Farmers,
pastoralist’s conflicts: Where have we failed?
By Daniel Semberya
15th January 2014
Email
Print
Herds
Stakeholders say lack of policy,
government laxity, and corruption of leaders in their respective areas are some
of the major contributing factors to that conflicts between farmers and
pastoralists. Our Staff Writer has spotlighted the issue which has of late been
a menace both to human beings and economy. Read on…
Conflicts between farmers and pastoralists in Tanzania have been recurring for a long time claiming lives of many innocent people from the two communities and creating major economic impacts to the nation.
While all these conflicts and clashes are occurring findings show that Tanzania is endowed with an area of 94.5 million hectares of land, out of which 44 million hectares are classified as suitable for agriculture.
However, part of this arable land may be only marginally suitable for agricultural production for a variety of reasons, including leaching, drought proneness and tsetse infestation.
Studies conducted by United Republic of Tanzania and the World Bank in 2000 estimated that out of 50 million hectares suitable for livestock production only 26 million ha, or 50 per cent is currently being used mainly due to tsetse-fly infestation. Per capital land holding (hectare per head) is 0.1 ha.
According to national sample census for agriculture only 9.1 million hectares are being cultivated.
What is pastoralism all about?
Pastoralism is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, and sheep.
"Pastoralism" generally has a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and water (in contrast to pastoral farming, in which non-nomadic farmers grow crops and improve pastures for their livestock).
Pastoralism is a successful strategy to support a population on less productive land, and adapts well to the environment. For example, in some areas pastoralists and their animals gather when rain water is abundant and the pasture is rich.
Pastoralists often use their herds to affect their environment. Pastoralists may also use fire to make ecosystems more suitable for their food animals.
Pastoralism is found in many variations throughout the world. Composition of herds, management practices, social organization and all other aspects of pastoralism vary between areas and between social groups. Many traditional practices have also had to adapt to the changing circumstance of the modern world, including climatic conditions affecting the availability of grasses.
In recent years deadly conflicts have been erupting in Tanzania mainly between farmers and pastoralists and the government has been dilly dallying at taking immediate actions to mitigate that conflict.
Last year Tanzania’s southeastern Rufiji valley, farmers clashed with pastoralists who are being pushed into the area by drought, seeking land and water for their animals.
Scarcity of water which has lead to unending drought has forced hundreds of herdsmen from the nearby regions of Iringa and Morogoro to stream towards the Pwani (Coast) Region’s Rufiji Delta with thousands of their cattle.
This movement is causing tensions between the livestock keepers, who are desperately searching for new pasture, and local settled farmers - resulting in fighting, injuries and even several deaths.
Wherever clashes occur farmers have been accusing the pastoralists claiming that their herd of cattle have been eating and trampling on crops, including paddy rice and maize; hence, destroying their livelihoods.
Mafia’s District Commissioner Sauda Mtondoo was quoted estimating that around 4,500 hectares of arable farmland were invaded and destroyed by cattle-keepers.
This week the conflict between farmers and pastoralists has claimed 15 lives, leaving 14 people severely injured in Kiteto District in Manyara Region.
Speaking to this paper’ sister paper Nipashe this week through telephone interview the Kiteto farmers said that the fighting occurred at two divisions namely Laitimi and Lemenya in the Embroi Murtangosi Park. They said that the Masai pastoralists invaded them and started burning huts belonged to them, beating and killing their fellow using different weapons mercilessly.
One of those famers who was identified by only one name as Machite said that he was informed by his sons who were in the farm that they were ambushed by the pastoralists who burnt down their houses and some of them had lost lives.
Machite said that those clashes have reached serious stage saying there is a big group from the Masai pastoralist community equipped with weapons of war.
Another farmer Abdi Mussa said that clashes occurred in the two divisions, saying that according to the latest information reached him, around 11 people had already died from the surprise attack from the Masai pastoralists.
The Manyara Regional Police Commander Akilimali Mpwapwa confirmed the fighting between the two groups that took place in the Embroi Murtangosi park, but was not ready to give the number of deaths occurred in the conflict claiming that he had not received the exactly figures.
