The results of this project will support new understandings of how agricultural lcluc hotspots form, evolve, and respond to socioeconomic conditions, and build new knowledge around how refugee farming…

Oregon State University received a $749.6K research grant from a civilian federal agency (Shared Services Center) awarded on January 23, 2023, with completion targeted for January 22, 2027. This award supports research examining agricultural land cover and land use change (LCLUC) hotspots in Uganda's refugee settlements, with emphasis on understanding how refugee farming decisions respond to aid availability and market prices. The project advances remote sensing capabilities for LCLUC mapping in heterogeneous, data-sparse regions and investigates demographic impacts of refugee arrivals on land use patterns, smallholder cropland detection, refugee land access considerations related to social and environmental justice, and decision-making under conditions of uncertainty driven by food aid and climate change effects.

The research directly supports Uganda's national refugee response plan and the 2018 Global Compact on Refugees by providing place-based information on refugee self-sufficiency and contributing to sustainable, satellite-informed food security monitoring systems in refugee settlements. Additionally, the project supports monitoring of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and generates new knowledge across multiple domains including demographic change impacts, improved agricultural detection methods, environmental justice considerations, and climate adaptation strategies. The award carries no set-aside designation, indicating competitive merit-based selection. Oregon State University, a prominent public land-grant research institution and subsidiary of the Oregon University System, brings established capabilities in environmental sciences, remote sensing, and geospatial research to this initiative.

The results of this project will support new understandings of how agricultural lcluc hotspots form, evolve, and respond to socioeconomic conditions, and build new knowledge around how refugee farming decisions are influenced by aid and market prices. Results will advance remote sensing for lcluc mapping in heterogeneous, data-sparse regions, and provide a range of new insights around the lcluc effects of demographic changes (refugee arrivals), improved detection of smallholder cropland and type (refugee farming), land use considerations of social and environmental justice (refugee land access), and decision-making in the context of high uncertainty (food aid and climate change effects). Results will also directly support place-based information on refugee self-sufficiency that is called for in uganda s refugee response plan and the 2018 global compact on refugees, aid monitoring of sdgs, and lead the way towards sustainable, satellite-informed food security monitoring in refugee settlements.