Pastoral land tenure & conservation in Tanzania

Natural resources of the rangelands of northern Tanzania are subject to three competing claims: conservation of wildlife and nature, development to generate revenue for the State, and use for local livelihoods. The report “Pastoral land tenure and community conservation: a case study from north-east Tanzania” (1999, 103pp) by Jim Igoe & Dan Brockington, was published in the Pastoral Land Tenure Series of the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED), UK. It examines the impact of Western-style development and nature conservation on pastoralists in northeast Tanzania and presents data that challenge the ethics, validity, utility and profitability of this approach. Throughout Eastern Africa, these processes pose serious threats to pastoralist food security and livelihoods and reduce the flexibility of the pastoral resource-use system for dealing with the inevitable uncertainties in dryland environments. The paper reviews how different observers have characterised the pastoral problem generally – and in Tanzania in particular – and puts forward ideas as to how the threats to pastoralist mobility might best be met in this region.

Posted on 26 October 2024 in Pastoralism & Natural Resources, Pastoralism, Mobility & Land Tenure, Pastoralism, Policy & Power, Pastoralist Livelihoods & Nutrition