However, all blames are heavily thrown to the side of the government for failing to resolve the deadlock disputes between the two groups.
For Example, Brendan Kirima (60) said he does not totally believe if the government has failed to address this kind of conflict that has been claiming lives of innocent people from the two communities.
“Corrupt public leaders are the main cause of land grabbing incidents that have been increasing over the years, leading to numerous land disputes that the country is witnessing, especially between pastoralists and farmers,” he explained.
He says this country has a huge area of land, does it me the government has totally failed to allocate an area that would accommodate pastoralists in one are with all the needed infrastructures, rather than leaving them lead nomadic grazing way of life,? He queried.
Kirima says in order to eliminate this satanic life of fighting between the two communities, all local leaders implicated in colluding to fuel that conflict should be held accountable for their wrong deeds. They can even be jailed when proved guilty.
Kirima further suggests that apart from carrying on education awareness to these communities, the government should force pastoralists to sell some of their cattle and build permanent settlements and get rid of the nomadic life they have been leading so as to become economically beneficial.
Some farmers do not respect nomadic grazing routes to the extent of even daring to say "They come here to cause chaos on our land. We are fed up, and this problem must come to an end."
“We have often reported these incidents to the authorities, but not a single action has been taken," farmers complained.”
Findings in several villages in Rufiji District have revealed that pastoralists are flocking to the river valley in large numbers. They are attracted by vegetation growing in the delta area where most poor farmers earn their living.
"We are suffering like anybody else, but I think the government has to stop these people from coming and destroying our livelihood," he said.
The pastoralists also believe that the responsibility lies with the government, accusing officials for lacking effective policies for the livestock sector, despite knowing its importance to the economy.
"We are being treated as refugees in our own country - the only sin we seem to commit is to look for pastures and water to feed our animals," said Masolwa Nyanda a cattle-keeper from Mvomero in Morogoro.
In Kilosa District, Morogoro region tragically about 38 farmers were killed in December 2000 after clashes erupted between farmers and pastoralists.
Drought is here to stay
Officials say the pastoralists’ movements are prompted by changing weather patterns that have caused sustained drought in their home areas.
At its part the Tanzania Meteorological Agency says the country has experienced recurring drought in recent years, which has affected many regions known for livestock rearing.
It attributes the country’s changing climate patterns to a complex mix of factors, including man-made global warming caused by human factors. The East African region will have to learn to deal with the trend of shorter rainy seasons, which is likely to continue in the near future, she added.
"Pastoral societies find it increasingly difficult to cope with dwindling water supplies in their traditional areas, yet they cannot wait and watch their animals die," said an official with the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development, who sought anonymity.
Why clashes up
Conflict between farmers and pastoralists in the Pwani Region is nothing new. But the region’s commissioner, Mwantumu Mahiza, was once quoted by local media as saying that the violence had intensified in the past five years as the country has experienced prolonged drought caused by poor rains.
"We have reached a point where we say ‘enough is enough’ - we can no longer allow pastoralists into this region," she said.
Some critics have faulted the RC’s statement. They said the Regional commissioner was not supposed to give such a statement for both farmers and pastoralists are under her rule. “You cannot have any region in this country where there are only farmers or only pastoralists,” they reacted.
However, some experts on land issues have said that disputes between farmers and pastoralists are on the rise largely due to a poor system of land administration.
"These conflicts are multi-faceted.” “Farmers want the land for agriculture;
business people want it for investment; pastoralists want to graze their animals, but lack of clear-cut policies makes it difficult to resolve the disputes amicably."
Land ownership in Tanzania is governed by two major laws - the Land Act and the Village Land Act of 1999. All land belongs to the state, but it grants rights of occupancy for short- and long-term periods.
The Village Land Act bestows such ownership on inhabitants of certain areas who have established settlements, as in Rufiji.
The Tanzanian constitution, on the other hand, allows freedom of movement for people and their properties.
Local media reports indicate that conflicts over land and water are still simmering in many places in the country some of which have been mentioned above. Some pastoralists have even abandoned their livestock as they try to escape the wrath of furious farmers.
Attempts at agricultural modernization have also fostered an anti-pastoral environment in Tanzania.
