Farmers,
pastoralist’s conflicts: Where have we failed?
By Daniel Semberya
15th January 2014
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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.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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