IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/eurjdr/v36y2024i6d10.1057_s41287-024-00651-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Failing Aid Complex in Uganda’s Northeast

Author

Listed:
  • Matteo Caravani

    (Tufts University)

Abstract

Every year about thirty billion dollars are spent on aid across Africa, yet recurrent crises followed by a blame game amongst different actors, and a poor understanding of the failures encountered, result in ambiguous assessments and unclear paths for reforms. Through the extended case study of the village of Lojom, this article examines the historical unfolding of a failing aid system in the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda. The article traces a nexus between the agrarian crisis, the protracted humanitarian regime and social protection, in a regional context of structural underdevelopment. It argues that at the core of failing aid in Karamoja lies a manufactured agrarian crisis that dates back to colonial times. The article concludes that if aid policies and programmes remain inscribed in an enduring agrarian crisis, they will only continue to exacerbate exploitative dynamics of patronage, clientelism and subversion that characterize what is called here “the failing aid complex”.

Suggested Citation

  • Matteo Caravani, 2024. "The Failing Aid Complex in Uganda’s Northeast," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 36(6), pages 1573-1592, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:36:y:2024:i:6:d:10.1057_s41287-024-00651-y
    DOI: 10.1057/s41287-024-00651-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41287-024-00651-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41287-024-00651-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:36:y:2024:i:6:d:10.1057_s41287-024-00651-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.