Beacons in Maasailand

Local democracy often has difficulties when it comes to land issues. The land legislation does not take into account that the public awareness of acts and procedures is very low most places – and that local authorities in general have limited capacity and funding for implementing the legislation.

From Ilamaratak. Archive Photo.

By Merete Holm, Development Worker for MS Tanzania

14. december 2007

This is unfortunate for rural communities. Here, land issues are administrated by the Village Councils. The Village Council has, together with the Village Assembly, the power to allocate land and formalise ownership in the local land registries. In Moduli, Arumeru and Kiteto districts – typical pastoralist areas - the MS Tanzania partner CORDS (Community Research and Development Services), partner with MS since 2002, has made an effort to prevent the conflicts and create awareness among the pastoralists and in the village executive offices.

Crucial collaboration with Local Government Authorities (LGA)
Training in land laws and policies of village leaders, representatives from village assemblies and officers is one part of capacity building; another is assistance with demarcation and preparation and registration of village land certificates. Up until now, approximately 80 villages have been demarcated and received certificates; more are on their way after training and dissemination of knowledge and a good deal of conflict resolution over boundaries. Crucial for this exercise is the collaboration with LGA and land officials. CORDS is, additionally, using land surveyors from the government for demarcation.

Women with power to own and invest
Part of capacity building aims specifically at women. Women are traditionally disadvantaged in the customary land administration that is still dominating rural areas. CORDS’ aim is to train women to take part in the ownership of resources and to speak up in meetings. The training also deals with the empowerment of women economically through their own small microfinance institutions.

Other current MS partners working with land rights and natural resource management are the pastoralist national NGO, TAPHGO, and the mine workers' development organisation, TMWDO.

Community Research and Development Services (CORDS)

CORDS works in partnership with MS Tanzania. Its main task is to address the challenges that pastoral communities face in their regions. Its work focuses on the fundamental issues, approaches, challenges, and changes that are needed to ensure the achievement of sustainable pastoral development and curb the trend of further marginalisation and impoverishment of pastoralists. Read more here: www.cordstz.org

Land - a reason for conflict
Land is the cause of many conflicts in Tanzania, especially in pastoralist areas. Here, prime land often has been taken from the communities for national parks. Since the government opened up for private investors, land is becoming scarce in certain places. The government’s right to take village land for public purposes adds to the conflict. Population growth is another reason for conflicts over land, also between farmers and pastoralists even outside the traditional pastoralist areas. Boundaries between villages are typical causes of disagreement. The many reasons for conflict over land are topped by a lack of awareness and knowledge about land laws in rural communities.

Land issues call for Public Private Partnership (PPP)
MS Tanzania’s Country Programme Strategy (CPS) focuses on land rights from a democracy perspective. Many activities regarding land rights in the villages have to be carried out in a PPP between Local Government Authorities and citizens. However, to build this local democracy it is necessary to create awareness and knowledge among the parties - and to create simple systems, procedures and mechanisms for the implementation of land laws. MS Tanzania has a special focus on women, pastoralists and small-scale/traditional farmers. A number of MS partners are already engaged in work with land rights and access to natural resources for these target groups.