Land Use Conflicts Escalation as Aftermath of Pastoralists In-migration in Rufiji District, Tanzania

Abstract

Pastoralists’ migration has created land-use pressure and conflicts in many areas. A cross-sectional study was
conducted in Rufiji district, whereby surveys, focus group discussions, interviews, and documentary reviews were used to
collect data. Multistage sampling techniques were applied to select the divisions, wards and villages for the study. The kth
factor formula was applied to pick the sampled villages and households for the study. A semi-structured questionnaire was
administered among 200 households. Forty (40) respondents from 40 households were purposively selected from each of
the 5 villages, which made a total of 200 respondents who were aged above 30 years in the period of data collection and who have
been in the village since 2000 or before. Content analysis was the main technique for analysing data which were collected
through the key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Moreover, data collected using the questionnaire were
analysed using descriptive statistics. The findings showed that land-use conflicts occur in the study area that escalated after the
arrival of pastoralists; however, the conflicts have been solved through various techniques and the involvement
of different stakeholders as conflict resolution actors. The most erupting conflict is between pastoralists and native crop
farmers. The findings also show that there were efforts and mechanisms to reduce the land-use conflicts, including the involvement of the stakeholders in conflict resolution. The study concludes that land-use conflicts and the conflicting actors
have increased since the arrival of pastoralists. The study recommends the establishment of proper mechanisms for resettling
pastoralists in the study area, the need to strengthen locally applied techniques to resolve land-use conflicts rather than enforcing
laws and by-laws, and ensuring that all villages have established and allocated areas for pastoralists and native farmers to
undertake their economic activities. The village government officials should observe and respect procedures for land
allocation as stipulated in the Tanzania Village Land Act.