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Democracy and Land Conflicts in Tanzania: The Case of Pastoralists versus Peasants

Tanzania Journal of Development Studies

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Title Democracy and Land Conflicts in Tanzania: The Case of Pastoralists versus Peasants
 
Creator Shao, IF
 
Description This article deals with issues of land conflicts in Tanzania, particularly those that relate to pastoralists and peasants. At the centre of these conflicts, is the extent to which pastoralists and peasants are democratically involved in decision-making on issues of land and other natural resources. An historical overview of the land question is articulated, showing clearly how different government policies, programmes and strategies promulgated and fuelled land conflicts, particularly during the period of liberalisation and privatisation in the 1980s and 1990s.
Using cases from Arusha, Tanga and Coast regions to illustrate the land conflicts, the paper argues that at the heart of these conflicts is the top-down centralised bureaucratic and authoritarian system that does not allow for any meaningful people centred-democratic participation of land users themselves (pastoralists and peasants). The article concludes that land conflicts between pastoralists and peasants should not be seen as emanating from the two parties (pastoralists and peasants), but from broader issues of land and national policies, governance, and democratic principles in general. It reiterates that there is a need to rethink and redesign the county’s agrarian policies so as to protect the marginalised and vulnerable groups.
 
Publisher Educational Publishers and Distributors
 
Contributor —
 
Date 2010-10-04
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Peer-reviewed Article
 
Format application/pdf
 
Identifier https://www.ajol.info/index.php/tjds/article/view/60442
10.4314/tjds.v8i2.60442
 
Source Tanzania Journal of Development Studies; Vol 8, No 2 (2008)
2591-6831
0856-9622
 
Language eng
 
Relation https://www.ajol.info/index.php/tjds/article/view/60442/48673
 
Rights Copyright is owned by the sister institutes: IDS, University of Dar es Salaam, DSI, Sokoine University of Agriculture and Department of Development studies, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences.