In Quest of Customary Tenure Security: Opportunities and Challenges of Land Use Planning in Tanzania

Mainstreaming land use planning for tenure security in rural areas is a key issue to both scholars, academia and policymakers as well as governments in most developing countries. The need for local land use decision-making for enhancing tenure security as well as trade-offs for deliberative decision-making are crucial to improving local community needs, interests and concerns. Deliberative decision-making seeks to respond to local needs, interests and concerns with legitimate and acceptable social, cultural and institutional practices. This paper focuses on examining the challenges and opportunities for land use planning on tenure security in rural Tanzania.  In-depth interviews, survey questionnaires, and documentary procedures were used to gather both primary and secondary data. The survey questionnaires were administered to 167 local landholders or users (respondents) at Kibegere, Kisawasawa and Igima villages in Kilombero District in South-Western Tanzania. A snowball sampling method for data collection from the respondents were employed. Also, a purposive sampling technique was used to collect data from 20 Key informants. The findings indicate less benefits for the local people over the existing rural land use planning process. The paper suggests the conceptual framework for supporting land use planning to strengthen actor’s interaction in the land use decision-making process towards enhanced tenure security outcomes within the context of participatory governance.

A Review of the Causes of Land Use Conflicts Between Farmers and Pastoralists in Tanzania and a Proposal for Resolutions

Land use conflicts are complex disputes that contribute at large in terms of negative social and economic impacts within the heterogeneous societies. The mechanisms of success for land use conflict resolution still need further research because of various mindsets of the people. In this paper, the issues of land conflicts between farmers and pastoralists in Tanzania mainland which could lead to low economic development are reviewed and the general causes and effects of land use conflicts are outlined. Poor land governance, inappropriate of land use plans, inadequate land policies, land tenure insecurity, corruption and population increases are cited as being among of the main offenders fuelling land use conflicts in Tanzania. As pastoralists move across the country with large herds of hungry livestock in search of pastures and water, the livestock are randomly led into farms where they forage on whatever crops that may be in sight. Angered farm owners (farmers) often take the law into their hands and fight the invaders. Armed fights erupt resulting to human and livestock deaths, destruction of crops and homesteads, fear and poverty.Since a National Land Policy (NLP) is a key instrument for, among other things, land management and administration, land use planning, conflict resolution, and a stable land tenure security, both the countrywide lack of land use plans in the rural areas, and the (now) outdated National Land Policy of 1995 are brought in focus in line with the recurring land conflicts between farmers and pastoralists.The paper provides the case of how Mediation-Arbitration (MED-ARB) approach can be used in solving land conflicts between farmers and pastoralists. Based on the various studies that have been undertaken and the recommendations made on this issue, the authors propose MED-ARB as the optimal way to put in place sustainable curative measures of land conflict