The government aim is to confine livestock keeping to ‘pastoral villages’, but these villages lack sufficient pastures and water supplies, leading herders to search for such resources elsewhere. Pastoral access to wetlands is decreasing due to expansion of cultivated areas and the promotion of agriculture.
Conflicts over control of land and water resources between farmers and pastoralists are common along the areas where farming and pastoralism inter-sect.
The conflicts usually arise from destruction of crop fields by the livestock. In response, the resident farmers and agro-pastoralists erect barricades around farm areas and across passages leading to productive land.
"Sometimes, the farmers and pastoralists were required to pay hefty fines to the authorities even when they were the aggrieved side, thereby heightening the tension", explains a member of a grassroots network.
"Increased human and livestock populations have resulted in increased competition for resources including productive land and water. This has contributed significantly to the inter-communal conflicts especially between pastoralists and farmers.
Conflict arises when farmers have encroached on transhumance paths, leading herders to move onto agricultural land to enable their animals to feed. Competition over scarce agricultural land is also mounting as the population grows by 3.1 percent per year, one of the highest rates in the world.
Land scarcity has also been accentuated by land-grabbing by agro-businesses following new land laws that encourage private land ownership; and by the growth of artisanal gold miners who both squeeze herders off transhumance routes but also poison water points with chemicals.
POLITICAL interference has led to the messy situation arising from poor land use planning in parts of the country where conflicts between farmers and livestock keepers are prevalent. The politicians tend to ignore the existing laws and interfere in the planning of land use and not giving experts the freedom to play their roles has also been escalating consequences of poor planning for land across the country.
Debating the proposals for national development plan for 2014/15, Morogoro South Member of Parliament, who is also the region’s CCM chairman, Innocent Kalogeris, cautioned that lack of land use management plans was perpetuating conflicts between farmers and livestock keepers in his area. He used examples of conflicts in his constituency to caution that his party may perform poorly in the region in 2015 elections on grounds that crop farmers feel their predicament has been ignored.
He said there had been complaints from crop farmers over attacks from livestock keepers who graze their animals on their areas. According to him, the situation has caused anger among farmers, thus creating mistrust on part of their leaders. He said that as head of the party in his region, he was directly in touch with ordinary peasants who have always been in conflict with pastoralists who graze in their farms.
He said that since the cry of livestock keepers had been given a listening ear, it was important for crop farmers to be listened to as well. Contributing to the debate, Same East MP Ms. Anne Kilango- Malecela said the government should maximize the existing internal sources of revenue to ensure funds are in place to run land use programmes and control such conflicts.
The government has received many reports on land disputes, but no tangible actions have been taken to resolve them. Farmers and pastoralists scramble for land the government has not come up with a long term conclusive remedy, said Magdalena Sakaya (Special Seats, CUF) She said in many land cases the government has most often sided with investors, creating the impression that state authorities are neglecting the nationals.
She said many leaders in the conflicting areas are involved in soliciting bribes from the conflicting parties. The government should put in place effective strategies to help pastoralist and farmers out of protracted land disputes, the legislator said. Sakaya accused leaders of using environmental destruction as a pretext to deny pastoralists the rights to own land.
Busega Legislator Dr Titus Kamani (CCM) said the government needed to realise that no country or individual could develop economically without setting up mechanisms for proper utilisation of its land.
Other findings from other countries show that inadequacy of grazing resources, as increasing crop cultivation (and increasing commercialization of the crop-residues) and poor management of the existing grazing reserves have resulted in a significant reduction in available livestock feed resources, in particular in the northern states.
Another cause of farmer-herdsmen conflicts is increasing rate of cattle theft which is often accompanied by violence. Other perceived causes of farmer-herdsmen conflicts include inequitable access to land, diminishing land resources, antagonistic values among user groups, policy contradictions, and non-recognition of rights of indigenous people.
Whatever the causes of farmer-herdsmen conflicts are, it is evident that the conflicts have been of great negative effects.
Solutions
"It is difficult to bring an end to conflict once it has begun. To prevent conflicts from escalating into bloody confrontations between different groups - or even worse, ethnic clashes between people who attend the same mosques, the same markets, who bury their dead together - is very important.
