ABSTRACT

This study discusses the overlaps and interactions between formal and informal systems of managing conflicts related to land and water resources in Tanzania. The discussion adds to other studies challenging previous approaches that assume a clear separation between formal and informal institutions in natural resource management [Mehta et aI., 2001]. The study is based on fieldwork carried out in Usangu Plains, Tanzania (see Map), an area previously very sparsely populated, but recently experiencing very rapid changes in demography and agricultural development. About 40 ethnic groups are represented in the area. Apart from the in-migration of both small-scale agriculturalists and pastoralists, competition for resources is exacerbated by the expropriation of land for large-scale agricultural enterprises, particularly rice production, wildlife conservation and power-generation projects. Agricultural encroachment on to pastoral lands has at times meant that critical dry season pastures have been lost, and herder-farmer disputes and conflicts are numerous [Charnley, 1994, 1996; Odgaard and Maganga, 1994]. Competition for resources is particularly pronounced during the dry season when water and grazing land are very scarce.