The twilight of customary land systems? : effects of the new wave land formalisation programmes on rural livelihoods in Tanzania

Abstract

Forms of customary land ownership in sub-Saharan Africa are a key element of African social organisation and have sustained and continue to sustain millions of subsistence and smallholder farmers by maintaining livelihoods in spite of significant economic and political change. More recently, attempts to increase productivity in rural areas, thereby enhancing development efforts, have taken the form of land formalisation programmes aimed at the privatisation of customary lands and the adoption of agricultural policies that emphasize growth rather than development. Yet these have often resulted in the failure to protect the livelihoods of rural populations and facilitating land grabbing. In light of these failures, they have since been reformulated into a ‘new wave’ of land formalisation whose objective is to incorporate elements of customary systems. The thesis asks therefore whether the new wave programmes have been successful in improving the quality of life and economic well-being of rural populations?<br /> We argue that even these new wave programmes will not protect rural livelihoods in the communal areas because they emphasise instead market fundamentalism which sees rural organisation and agricultural policy as driven by competition, profit motive, privatisation, and commodification of land. We undertook a qualitative case study of the implementation of ‘new wave’ land formalisation programme in three villages in Tanzania, which are Mbagwi, Mzeri, and Sindeni, all located in Handeni district, Tanga region. The study sought to find out how rural social organisation has been altered since the implementation of the formalisation programmes, and also information on agricultural production in order to demonstrate how smallholder farmers’ tenure security, sources of income and food security are being affected.<br /> The study found that the implementation of the new wave formalisation programmes is eroding key elements of customary ownership systems. Custom and norms of cooperation and reciprocity are dwindling, as evidenced by participants reporting the disappearance of such things as labour and food sharing practices, as well as norms that exhort eschewing selfishness in favour of actions that benefit all the members of the village. Further, strict land use plans eliminate flexibility in the use of land, and enhanced functioning of land markets undermines the permanency of land availability to poorer members of the society. Furthermore, the thesis concludes that agricultural models associated with the formalisation programmes have resulted in policies and economic strategies that are focused primarily on how to increase production, disregarding the implications on environment and on the livelihoods of rural dwellers.