Indigenous management systems as a basis for community forestry in Tanzania : a case study of Dodoma urban and Lushoto districts

This report presents an analysis of the nature of both indigenous and professionally sponsored community forest management systems in two districts in Tanzania. It describes various types of internally generated forest and tree management systems. It demonstrates that a gap exists between indigenous and externally sponsored management systems. In the externally sponsored projects, the concept of participation implies that rural people should participate in professionals' projects, rather than that professionals should participate in the livelihood projects of rural people. Interventions along these lines generate confrontations, as well as degrees of collaboration and participation between local farmers and projects. The study focusses on three key actor categories to be considered in community forestry projects, i.e. farmers, village extension workers and supervisors. The relations between these actor categories constitute the "middle ground" of community forestry development. This concept refers to the totality of social processes and fields within which the actors attempt to establish common ground for their negotiations over resources and development alternatives. The study seeks to understand how strategic actions and interactions of different actor categories shape the outcome of community forestry projects, as well as how to bridge the gap between internally generated activities and externally sponsored interventions.</TT

Impact of community-based forest management and joint forest management on forest resource base and local peoples' livelihoods : case studies from Tanzania

Copublished with Centre for Applied Social Sciences, University of ZimbabweCASS/PLAAS occasion paper seriesIn recent years, there has been a move in eastern and southern African countries from centralised and state-driven management of natural resources towards decentralised and people-centred based regimes. In Tanzania, the inception of the 1998 national forest policy has led to institutionalisation of community-based forest management (CBFM) and joint forest management (JFM). A number of years later, it is worth assessing the impact of this policy on the resource base and people’s livelihoods. This paper uses two case studies of forest reserves under participatory forest management to explore this issue. Secondary data was gathered from various studies conducted in those two forest reserves. In addition to the analysis carried out by the various authors, further analysis involving content and structural analysis and synthesis of documented information was done. The results of the study revealed that CBFM at Duru-Haitemba had a positive impact on the resource base and people’s livelihoods – the forest is healthier than before and people are satisfied with the products they collect from the forests. On the other hand, the impact of JFM at Kwizu Forest Reserve has not yet produced desirable results since illegal activities are still rampant and, apparently, forest exploitation has increased instead of decreasing. The reasons behind the success at Duru-Haitemba and relative failure at Kwizu are varied, but are most probably linked to ownership of resources and law enforcement. Clear definition of rights, returns and responsibilities and adequate incentives are important for sustainability of people-centred management of natural resources

Empowering communities to manage natural resources: where does the new power lie?: a case study of Duru-Haitemba, Babati, Tanzania

Recent approaches to community-based natural resource management appear as diverse as their varied implementing agencies and natural resource settings; yet they rest on a set of common assumptions about community, natural resources and the relationship between them. This paper focuses on power relations between local actors and how these set the framework for resource management in Duru-Haitemba. As one of the few remaining tracts of Miombo woodlands, the Duru-Haitemba had been targeted for gazzettment. However the exercise faced ‘local discontent’, originating in the ‘generalized narrative’. Before colonial powers the community lived in balanced harmony with nature, which when disrupted led to disequilibrium and hence degradation. A range of factors may account for this, including: technological change; breakdown of traditional authority; social change; urban aspirations and intrusion of inappropriate state policies. The community and environment should be brought back into harmony. This requires either the discovery and rebuilding of traditional collective resource management institutions or their replacement by new ones. At the local level the elites and the traditionalists compete for power: The primary concern of traditionalists is ‘ritual’. Elites tend to hijack community-based processes and forcefully occupy the political space opened by decentralisation. Besides power struggles at the micro level, another challenge is the government leadership at the macro level. Government officials usually have very mixed feelings about community actions but increasingly are realising that community action can be substituted for the expensive exercise of putting government officials in the field. The paper points out that community-based natural resource management is a plausible way to reduce public costs of managing resources. However, the power struggle between local communities, field agents and supervisors remains. This ‘triangle’ of relationships constitutes the social arena marking out the actual ‘locale’ of community based natural resource management in Duru-Haitemba

Household livelihood strategies in the miombo woodlands of Tanzania: emerging trends

The study was undertaken in Tanzania to assess the effect of some macro-economic policies on livelihood strategies for households within or in close proximity in miombo woodlands. The focus was on how their responses are impacting on the management and use of the woodlands. Data were collected at macro level from three sites categories as remote, intermediate and peri-urban. Also data on important macroeconomic trends were collected. The results indicate that reductions government spending have decreased agricultural support in terms of extension services and subsidies on farm inputs. The increase in prices of input factors relative to output has raised costs of farm inputs, cost of living in general and decreased disposable incomes for most rural dwellers, forcing some of them into extensive forest product exploitation and trade for each incomes. in the study sites, some forest products contribute between 50-70% of annual household incomes. However not many households have the capacity to take the advantage of promising forest-based income generating activities. Economic hardships also led to changes in gender roles particularly in per-urban and intermediate sites. Women are increasingly expanding their roles, away from traditional domestic activities to income generating activities such as forest product exploitation and sale, casual labour and petty business. Men are gradually talking up activities which have traditionally been in the domain of women. The role of local institutions and traditional values in management of woodlands has declined. Village governments have replaced village and clan elders in land allocation. Local beliefs of value for forest protection and traditional property rights which influence utilization of communal resources have gradually been eroded. Some macro-economic policies have created conditions for broadening the cash income base of rural communities and have put value on some otherwise non-tradable forest products. Local communicates advocate for the full involvement in the management and use of these resources.

Stakeholders’ views and perceptions on emerging conflicts with respect to apiculture in the western Usambara mountains, Tanzania

The study identified key stakeholders and their interests and analyzed socio-economic factors influencing the perceptions and resource use conflicts of apiculture as an intervention towards improved natural resource management (NRM) by local communities in Lushoto district in Tanzania. Opinions from 98 respondents selected through a purposive, stratified simple random sampling were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that the majority of the farming community (61.4%) perceived apiculture as a reliable source of income and would adopt it as a complementary activity. There was a significant relationship between occurrence of resource use conflicts and age (P = 0.044); nature of conflict (P = 0.006); level of interest (P = 0.038) and duration of residence in the area (0.091). Farmers in the area had favourable perception towards apiculture. Measures should therefore be taken to sustain the favourable attitude of farmers towards apiculture to enhance NRM. In order to promote apiculture industry in Lushoto district, the study recommends a stepped up and focussed approach for mobilisation of beekeepers, capacity building and establishment of coordinated marketing system

Institutional arrangements and stakeholder power relations underlying apiculture for conservation of natural resources in west Usambara Mountains,Tanzania

A study was conducted whereby 98 respondents were interviewed out of which 54 were beekeepers while 44 were non –beekeepers. Statistical package SPSS v 16 was used to analyze the data. Age, awareness of national beekeeping policy, awareness of Village land act, number of individual beehives and number of group beehives were significant variables affecting performance of dominant formal institution (Village Natural Resource Committee) at p<0.05 whereas number of individual beehives and number of group beehives owned were significant variables affecting performance of dominant informal institution (cultural practices) at p<0.05. Stakeholder Power Relations were constructed not only through individual position of community members in the kinship hierarchy, but also through social and economic achievement and networks that may be used in gaining access to key resources such as land, woodlands and water

Institutional changes in management of Common Pool Resources (CPR) in Eastern Same Tanzania: Challenges and opportunities

During the last four decades Tanzania has witnessed several macro and sectoral policy changes with a trickle down effect, shaping both the management of CPR and livelihoods of resource users and other stakeholders. The study was carried out in the eastern part of Same district, focusing on the highland-lowland CPR interaction among the Maasai pastoralists and the Pare who are predominantly farmers. The main objective was to analyse institutional changes underlying the management of CPR and the factors driving the change with emphasis to resources such as forest, water for irrigation and grazing lands. The theoretical approach for the study is based on Hardin characterization of the tragedy of the commons which is the basic problem of CPR management and the way contemporary scholars such as Ostrom and other researchers have tried to approach the problem. Primary data collection involved the use of anthropological methods and socio- economic surveys employing household questionnaires, key informant interviews, oral histories and participants observation. Secondary sources such as government reports were also used. The results indicate that institutional changes have resulted into resource use conflicts and the challenge is that these conflicts have been increasing. The types of conflicts included micro-macro conflicts between conservation authorities and resource users, inter-micro micro conflicts between farmers and between farmers and herders and intra-micro micro conflicts between people in the same family or household. The factors that increased the likelihood of institutional changes included political, technological and distance to markets. The study recommends ecosystem based institutional framework that is capable of accommodating the changes, improving people’s welfare and sustainable management of the CPR in the study area. The opportunity that is presented by the current policy changes where power is devolved to local resource users and stakeholders can be utilized to achieve the desired goals of sustainable management of the CPR

Assessment of tree stocking and diversity for joint forest management (JFM) in Nkweshoo village forest management area, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

A village forest near the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro managed under Joint Forest Management (JFM) by the government and the local people was studied to assess its growing stock and to suggest interventions and management to promote its sustainable use. Data were collected using the methods of the International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) research programme. 19 tree species were identified and enumerated; the stocking was 714 trees/ha, basal area 27.5m2/ha and standing wood volume of 310 m3/ha. Almost half the standing volume was Macaranga kilimandscharica, a canopy tree species that was less desired for sawn timber and had not been over-harvested. Commercial timber production of other species that has been the dominant object of management is currently not sustainable. However, M. kilimandscharica is now the most preferred for firewood and light timber by the local user groups. Limited removal of over mature trees of this species by the local user groups for subsistence and community uses is recommended. The need for continued selective harvesting requires the determination of the sustainable allowable cut through recurrent resource assessment. Meanwhile the controlled harvesting will both demonstrate the value of the forest and motivate local people to protect it and, at the same time, increase its productivity and biodiversity