Land use conflicts and livelihoods of small holder farmers in Ulanga district
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Date
2013
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Publisher
Mzumbe University
Abstract
Land is increasingly becoming a source of conflicts in Tanzania and Africa at large, where land access had traditionally been characterized as relatively unrestricted. The main objective of the study was to examine how Land use conflicts’ smallholder farmers livelihoods are affected by land use conflicts. Subsequently, there were four specific objectives, to examine land administration system in Tanzania, especially land registration processes on how it affects rural smallholder farmers, to examine the state of land ownership in Ulanga district, to examine the causes for land use conflicts in Ulanga district and to examine the weaknesses of legal institutions for the persistence of the land use conflicts at Ulanga district. Primary data were collected from 120 smallholding farmers from 3 wards 2 villages from each ward. The study findings show that land administration system in Tanzania affects land registration process especially in rural areas due to the fact that most of the rural people failed to afford expenses. Also study findings reveal that most of the rural small farmers possess land through inheritance and customary rights. Moreover findings show that some of the underlying factors for land conflict are like, lack of clear demarcations, lack of land title deed, population pressure and agricultural commercialization. It seems that in Tanzania formal institutions for land administration are often simply superimposed on traditional structures without a clear delineation of responsibilities and competencies, implying that they lack both outreach and social legitimacy. It is thus concluded that land issue has a strong touch on a wide range of issues in different thematic areas. It is a cross cutting issue and touches all aspects of social, economic and political activities in rural areas. Therefore land use conflicts may affect the all sectors and live hoods of the natives of a specific area and Tanzania in general. It is recommended that there is a need of having strong legal management machinery which dealing with land management in the country. Also raising awareness on land rights is a crucial thing in land ownership. Furthermore the least there is a need to encourage land registration to the rural people. This service should be allocated in rural areas where most land conflicts occur
Description
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for award of the Degree of Master of Science in Development Policy (MSc. DP) of
Mzumbe University
Keywords
Land use conflicts, Land administration system -Tanzania, Smallholder farmers-Ulanga district, Land inheritance and customary rights-Tanzania, Land registration processes-Tanzania, Land ownership-Tanzania
Citation
APA