Land as a factor of production in agricultural based economy plays a pivotal role in enhancing women equal rights in participation in development. Therefore, land tenure systems should be gender inclusive in order to facilitate rapid economic empowerment of women who contribute the largest share of labour rural parts of Uganda. Nonetheless, it is important to note that literature on the relationship between agricultural land tenure policies and women economic empowerment in Uganda is scanty. The purpose of the study therefore was to investigate the effects of agricultural land tenure policies on women economic empowerment in Arua District. The study adopted human development perspective theory and correlation research designs because the designs permitted hypothesis testing. The study targeted district agricultural officers, community development officers, district environmental officers, farmers, opinion leaders from the community, members of the civil society organizations and extension officers with a total sample size of 120 participants. Reliability analysis was achieved by use of tests retest technique and the results were subjected to factor analysis with all the items registering above 0.80. Expert assessment was used to realise content validity with the minimum principle component analysis factor loading value of all the items in the research tools were above 0.80 indicating that the tools were valid. Data collected were cleaned by weeding out inconsistent and irrelevant responses. The study found land tenure policies positive (β=.904) and significant (p=0.000) to women economic empowerment. The study recommends that the government of Uganda, specifically the ministries of agriculture and lands, to spearhead an awareness campaign on the women land rights; initiate policy review targeting agricultural land tenure system and women economic empowerment. The study also recommends further research on this subject matter using other research paradigms such as case study.
Keywords: Land Tenure, Women Economic Empowerment., policies
