Certifying customary land-use rights of Tanzanian pastoralists

Communal lands are central to the livelihoods of many Tanzanians, particularly to pastoralists and hunter-gatherer groups, but numerous factors can threaten the security of these lands remaining “communal” and this, in turn, threatens the livelihoods of many people and cultures. Two civil-society organisations in Tanzania – the Ujamaa Community Resource Team (UCRT) and Maliasili Initiatives – brought out a 4-page brief on “Securing communal land tenure in northern Tanzania using certificates of customary right of occupancy” (2013) that sets out a new mechanism for strengthening community land rights by securing local tenure through acquiring a Certificate of Customary Right of Occupancy (CCRO). It describes the legal basis and process under this mechanism and provides recommendations on ways to mainstream this tool for the benefit of different public and private actors. It recommends that use of CCROs should be expanded, especially in Tanzania’s rangelands, to reduce conflicts over land, promote equal access and ownership, and secure communal rights to land over the long-term as the basis for pastoral livestock production and land-management systems. It is based on their 54-page study published in 2012: Securing community land rights: experiences and insights from working to secure hunter-gatherer and pastoralist land rights in northern Tanzania.

Posted on 29 October 2014 in Pastoralism & Natural Resources, Pastoralism & Peacebuilding, Pastoralism, Policy & Power