Environmental risk management from below: living with landslides in Bududa, eastern Uganda

ABSTRACT This article explores how the people of Bududa used culturally and spiritually embedded knowledge to tame extreme weather and ably live with the spectre and reality of landslides since the turn of the twentieth century. Drawing on multiple oral and written sources, the article shows how landslides were experienced in the past and chronicles recent government and community responses to living with landslides. The article shows that local approaches to managing risks worked effectively when land for expansion was still readily available. However, increasing population and heavy cultivation of the land over the course of the twentieth century put heavy pressure on the land thereby making it more susceptible to landslides. Consequently, the impact of the landslides became so severe necessitating government intervention to support the affected communities. Focusing on landslides as recurring risks that are socially constructed and managed, the article shows the innovativeness and resilience of the people of Bududa in living with and managing environmental risks.