Most conflicts arise out of a misunderstanding, on both sides, of land regulations and rules that protect both agricultural land and transhumance paths, he noted.
Conflicts between farmers and pastoralists in Tanzania have been recurring for a long time claiming lives of many innocent people from the two communities and creating major economic impacts to the nation.
While all these conflicts and clashes are occurring findings show that Tanzania is endowed with an area of 94.5 million hectares of land, out of which 44 million hectares are classified as suitable for agriculture.
However, part of this arable land may be only marginally suitable for agricultural production for a variety of reasons, including leaching, drought proneness and tsetse infestation.
Studies conducted by United Republic of Tanzania and the World Bank in 2000 estimated that out of 50 million hectares suitable for livestock production only 26 million ha, or 50 per cent is currently being used mainly due to tsetse-fly infestation. Per capital land holding (hectare per head) is 0.1 ha.
According to national sample census for agriculture only 9.1 million hectares are being cultivated.
What is pastoralism all about?
Pastoralism is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, and sheep.
"Pastoralism" generally has a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and water (in contrast to pastoral farming, in which non-nomadic farmers grow crops and improve pastures for their livestock).
Pastoralism is a successful strategy to support a population on less productive land, and adapts well to the environment. For example, in some areas pastoralists and their animals gather when rain water is abundant and the pasture is rich.
Pastoralists often use their herds to affect their environment. Pastoralists may also use fire to make ecosystems more suitable for their food animals.
Pastoralism is found in many variations throughout the world. Composition of herds, management practices, social organization and all other aspects of pastoralism vary between areas and between social groups. Many traditional practices have also had to adapt to the changing circumstance of the modern world, including climatic conditions affecting the availability of grasses.
In recent years deadly conflicts have been erupting in Tanzania mainly between farmers and pastoralists and the government has been dilly dallying at taking immediate actions to mitigate that conflict.
Last year Tanzania’s southeastern Rufiji valley, farmers clashed with pastoralists who are being pushed into the area by drought, seeking land and water for their animals.
Scarcity of water which has lead to unending drought has forced hundreds of herdsmen from the nearby regions of Iringa and Morogoro to stream towards the Pwani (Coast) Region’s Rufiji Delta with thousands of their cattle.
This movement is causing tensions between the livestock keepers, who are desperately searching for new pasture, and local settled farmers - resulting in fighting, injuries and even several deaths.
Wherever clashes occur farmers have been accusing the pastoralists claiming that their herd of cattle have been eating and trampling on crops, including paddy rice and maize; hence, destroying their livelihoods.
Mafia’s District Commissioner Sauda Mtondoo was quoted estimating that around 4,500 hectares of arable farmland were invaded and destroyed by cattle-keepers.
This week the conflict between farmers and pastoralists has claimed 15 lives, leaving 14 people severely injured in Kiteto District in Manyara Region.
Speaking to this paper’ sister paper Nipashe this week through telephone interview the Kiteto farmers said that the fighting occurred at two divisions namely Laitimi and Lemenya in the Embroi Murtangosi Park. They said that the Masai pastoralists invaded them and started burning huts belonged to them, beating and killing their fellow using different weapons mercilessly.
One of those famers who was identified by only one name as Machite said that he was informed by his sons who were in the farm that they were ambushed by the pastoralists who burnt down their houses and some of them had lost lives.
Machite said that those clashes have reached serious stage saying there is a big group from the Masai pastoralist community equipped with weapons of war.
Another farmer Abdi Mussa said that clashes occurred in the two divisions, saying that according to the latest information reached him, around 11 people had already died from the surprise attack from the Masai pastoralists.
The Manyara Regional Police Commander Akilimali Mpwapwa confirmed the fighting between the two groups that took place in the Embroi Murtangosi park, but was not ready to give the number of deaths occurred in the conflict claiming that he had not received the exactly figures.
However, all blames are heavily thrown to the side of the government for failing to resolve the deadlock disputes between the two groups.
For Example, Brendan Kirima (60) said he does not totally believe if the government has failed to address this kind of conflict that has been claiming lives of innocent people from the two communities.
