Indigenous residents and threaten traditional livelihoods.

Although the cases occurred outside Africa, experts in Nairobi said similar risks are emerging across the continent as governments pursue investments in renewable energy, carbon markets, and climate-related infrastructure.

Florence Shako, Executive Director of the Center for Education Policy and Climate Justice, said the transition must not come at the expense of vulnerable communities.

“We can talk about decarbonization and the fact that it’s important to transition, but we must really think about what inclusivity means for the youth, for persons with disabilities, and for people in the Global South,” she said.

Shako noted that many affected communities lack access to information, legal representation, and affordable mechanisms for seeking justice when their rights are violated. She also warned that transition projects often fail to provide alternatives for people who lose land, jobs, or sources of income.

“We need to think about replacement livelihoods and access to remedies. Otherwise, communities will continue bearing the costs while others reap the benefits.” She added.

The conference also highlighted concerns about youth exclusion from transition discussions.

According to Eric Baeni, Coordinator of the Pan African Youth Alliance on Business and Human Rights (PAYA-BHR), unemployment remains one of the biggest barriers preventing young people from engaging with climate and transition agendas.

“We are the workforce of the continent, but we are unemployed. Unemployment is the key challenge that prevents many young people from understanding and participating in the just transition.” He said.

He called for deliberate efforts to involve young people in policy discussions and ensure they benefit from employment opportunities created by emerging green industries.

The concerns raised in Nairobi come at a time when African governments are under increasing pressure to pursue low-carbon development pathways while tackling poverty, unemployment, and climate vulnerability. African countries emit only a small fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions, but are among the most vulnerable to climate-related disasters such as droughts, floods, and food insecurity.

Experts further argued that this reality requires transition strategies that prioritize local development needs rather than simply replicating models designed elsewhere.

As the conference concluded, experts called for stronger protections for human rights defenders, meaningful community participation, accessible grievance mechanisms, and investment frameworks that place affected communities at the center of decision-making.

They also urged governments to strengthen safeguards around land rights, free, prior, and informed consent, and benefit-sharing arrangements before approving major transition-related projects.