Land tenure security is an essential sphere for women empowerment and gender equality in concrete practical terms of enhancing women’s social situation and their use, ownership and control over resources.
Lack of secure land and environmental management exacerbate food insecurity, gender inequality, land grabbing and encroachment against women in Uganda (Musinguzi 2016). It has significantly contributed to land conflicts against women and environmental degradation.

Land tenure security is a central yet neglected area for gender equality and environmental protection as well as improving food security in the developing world (UN-HABITAT 2013). In Uganda, land is a key resource in agricultural production and yet according to Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS 2013), Women are more than half (51%) of Uganda’s population and constitute about 56% of all agricultural labor in Uganda but own less than 10% of all land in Uganda.

There is an agricultural productivity gap between men and women estimated at 10.3 percent (Uganda bureau of Statistics (UBOS 2012)). The gender productivity gap is partly due to gender gaps that exist in accessing and using land (HILL and Vigneri 2011). A large portion of women lack adequate access to quality land and when they have access, they have very limited rights to it.  Women might be able to use the land for cultivation but are unable to use it as collateral, rent it out, sell it or hold land for a long enough period to recover labor and capital investments.
Other women are unable to enforce the rights they have because they are unaware of their rights, cannot afford the required paperwork or the legal or customary authorities do not recognize them creating an environment conducive to agricultural growth and food security hinges upon prioritization of securing land rights of women (USAID 2013).

The gender structure of land rights in Uganda is highly unequal. Women’s land rights are less secure than men’s particularly for the rural women. This inequality to access to the key productive asset is a key determinant of women’s exclusion and disadvantage. Most at risk are disadvantaged women, girls and children. Women headed households that provide for children and the young are additionally constrained by insecure land tenure rights.
“Her Land Tenure” project aims to address the root causes of land tenure insecurity with a focus to improve women’s land tenure security and land rights. This will be achieved through land registration and issuance of certificates of customary ownership (CCOS). Certificate of customary ownership is a proven and evolving approach to advancing gender equality with stronger rights to land in customary settings in Uganda.