“Corrupt public leaders are the main cause of land grabbing incidents that have been increasing over the years, leading to numerous land disputes that the country is witnessing, especially between pastoralists and farmers,” he explained.
He says this country has a huge area of land, does it me the government has totally failed to allocate an area that would accommodate pastoralists in one are with all the needed infrastructures, rather than leaving them lead nomadic grazing way of life,? He queried.
Kirima says in order to eliminate this satanic life of fighting between the two communities, all local leaders implicated in colluding to fuel that conflict should be held accountable for their wrong deeds. They can even be jailed when proved guilty.
Kirima further suggests that apart from carrying on education awareness to these communities, the government should force pastoralists to sell some of their cattle and build permanent settlements and get rid of the nomadic life they have been leading so as to become economically beneficial.
Some farmers do not respect nomadic grazing routes to the extent of even daring to say "They come here to cause chaos on our land. We are fed up, and this problem must come to an end."
“We have often reported these incidents to the authorities, but not a single action has been taken," farmers complained.”
Findings in several villages in Rufiji District have revealed that pastoralists are flocking to the river valley in large numbers. They are attracted by vegetation growing in the delta area where most poor farmers earn their living.
"We are suffering like anybody else, but I think the government has to stop these people from coming and destroying our livelihood," he said.
The pastoralists also believe that the responsibility lies with the government, accusing officials for lacking effective policies for the livestock sector, despite knowing its importance to the economy.
"We are being treated as refugees in our own country - the only sin we seem to commit is to look for pastures and water to feed our animals," said Masolwa Nyanda a cattle-keeper from Mvomero in Morogoro.
In Kilosa District, Morogoro region tragically about 38 farmers were killed in December 2000 after clashes erupted between farmers and pastoralists.
Drought is here to stay
Officials say the pastoralists’ movements are prompted by changing weather patterns that have caused sustained drought in their home areas.
At its part the Tanzania Meteorological Agency says the country has experienced recurring drought in recent years, which has affected many regions known for livestock rearing.
It attributes the country’s changing climate patterns to a complex mix of factors, including man-made global warming caused by human factors. The East African region will have to learn to deal with the trend of shorter rainy seasons, which is likely to continue in the near future, she added.
"Pastoral societies find it increasingly difficult to cope with dwindling water supplies in their traditional areas, yet they cannot wait and watch their animals die," said an official with the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development, who sought anonymity.
Why clashes up
Conflict between farmers and pastoralists in the Pwani Region is nothing new. But the region’s commissioner, Mwantumu Mahiza, was once quoted by local media as saying that the violence had intensified in the past five years as the country has experienced prolonged drought caused by poor rains.
"We have reached a point where we say ‘enough is enough’ - we can no longer allow pastoralists into this region," she said.
Some critics have faulted the RC’s statement. They said the Regional commissioner was not supposed to give such a statement for both farmers and pastoralists are under her rule. “You cannot have any region in this country where there are only farmers or only pastoralists,” they reacted.
However, some experts on land issues have said that disputes between farmers and pastoralists are on the rise largely due to a poor system of land administration.
"These conflicts are multi-faceted.” “Farmers want the land for agriculture;
business people want it for investment; pastoralists want to graze their animals, but lack of clear-cut policies makes it difficult to resolve the disputes amicably."
Land ownership in Tanzania is governed by two major laws - the Land Act and the Village Land Act of 1999. All land belongs to the state, but it grants rights of occupancy for short- and long-term periods.
The Village Land Act bestows such ownership on inhabitants of certain areas who have established settlements, as in Rufiji.
The Tanzanian constitution, on the other hand, allows freedom of movement for people and their properties.
Local media reports indicate that conflicts over land and water are still simmering in many places in the country some of which have been mentioned above. Some pastoralists have even abandoned their livestock as they try to escape the wrath of furious farmers.
Attempts at agricultural modernization have also fostered an anti-pastoral environment in Tanzania.
The government aim is to confine livestock keeping to ‘pastoral villages’, but these villages lack sufficient pastures and water supplies, leading herders to search for such resources elsewhere. Pastoral access to wetlands is decreasing due to expansion of cultivated areas and the promotion of agriculture.
