Community-Based Conservation in Tanzania: Discourses and Realities

This dissertation focuses on understanding the socioeconomic impacts of Community Based Conservation (CBC) initiatives on rural livelihoods. CBC initiatives promise to abate the negative impacts of top down or centralised fortress conservation approaches that have for many decades, hindered rural people from accessing and benefiting from natural resources, and incited land-use conflicts. Yet, despite these promises, the inherently political nature of natural resource governance brings challenges to the implementation of the scientifically designed conservation interventions. It was in the interest of this dissertation, therefore, to compare and contrast the policy premises and the reality on the ground by analysing the socioeconomic impacts of CBC initiatives on rural livelihoods. The research explored Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), a community based wildlife management initiatives in Tanzania, where the policy promises participating communities improved access to resources and better benefits retentions. Through political ecology lenses, the research collected and analysed both quantitative but largely qualitative data. Results show that WMAs foster a very limited ownership, participation and collective action at the community level. WMA governance continues to follow a logic of central government control over natural resources and the associated benefits. The WMAs are rife with conflicts and contestations over grievances that remained unsettled since its establishment a decade back. The grievances are accentuated by growing land pressure resulting from an increase in human, livestock and elephant populations, in combination with infrastructure improvements and support for agriculture-led development. Besides WMA governance offers very little or nothing to residents and village leaders in the participating communities who appear hostages in a situation where interests in human development and conservation are pitted against each other. Residents are not compensated for crops and livestock losses and/or human injuries and death caused by wildlife, while very little WMA resources and revenues are directed toward the protection of crops and livestock against wildlife. The current situation, therefore, not only makes a mockery of the notions of community-based conservation but also pinpoint to the tendency of global and national actors promoting conservation in Tanzania and elsewhere to misrepresent or ignore the local realities that defy official policy promises. Further, the results reveal that WMAs concentrate licit benefits to few elites and criminalises rural peoples’ customary livelihoods and claims of rights to natural resources. This leaves the majority of rural people who endure the cost of conservation in forgone individual livelihoods interests, such as farmland and pasture for livestock, and wildlife damages on crops, livestock, and people, to rely on illicit access mechanisms. This has, in turn, led to violent confrontations between game scouts and people, and protests and struggles to re-gain legal access. But at a more general level, the conflicts created/exacerbated by the WMA regimes erode rural peoples’ trust and willingness to support conservation. It is difficult, therefore, to argue that WMAs are community-owned conservation initiatives until a genuinely devolved and more flexible conservation model is implemented to give space for popular participation in rule-making and resource allocation. This means, in order to advance conservation-development agenda, conservation policies need to understand rural peoples’ needs and address them not only as ‘add on’ but at their very core. CBC interventions must also recognise customary claims to land and use of natural resources, and make sure that benefits accrue from conservation activities trickle down to the household level. Thus, throughout the analysis of WMAs as a CBC interventions on human-dominated landscapes, this dissertation unveils the following key issues: i) property rights and rule enforcement agency, a persistence challenge in CBC interventions, and ii) governance rationality and limit to governance, a novelty field in policy sciences, focusing on the need to contemplate and synthesise in a more acute and systematic way of understanding the policy promise and human limits to govern ourselves out of environmental problems. To conclude, this dissertation proposes a logical framework for the analysis of CBC intervention through a landscape approach lenses and offer recommendations for development and research

