Oil Exploration and Development and Household Livelihoods in Buliisa District,

Oil development can expand economic activity while weakening the resources on which particular households depend. This systematic review examines evidence on household livelihoods in Buliisa District, Uganda, and identifies implications for project management and local economic development. Searches conducted on 2 November 2026 combined a complete OpenAlex title-andabstract inventory, ranked Consensus and SciSpace discovery, and targeted retrieval of additional reports. Forty-nine records were identified; 13 empirical reports were included after deduplication, screening and report assessment. Eight were journal articles, two master's theses and three institutional research reports. A structured narrative synthesis distinguished Buliisa-only evidence from mixed-district findings, expectations from realised outcomes, and compensation payments from livelihood recovery. The evidence describes opportunities in employment, trade and infrastructure alongside disrupted productive access, compensation difficulties, unequal control over resources and changing community relations. However, predominantly qualitative, crosssectional and retrospective designs do not establish a district-wide net welfare effect. Two Buliisaonly theses provide local detail, while most journal evidence combines several districts. The article develops a livelihood conversion and restoration framework linking project exposure, household capabilities, transition conditions and outcomes. It proposes management indicators that follow replacement assets, real earnings, economic participation and the duration of livelihood interruption. Search limitations, unavailable reports and reporting inconsistencies. The central implication is to evaluate whether households regain viable economic options, rather than infer recovery from expenditure, compensation completion or national participation totals.