Sociology and Anthropology 7(2): 100-110, 2019 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/sa.2019.070205 Development Induced Displacement; A Review of Risks Faced by Communities in Developing Countries Caroline Aboda 1,* , Frank Mugagga 2 , Patrick Byakagaba 2 , Goretti Nabanoga 3 1 Department of Geography, Geo-informatics and Climatic Sciences, School of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda 2 Department of Environmental Management, School of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda 3 Department of Extension and Innovation Studies, School of Agricultural production, Makerere University, Uganda Copyright©2019 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License Abstract About 15 million people every year are forced to live their homes to give way for huge development projects such as dams, highways, and mining. In most developing countries, such projects have been noted to increase ecological and social vulnerability, thus leaving the affected people displaced, disempowered and destitute. The literature review paper focused on the different risks communities are exposed to due to development induced displacement and resettlement. The data presented is review of online peer-reviewed and grey literature between the years 1980 through 2018. The risks analyzed through the Impoverishment, Risk and Reconstruction (IRR) model acts as a guide in selecting and understanding the risks of development induced displacement and Resettlement (DIDR) during social vulnerability assessment. Often the question of social vulnerability has been largely ignored due to the difficulty in quantification. Risk analysis also provides ground to further investigate reasons for the occurrence and persistency of the risks, in developing countries such as India, Sudan and Kenya. The findings of the review through the IRR model indicated that displacement and resettlement exposes project affected people to some opportunities, but largely associated with more risks. Some of the reasons for the persistency of the risks included; compensation for lost properties and lack of experience and capacity to handle resettlement processes. Identifying reasons for the persistency of the already known risks, especially in developing countries builds on the previous work on DIDR risks by Micheal Cernea and other researchers. Keywords Consequences, Communities, Development Induced Displacement, Risks, Developing Countries 1. Introduction In most developing countries such as China, India, Zambia, Ghana large scale development projects have rendered increasingly sizeable population homeless, landless, jobless and food insecure, considering that their socio-economic asset base is often destroyed (Oliver-Smith 2009; Bond and Kirsch 2015). Globally, it is estimated that in the current decade 2010-2019, approximately 15 million people are forced to leave their homes to give way for huge development projects every year (Terminiski 2015). The effects of such development projects; dams, transportation, water supply, and industrial construction has led to subjection of displaced population to being susceptible to environmental and socio-economic changes (Robinson 2003; Stanley 2004; Terminiki 2013). Such projects have been noted to increase ecological and social vulnerability of the affected people (Caspary 2007; Oliver-Smith 2009). Women, the elderly and children often experience the greatest impact due to their inherent social vulnerabilities (Stanley 2004; Mehta 2009; Terminiski 2011). More development induced displacements can be seen in developing regions of Asia and Africa (Terminiski 2013). Some of the examples include; the construction of the Three Gorges Dam in China that displaced 1.13 million people for more than two decades (Wilmsen 2016). The development of the Marange Diamond fields in the Chiadzwa area in Zimbabwe that led to resettlement of 4,700 Chiadzwa villagers. Kariba Dam construction in Zambia displaced approximately 57,000 people (Stanley 2004). In Uganda, the proposed construction of the oil refinery at Kabaale parish in Hoima District led to displacement of 1221 households affecting over 7000 people (Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development 2012). In Ghana, (Boohene and Peprah 2011) found that most fishermen and fish mongers including their dependants were displaced in oil production areas. The consequences bring about changes in the way people live, play, work and relate to each other and cope as a community (Bozigar et al. 2015). Recent studies have shown that the inability to respond, cope and recover from