Community-Based Conservation in Tanzania: Discourses and Realities

This dissertation focuses on understanding the socioeconomic impacts of Community Based Conservation (CBC) initiatives on rural livelihoods. CBC initiatives promise to abate the negative impacts of top down or centralised fortress conservation approaches that have for many decades, hindered rural people from accessing and benefiting from natural resources, and incited land-use conflicts. Yet, despite these promises, the inherently political nature of natural resource governance brings challenges to the implementation of the scientifically designed conservation interventions. It was in the interest of this dissertation, therefore, to compare and contrast the policy premises and the reality on the ground by analysing the socioeconomic impacts of CBC initiatives on rural livelihoods. The research explored Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), a community based wildlife management initiatives in Tanzania, where the policy promises participating communities improved access to resources and better benefits retentions. Through political ecology lenses, the research collected and analysed both quantitative but largely qualitative data. Results show that WMAs foster a very limited ownership, participation and collective action at the community level. WMA governance continues to follow a logic of central government control over natural resources and the associated benefits. The WMAs are rife with conflicts and contestations over grievances that remained unsettled since its establishment a decade back. The grievances are accentuated by growing land pressure resulting from an increase in human, livestock and elephant populations, in combination with infrastructure improvements and support for agriculture-led development. Besides WMA governance offers very little or nothing to residents and village leaders in the participating communities who appear hostages in a situation where interests in human development and conservation are pitted against each other. Residents are not compensated for crops and livestock losses and/or human injuries and death caused by wildlife, while very little WMA resources and revenues are directed toward the protection of crops and livestock against wildlife. The current situation, therefore, not only makes a mockery of the notions of community-based conservation but also pinpoint to the tendency of global and national actors promoting conservation in Tanzania and elsewhere to misrepresent or ignore the local realities that defy official policy promises. Further, the results reveal that WMAs concentrate licit benefits to few elites and criminalises rural peoples’ customary livelihoods and claims of rights to natural resources. This leaves the majority of rural people who endure the cost of conservation in forgone individual livelihoods interests, such as farmland and pasture for livestock, and wildlife damages on crops, livestock, and people, to rely on illicit access mechanisms. This has, in turn, led to violent confrontations between game scouts and people, and protests and struggles to re-gain legal access. But at a more general level, the conflicts created/exacerbated by the WMA regimes erode rural peoples’ trust and willingness to support conservation. It is difficult, therefore, to argue that WMAs are community-owned conservation initiatives until a genuinely devolved and more flexible conservation model is implemented to give space for popular participation in rule-making and resource allocation. This means, in order to advance conservation-development agenda, conservation policies need to understand rural peoples’ needs and address them not only as ‘add on’ but at their very core. CBC interventions must also recognise customary claims to land and use of natural resources, and make sure that benefits accrue from conservation activities trickle down to the household level. Thus, throughout the analysis of WMAs as a CBC interventions on human-dominated landscapes, this dissertation unveils the following key issues: i) property rights and rule enforcement agency, a persistence challenge in CBC interventions, and ii) governance rationality and limit to governance, a novelty field in policy sciences, focusing on the need to contemplate and synthesise in a more acute and systematic way of understanding the policy promise and human limits to govern ourselves out of environmental problems. To conclude, this dissertation proposes a logical framework for the analysis of CBC intervention through a landscape approach lenses and offer recommendations for development and research

Invisible waste: Understanding the political culture of solid and liquid waste management in towns of Tanzania

This research article was published INNSPUB in 2022This article uses ethnographic and case study approaches to unveil the distinct culture characterising the management of liquid and solid waste in urban areas of Tanzania. The article shows that slow accumulation nature of liquid waste such as faecal sludge makes it of less immediate nuisance to residents compared to solid waste, and the general public tend to perceive the management of liquid waste as a responsibility of individual dwelling owners hence a private good rather than public good that would require organisation at a community level. This makes liquid waste less visible to politicians and residents alike despite it being a higher risk factor for disease outbreaks compared to solid wastes. The article argues that attempts to improve liquid waste management need to focus on making it a political priority by creating demand driven service provision, where residents would increase political pressure for access to improved liquid waste management services

Mini-review on the use of liquid membranes in the extraction of platinum group metals from mining and metal refinery wastewaters/side-streams

