Tanzania’s Village Land Act 15 years on

In Rural 21 (3/2016), Godfrey Massay of the Tanzania Natural Resource Forum reviews “Tanzania’s Village Land Act 15 years on”. A wave of land reforms became operational in Tanzania in 2001. The goals were ambitious – encouraging land registration and titling, and empowering women and other vulnerable groups – but the results are disillusioning. Implementation of the Land Use Act has not moved beyond some pilot projects. In the last ten years, land disputes between farmers and pastoralists have increased exponentially, as have the conflicts between local communities and land investors. Tanzania’s policy drive toward commercial agriculture implemented in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) is threatening tenure security of village lands.

Posted on 15 October 2016 in Pastoralism & Extractives, Pastoralism, Policy & Power