This chapter seeks to understand how it was possible to put climate change on to the political agenda of local government as in the case in Uganda. It goes on to explore how political 'will' after the election, despite a lack of additional fiscal resources, was transformed into the enacting district environmental ordinance and the formulation and implementation of wetlands management plans. The chapter further explores how political will within local government can translate into socially inclusive and institutionally sustainable climate change adaptation. The study concludes that local government political support is important in stimulating the emergence of new local institutions capable of enforcing regulations that restrict harmful natural resource management by the local elite.
This chapter analyses the extent to which, and how, the combination of two trends are responsible for the increased tension between different land-use groups that has emerged over the past decade: climate change and the commercialization of rice cultivation. The chapter aims to examine the interactions of different institutions and enterprises and the consequences for climate change adaptation in the Awoja wetland system in Uganda. By studying the contestation among local groups over ownership of the wetlands, the chapter shows how conflicts over wetlands resources are being exacerbated by fuzzy land property rights and weak local governance institutions. Examining what roles are played by business people, local government bureaucrats and the political and economic elites of local communities shows how elite capture of weak local public wetland management institutions has accelerated the degradation of the Awoja wetland system.
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