The current mini-review focuses on the use of liquid membranes in the platinum group metal (PGM/PGMs) extraction from various types of wastewaters to prevent environmental pollution; and for the metal recovery to address the scarcity of the PGMs in the industrial cycles. The bulk liquid membranes have been used to the extracted PGMs from the (acidic) aqueous media with recoveries of up to 96.3 ± 2.5% of the original PGM amount. The extraction time generally ranges from 2 to 24 hours. The bulk membrane liquid in the PGM extraction will depend on the covalent structure of the extractant, the feed phase PGM concentration and the complex of the PGM in question that is actually extracted from the aqueous environment. The advantages of this type of liquid membrane include its operational simplicity, but the disadvantages include limited possibility to improve the extraction performance of the system. Literature data are encouraging as they indicate that extraction of PGMs from mining and metal-refinery side-streams does not suffer from interference from metal contaminants that are commonly found in the mining and metal refinery side-streams, e.g. iron. Thus further research should focus on the application of ELM to extraction of PGMs from said wastewaters and major research drive should focus on the use of the Taylorvortex column and the non-Newtonian ELMs. With the supported liquid membranes, 78-82% of the original PGM content could be recovered from model side-streams. The selectivity of the extraction for individual PGMs can be controlled by the extractant used

Are electric vehicles economically viable in sub-Saharan Africa? The total cost of ownership of internal combustion engine and electric vehicles in Tanzania

This research article was published by Transport Policy Volume 141, September 2023,The prevalence of internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) fleets globally has resulted in various environmental issues, such as the emissions of greenhouse gases, reliance on imported petroleum products, significant degradation of air quality, and adverse health impacts on people. To address these challenges, the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is viewed as a sustainable solution. This study analyzed the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of EVs in sub-Saharan Africa to determine if they are viable options for consumers from Tanzania. Contrary to previous studies on the competitive position of EVs that focused on Europe, Asia, and other regions with high EV diffusion, and are more advanced in terms of EV manufacturing capacity and promoting policies, this study focused on Tanzania, a country with low EV diffusion and no EV manufacturing capacity. We compared the economics of electric cars and electric two-wheelers (e2Ws) and their ICE counterparts. The findings show that the TCO per km of electric cars is higher than that of their ICE car counterparts, while the TCO of e2W was less than that of their petroleum counterparts. Importing taxes charged to all vehicles imported into the country significantly hike the upfront cost of EVs. For electric cars, particularly battery electric vehicles, to reach TCO parity with ICE car counterparts, the current import taxes have to be reduced by 40% or more, which is equivalent to removing all import duty or value-added taxes. In this regard, electric cars are still not economically viable for Tanzanian automotive consumers, unless economic incentives are introduced. With EVs being in the early stage in the country, it is recommended to start by promoting e2Ws, which are economically viable for many consumers in the Tanzanian context

Mathematical model to study the impact of anthropogenic activities on forest biomass and forest-dependent wildlife population

A project report submitted in International Journal of Dynamics and Control , Volume OnlineFirst – Jul 21, 2023This paper proposes and analyses a nonlinear mathematical model to study the impact of anthropogenic activities on forest biomass and forest-dependent wildlife populations using a system of differential equations. It is assumed that the growth of forest biomass, forest-dependent wildlife populations, and the human population follow logistic equations. The effect of forest biomass depletion on the survival of forest-dependent wildlife populations is investigated by introducing a function that denotes the dependence on forest biomass. The system’s behaviour near all ecologically acceptable equilibria is studied, and to confirm the analytical conclusions, a numerical simulation is performed. The model analysis shows that as forest biomass declines due to an increase in human population and its associated activities, the population of wildlife species also declines, and if no measures are taken, both forest biomass and the wildlife population may become extinct

Does variation in plant diversity and abundance influence browsing intensity in black rhinos?

