Reporter Tip Sheet: Virginia Tech expert says Uganda’s unique refugee program suggests refugees are good for economy
Uganda's experience offers lessons for other refugee-hosting countries. It reinforces findings that show refugees can create significant economic benefits for host countries. Giving land to refugees improves their welfare and self-reliance.
A new study suggests refugees and the aid they receive has the potential to create a positive economic impact in a variety of market settings with host country farms, businesses, and households.
The influx of refugees impacts host countries' resources, drives up the cost of food and other essentials, and affects the economy.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, there are 32 million refugees worldwide as of mid-2022.
Anubhab Gupta, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and colleagues at the World Food Programme, University of Georgia, and UC Davis published findings in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics on Uganda’s unique refugee program.
Uganda's experience offers lessons for other refugee-hosting countries on how to increase refugee self-reliance given the increasing shortage of international aid for humanitarian assistance. It reinforces the findings that show refugees can create significant economic benefits for host countries. These benefits increase the more refugees are able to engage in host country markets.
“While findings from previous research suggest that refugee aid creates an economic impact on local economies, this is the first study to estimate the impact of giving land to refugees. Uganda’s refugee policy and quasi-random nature of land allocation (conditional on availability) allowed us to conduct our research using robust econometric and simulation techniques. We show how refugee aid and the land given to them enhance their welfare and self-reliance while creating income in the surrounding host communities up to a 15-kilometer radius,” said Gupta.
The team focused on Uganda because of its unique refugee policy program and the fact that it hosts 1.5 million refugees — more than any other country in Africa.
There were three major findings that emerged from the study.
- Uganda's unique policy of providing refugees with access to land positively impacts refugee incomes, consumption, and welfare. Refugees' ability to utilize the land for productive activities improves their self-reliance, which translates into higher and more diverse food consumption.
- Refugees have positive impacts on local economies in and around the settlement in which they live. By stimulating local agricultural and nonagricultural activities, refugees bring an increase in total income that exceeds the cost of World Food Programme aid.
- Providing land to refugees adds a significant economic impact on the local economy. They purchase seeds, fertilizer, livestock, and other inputs from local businesses and sometimes hire labor from local households, boosting welfare in the surrounding local economy. The food refugees produce is an essential source of nutrition for refugee households. They sell some of this food in local markets to raise cash, most of which, they spend locally, creating new income spillovers.
Read the full report here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajae.12371.
By Melissa Vidmar