indicated that this left productive outcomes unaffected while 42% pointed towards social problems, 25% towards reduced investment, and 11% towards a disruption of the production process that led to an economic loss in the same production period as the main negative consequence from the conflict.

Table 3 gives details of conflicts for the 414 plots (or 48% of the sample) that were, at some point, affected by conflict. Exceeding of boundaries and tenancy are, with 49% and 36%, the most common reasons for conflict, followed by inheritance (11%) and conflicts concerning use of public lands (4%). Most conflicts were between neighbors (48%) and family (29%). Landlord-tenant issues (18%) and conflicts with government (5%) are of lesser importance nationally, although, due to the prevalence of _mailo_ tenure, they are of greater relevance in the Center where they accounted for 49% of the total. Slightly more than a quarter of conflicts started in the 1996-98 period, 31% before 1996, and 43% after 1999. Contrary to what one might expect from anecdotal accounts of communities being able to sort out land conflicts among themselves, the majority of such incidents (76%) was resolved by formal rather than by informal means, a share that was particularly high during the 1996-98 period (80%). In addition, it is surprising to find that, for more than three quarters of conflicts, formal institutions are the first ones to be approached by the parties involved. The average conflict had a duration of 3.5 years, with family conflicts being shorter (2.5 years) and landlordtenant cases, as well as those involving government, extending for almost 5 years on average. Concerning the evolution of conflict types over time, one notes a slight increase in the incidence of tenancy-related conflicts and a small decrease in those related to boundaries.

# **4. Econometric results**

Applying the analytical framework outlined earlier to the Ugandan data allows us to obtain three main results. First, we find that female-headed households are significantly more likely to be affected by conflict than are male-headed ones; the probability of having a conflict is 14% higher for a household headed by a widow and 48% higher for one headed by a separated woman than for a male-headed household. Second, and contrary to what was intended, the 1998 Land Act did not lead to a decrease in the number of landrelated conflicts, suggesting that either further adjustment of the legal and regulatory framework or greater efforts at dissemination and implementation (or both) will be needed to realize the potential of this piece of legislation. Finally, clear evidence of significant and quantitatively large productivity losses due to land conflict suggests that measures to reduce the incidence of conflict can have a significant impact on the productivity of the agricultural sector, in addition to the contribution such a measure is likely to make to broader and more inclusive rural growth.

> process that forced households to incur debts, and indirect costs incurred through action (e.g. poisoning cows or destroying perennials) by others as the conflict escalates. Finally, an _investment effect_ is registered where households fear to be evicted from the plot any time and thus not build permanent structures or make other land-attached investments.

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