Role of land owners in implementing land use plan in Rwanda Case of Mukura Sector in Huye District

Abstract

Landowners owe different duties to different types of people who enter their land. These responsibilities vary, depending on whether the person is a trespasser, a licensee, or an invitee. There is a rise of conflict between landowners competing land uses. In Huye district, landowners are facing the issue of using the land in unplanned manner, for example where some use residential areas in place of agricultural uses and vice versa. This normally affect the proper implementation of land use planning which results into the existence of imbalances in land uses, as well as the loss of desired benefits such as quantity harvested and infrastructure development. Some landowners do not have sufficient capacity for implementing practical activities thereon the land designed in land use planning due to poverty. This study was conducted for examining the impacts of landowners in implementing land use planning in Rwanda. The specific objectives were to assess the determinants of land use planning, to examine the role of landowners in land use planning, and to explore the relationship between land owners and land use planning. Primary data and secondary data required for achieving the objectives of this study were used. Simple random sampling technique was applied for selecting the sample size of 99 respondents. The data collected were processed using SPSS software, and results were interpreted using figures. The results shows that there are several determinants of land use planning. Climate change was selected at 31.25%, land holding inequality was selected at 22.18%, poor planning skills was selected at 18.12%, the nature of land tenure security was selected at 16.16%, while the existence of several land related disputes was selected at 12.29%. After data processing and analysis, the results shows and represents that climate change was firstly selected as the major determinant of land use planning. This is because there are many changes which may occurs resulted from climate and affect the land use planning. Those may involves the increase in the global warming, high rain fall, prolonged drought, and flooding which can also cause soil erosion. As a recommendation, the government should establish and renew the land use planning guidelines in order to enable their implementation by the population.