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Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
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generate enough food to sell and eventually, to no longer require humanitarian assistance or
food rations (the latter of which are reduced after four or five years67).
But in practice, very few refugees achieve this degree of self-sufficiency, and many still must
rely on aid. Livelihoods strategies in rural settlements are constrained by a number of factors.
The small land plots allocated to refugees place limits on the quantity of food they can
cultivate, with refugees looking to expand their plots resorting to grouping their land together
with other refugees, or informally renting or inheriting land from other refugees.68 Recent cuts
to the size of land plots place further pressure on refugees. In turn, the quality of the land may
be low, with soil exhaustion arising from an inability to rotate crops on their small plots of
land and environmental conditions like rainfall affecting productivity and food security.69
Refugees may also lack the expertise or resources to successfully cultivate and sell crops: for
example, many South Sudanese refugees are pastoralists, rather than crop farmers. This lack
of expertise can manifest itself in lower crop yields, unsustainable use of land, worse grain
quality, and lower grain prices.70
In turn, there are limited opportunities for paid employment or establishing businesses in
settlements or host communities, which prevent refugees from pursuing additional forms of
income.71 This is compounded by both the remote location of rural settlements, and, at least in
theory, the restrictions on freedom of movement. Refugee entrepreneurship in settlements is
also constrained by factors like the limited expendable income of most refugees, and a lack of
microcredit available to purchase land or equipment to establish businesses. For example, a
2014 study of Nakivale settlement in west Uganda found that while refugees could access
livelihoods training in topics like tailoring or computer skills, they could rarely access or
purchase the equipment that would enable them to pursue employment or entrepreneurship
in these sectors.72
Barriers to livelihoods in urban areas
While refugees report having more livelihood opportunities in urban areas than in
settlements, they can nevertheless encounter a number of barriers to finding decent work.73
Many refugees avoid the highly-regulated formal economy and instead work in low-paid, low-
skilled jobs in Uganda’s substantial informal sector.74 One example of a barrier to formal
employment is Kampala City Council’s requirement that street vendors hold a license to sell
goods or else risk their goods being confiscated, fines, or even imprisonment; many refugees
cannot afford to register their business or rent a stall to comply with this law.75 Refugees have
limited access to capital; a 2016 study details how banks and micro-finance institutions can be
reluctant to give loans to refugees, citing a number of factors such as discriminatory attitudes
or unfamiliarity with refugee clients, and a lack of confidence arising from their lack of
67 This is in line with the food ration schedule revised by OPM, UNHCR, and WFP after the 2011 Joint Assessment Mission
recommendations, but funding cuts and influxes of new arrivals can result in cuts in rations. UNHCR, OPM, and WFP,
Uganda Joint Assessment Mission 2014, October 2014, 8,
68 Svedberg, Refugee Self-Reliance in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda, 30-31.
69 Kaiser, 611-612.
70 For example, a 2014 report details how refugees sold their maize and beans supplies within 30 days of the harvest, when
prices are very low, as they lacked the knowledge or equipment to store the grain efficiently. UNHCR, OPM, and WFP,
Uganda Joint Assessment Mission 2014, 21.
71 Ibid, 23.
72 Svedberg, Refugee Self-Reliance in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda, 37-39.
73 WRC, The Living Ain’t Easy: Urban Refugees in Kampala.
74 Ibid.
75 Evan Easton-Calabria, ‘Refugees asked to fish for themselves’: The Role of Livelihoods Trainings for Kampala’s Urban
Refugees, UNHCR New Issues in Refugee Research, No. 277, January 2016.