Conflicts over control of land and water resources between farmers and pastoralists are common along the areas where farming and pastoralism inter-sect.
The conflicts usually arise from destruction of crop fields by the livestock. In response, the resident farmers and agro-pastoralists erect barricades around farm areas and across passages leading to productive land.
"Sometimes, the farmers and pastoralists were required to pay hefty fines to the authorities even when they were the aggrieved side, thereby heightening the tension", explains a member of a grassroots network.
"Increased human and livestock populations have resulted in increased competition for resources including productive land and water. This has contributed significantly to the inter-communal conflicts especially between pastoralists and farmers.
Conflict arises when farmers have encroached on transhumance paths, leading herders to move onto agricultural land to enable their animals to feed. Competition over scarce agricultural land is also mounting as the population grows by 3.1 percent per year, one of the highest rates in the world.
Land scarcity has also been accentuated by land-grabbing by agro-businesses following new land laws that encourage private land ownership; and by the growth of artisanal gold miners who both squeeze herders off transhumance routes but also poison water points with chemicals.
POLITICAL interference has led to the messy situation arising from poor land use planning in parts of the country where conflicts between farmers and livestock keepers are prevalent. The politicians tend to ignore the existing laws and interfere in the planning of land use and not giving experts the freedom to play their roles has also been escalating consequences of poor planning for land across the country.
Debating the proposals for national development plan for 2014/15, Morogoro South Member of Parliament, who is also the region’s CCM chairman, Innocent Kalogeris, cautioned that lack of land use management plans was perpetuating conflicts between farmers and livestock keepers in his area. He used examples of conflicts in his constituency to caution that his party may perform poorly in the region in 2015 elections on grounds that crop farmers feel their predicament has been ignored.
He said there had been complaints from crop farmers over attacks from livestock keepers who graze their animals on their areas. According to him, the situation has caused anger among farmers, thus creating mistrust on part of their leaders. He said that as head of the party in his region, he was directly in touch with ordinary peasants who have always been in conflict with pastoralists who graze in their farms.
He said that since the cry of livestock keepers had been given a listening ear, it was important for crop farmers to be listened to as well. Contributing to the debate, Same East MP Ms. Anne Kilango- Malecela said the government should maximize the existing internal sources of revenue to ensure funds are in place to run land use programmes and control such conflicts.
The government has received many reports on land disputes, but no tangible actions have been taken to resolve them. Farmers and pastoralists scramble for land the government has not come up with a long term conclusive remedy, said Magdalena Sakaya (Special Seats, CUF) She said in many land cases the government has most often sided with investors, creating the impression that state authorities are neglecting the nationals.
She said many leaders in the conflicting areas are involved in soliciting bribes from the conflicting parties. The government should put in place effective strategies to help pastoralist and farmers out of protracted land disputes, the legislator said. Sakaya accused leaders of using environmental destruction as a pretext to deny pastoralists the rights to own land.
Busega Legislator Dr Titus Kamani (CCM) said the government needed to realise that no country or individual could develop economically without setting up mechanisms for proper utilisation of its land.
Other findings from other countries show that inadequacy of grazing resources, as increasing crop cultivation (and increasing commercialization of the crop-residues) and poor management of the existing grazing reserves have resulted in a significant reduction in available livestock feed resources, in particular in the northern states.
Another cause of farmer-herdsmen conflicts is increasing rate of cattle theft which is often accompanied by violence. Other perceived causes of farmer-herdsmen conflicts include inequitable access to land, diminishing land resources, antagonistic values among user groups, policy contradictions, and non-recognition of rights of indigenous people.
Whatever the causes of farmer-herdsmen conflicts are, it is evident that the conflicts have been of great negative effects.
Solutions
"It is difficult to bring an end to conflict once it has begun. To prevent conflicts from escalating into bloody confrontations between different groups - or even worse, ethnic clashes between people who attend the same mosques, the same markets, who bury their dead together - is very important.
Most conflicts arise out of a misunderstanding, on both sides, of land regulations and rules that protect both agricultural land and transhumance paths, he noted.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
More News
No comments:
Post a Comment