344
W. Karanja and N. Njenga
It is expected that they will require the acquisition of approximately
115,000 hectares of land which will displace nearly 15,000 people.
9 The
potential and actual social impact of these projects on the local communities include increased levels of poverty; conversion of agricultural land
to industrial purposes thereby increasing food insecurity; the disintegration of social and cultural cohesion; increased social inequalities between
men and women in terms of access to the economic benefits of land
sale (which is the compensation following land acquisition) and inflation in the cost of goods.
10 The influx of economic immigrants into
communities is viewed by the local people as a threat to their survival
due to increased competition for limited job opportunities. Further, since
most land is communally owned, there are significant social tensions
within communities about how land may be kept for viable agricultural production, which is the primary source of livelihood for rural
communities.
11
In Tanzania, following the discovery of a natural gas field off the coast
at Mtwara, escalating community unrest and violent riots by Mtwara
residents in response to the proposed gas pipeline between Mtwara and
Dar es Salaam led to the unfortunate loss of life.
12 Case studies relating
to SLO in East Africa will be discussed in Sect. 11.2 of this Paper and
the various reasons for community pushback highlighted further.
Consequentially, the changing societal expectations have influenced
the way oil and gas sector operations are conducted globally. As has
been alluded to, communities are increasingly demanding more involvement in decision-making around such operations; they have expectations
of receiving a greater share of the benefits from these operations and
require assurances that the international oil and gas companies and
other industry participants involved are appropriately regulated. There
9 Ibid.
10 Ogwang T, and Vanclay F, ‘Social Impacts of Land Acquisition for Oil and Gas Development in Uganda’ (Ideas.repec.org, 2019). https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v8y2019i7p109d246589.html, accessed May 21, 2020.
11 Ibid.
12 ‘Tanzania Mtwara Gas Riots: ‘Pregnant Woman Killed’ (BBC News, 2013) https://www.bbc.
com/news/world-africa-22652809, accessed May 18, 2020.
W. Karanja and N. Njenga
It is expected that they will require the acquisition of approximately
115,000 hectares of land which will displace nearly 15,000 people.
9 The
potential and actual social impact of these projects on the local communities include increased levels of poverty; conversion of agricultural land
to industrial purposes thereby increasing food insecurity; the disintegration of social and cultural cohesion; increased social inequalities between
men and women in terms of access to the economic benefits of land
sale (which is the compensation following land acquisition) and inflation in the cost of goods.
10 The influx of economic immigrants into
communities is viewed by the local people as a threat to their survival
due to increased competition for limited job opportunities. Further, since
most land is communally owned, there are significant social tensions
within communities about how land may be kept for viable agricultural production, which is the primary source of livelihood for rural
communities.
11
In Tanzania, following the discovery of a natural gas field off the coast
at Mtwara, escalating community unrest and violent riots by Mtwara
residents in response to the proposed gas pipeline between Mtwara and
Dar es Salaam led to the unfortunate loss of life.
12 Case studies relating
to SLO in East Africa will be discussed in Sect. 11.2 of this Paper and
the various reasons for community pushback highlighted further.
Consequentially, the changing societal expectations have influenced
the way oil and gas sector operations are conducted globally. As has
been alluded to, communities are increasingly demanding more involvement in decision-making around such operations; they have expectations
of receiving a greater share of the benefits from these operations and
require assurances that the international oil and gas companies and
other industry participants involved are appropriately regulated. There
9 Ibid.
10 Ogwang T, and Vanclay F, ‘Social Impacts of Land Acquisition for Oil and Gas Development in Uganda’ (Ideas.repec.org, 2019). https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v8y2019i7p109d246589.html, accessed May 21, 2020.
11 Ibid.
12 ‘Tanzania Mtwara Gas Riots: ‘Pregnant Woman Killed’ (BBC News, 2013) https://www.bbc.
com/news/world-africa-22652809, accessed May 18, 2020.