Paper short abstract:

This paper analyses the changing relations between domestic sugar companies and local populations, as a result, new actors entering the sugar sector in Uganda.

Paper long abstract:

Large-scale sugar production is old in Uganda, with the first sugar mills being set up in the 1930s. The industry has for a long time been dominated by a few large domestic business conglomerates, owned by Ugandan-Asian business families. These large sugar plantations have built whole communities around the mills, creating long-term relations with the local populations, through employment, outgrower schemes and provision of social services for the surrounding communities. However, the last decade has seen an influx of new actors in the sector, challenging these relations. Farmers and other actors within the local population are responding to these changes in different ways, some seeing possibilities of a better deal for themselves in relation to the sugar estates, others being fearful of losing the stability in the existing relations. The changes in the sector are made possible partly due to external factors and partly due to the government taking a less protective role in relation to the large sugar estates than before. This paper analyses these changing relations through a political economy lens, focusing on the relations between investors, local populations and ruling elites with the overarching aim of illuminating the challenges and opportunities of domestic investors in a changing policy landscape.