Matching workloads with awareness raising

If you want to raise awareness among women you also have to give them time to participate. Most women in rural Tanzania have heavy workloads. But time planning and new working methods can ease the burdens.

Programme Officer, Seela Sainyeye from CORDS. Photo by Merete Holm.

By Merete Holm, Development Worker, MS Tanzania

10. juni 2008

In Mairowa a grinding mill donated from Denmark has eased the women’s tasks to prepare their maize. Previously the women had to walk long distances with the maize and to pay in cash for the grinding. No cash, no grinding. Having the mill near their home also makes life easier for the women in other ways. Since they manage the mill themselves they can obtain credit, and the income from the mill is used as loan capital, for which the women can apply.

Seela Melau recently got a loan of 50,000 TSH from the mill group when she had to go to the hospital. She has also benefited from the women’s group which helps people who do not own livestock. Last but not least, through the Village Land Council she has obtained two acres of land where she can now grow her own maize. When her husband left her with three children she decided to go the council and apply for a piece of land. ‘Now I can provide for myself,' she says. 'But it could be even better if I had more land, so I plan to apply again’, she adds.

The Village Land Act lays down women’s right to take part in decision-making. In fact, it is a condition in the law that women are represented in the Village Land Council. And women are taking part. They speak up and they are very active in settling the disputes between different parties. Men are accepting that their wives - who traditionally are not allowed to speak up in meetings where men are present - now have a say.

It is the traditional division of labour which seems more difficult to change. Women are still fetching firewood, milking cows, weeding, grinding maize, and taking care of the children. This is why capacity building of women to become more aware of their (land) rights has to be accompanied by facilitation of work planning and provision of managerial and technical skills.

The objective of CORDS’ Gender and Women Development Programme is to reduce women’s workloads and enhance women’s ownership, control over resources and access to productive projects in order for them to become economically empowered. Part of this is training in practical management, leadership, business planning and marketing.

‘It is very down to earth, but it can make a great difference if co-wives learn to plan and divide the work so they have time to go to village meetings’, says Gender Programme Officer, Seela Sainyeye from CORDS.

More than 2300 women from 17 women's groups, village land councils and village councils have been involved in CORDS’ awareness-raising in training, seminars and workshops in Kiteto, Simanjiro and Moduli districts.

Community Research and Development Services (CORDS)

CORDS, a partner organisation with MS Tanzania, works to 'translate' Tanzania's legislation on land rights into practice among the Maasai people. CORDS' main task is to address the challenges that the 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 has often been taken from the communities for national parks. Since the government opened up to private investors, land is in certain places becoming scarce. The government’s right to take village land for public purposes adds to the conflict. Population growth is another reason for conflict over land, also between farmers and pastoralists even outside the traditional pastoralist areas. Boundaries between villages are typical causes of disagreements. The many reasons for conflicts 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 the 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 the work with land rights and access to natural resources for these target groups.