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The Failing Aid Complex in Uganda’s Northeast

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  • 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
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jørgen Juel Andersen & Niels Johannesen & Bob Rijkers, 2022. "Elite Capture of Foreign Aid: Evidence from Offshore Bank Accounts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 130(2), pages 388-425.
    2. Sabates-Wheeler, Rachel & Lind, Jeremy & Hoddinott, John, 2013. "Implementing Social Protection in Agro-pastoralist and Pastoralist Areas: How Local Distribution Structures Moderate PSNP Outcomes in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1-12.
    3. Ian Scoones, 1995. "Investigating Difference: Applications of Wealth Ranking and Household Survey Approaches among Farming Households in Southern Zimbabwe," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 26(1), pages 67-88, January.
    4. Pablo Yanguas, 2017. "The Role and Responsibility of Foreign Aid in Recipient Political Settlements," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 211-228, March.
    5. Hickey, Sam, 2013. "Beyond the Poverty Agenda? Insights from the New Politics of Development in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 194-206.
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