This research article was published by Wiley Online Library in 2023Variations in forage availability, selection and preferences can lead to intense foraging competition and depletion of food consequently lowering diet quality and population performance of black rhino species. This study investigated seasonal variations in rhino diet, foraging, preference and browsing intensity and how this is influenced by plant diversity and availability in Mkomazi National Park (MKONAPA). Fifty-eight square grids were randomly selected in each season, and plots were laid for vegetation assessment during wet and dry seasons in the sanctuary. Browsed species by rhinos were compared with rhino feeding data from fourteen rhino range areas within Africa. More than 85% of species edible in MKONAPA were similar to those in rhino range areas. Acalypha ornata, Grewia similis and Commiphora africana were highly utilised specie in both seasons. Diversity and abundance of consumed browses decreased towards the dry season while browsing intensity increased with forage preference in both seasons and was prominent when browse availability was low in dry seasons. Our study established seasonal variation in dietary composition, browsing intensity and preferences for black rhinos. We suggest establishing nutritional composition of preferred forages, assessing density of competitor browsers, translocating excess rhinos or expanding the sanctuary to meet the recommended ecological carrying capacity

Conservation of forest biomass and forest–dependent wildlife population: Uncertainty quantification of the model parameters

This research article was published by Heliyon 9 (2023)The ecosystem is confronted with numerous challenges as a consequence of the escalating human population and its corresponding activities. Among these challenges lies the degradation of forest biomass, which directly contributes to a reduction in forested areas and poses a significant threat to the survival of wildlife species through the intensification of intraspecific competition. In this paper, a non–linear mathematical model to study the conservation of forest and wildlife species that are reliant on forest ecosystem within the framework of human population dynamics and its related activities is developed and analysed. The study assessed the impacts of economic measures in the form of incentives on reducing population pressure on forest resources as well as the potential benefits of technological efforts to accelerate the rate of reforestation. Qualitative and quantitative analyses reveals that economic and technological factors have the potential to contribute to resource conservation efforts. However, these efforts can only be used to a limited extent, and contrary to that, the system will be destabilised. Sensitivity analysis identified the parameters pertaining to human population, human activities, economic measures, and technological efforts as the most influential factors in the mode

Fuzzy modelling on the depletion of forest biomass and forest-dependent wildlife population

A project report submitted in Franklin Open Volume 4, September 2023,This paper presents a system of non-linear differential equations describing the depletion of forest biomass and forest-dependent wildlife population caused by human population and its associated activities. The model incorporates the imprecise nature of the parameters, which are treated as triangular fuzzy numbers to reflect the inherent uncertainty. We utilised cut to transform these imprecise parameters into intervals. Subsequently, employing the principles of interval mathematics, we effectively converted the related differential equation into a pair of distinct differential equations. By leveraging the signed distance of the fuzzy numbers, we further simplified the equations, resulting in a single differential equation, which led to the formulation of a defuzzified model. The existence of equilibrium points with their stability behaviour is presented. Furthermore, the existence of trans-critical bifurcation is analysed. Through numerical simulations, we observe significant differences between the solutions of system in crisp and fuzzy environments. These findings highlight the importance of using fuzzy models to accurately represent the dynamics of complex natural systems. Consequently, we conclude that fuzzy models provide a trustworthy representation of the dynamics of complex natural systems

Determinants of Agropastoralist Households’ Fodder Accessibility and Rangeland Conservation in Magu District, Tanzania

This research article was published by Elsevier in 2022The availability and accessibility of adequate and quality fodder is a huge challenge for pastoral and agropastoralist communities in Tanzania. Fodder scarcity, primarily driven by rangeland degradation, population growth, and climatic changes, limits livestock productivity and deepens rural poverty. This study assessed factors influencing agropastoralists’ access to fodder and their willingness to conserve fodder sources in Magu District, Tanzania. A total of 210 agropastoralist households were surveyed in three wards covering six villages. The results show that access to fodder during the wet season is positively influenced by a household's income, land size, number of livestock, and physical capital. Dry season fodder accessibility is negatively influenced by households’ land size, physical capital, and the number of livestock. Results also show that more than 60% of the agropastoral households accessed fodder sources formally (legally) in open areas, while 35% accessed fodder informally (illegally) in traditionally reserved highland areas, people's farms, and restricted urban areas. Conservation of rangelands and fodder sources is positively influenced by a head of households’ level of education and income, and only 40% of households participated in conservation of rangelands and fodder sources. Improved land tenure, education, and income diversification can improve households’ access to fodder and their willingness to conserve fodder sources