The impacts of land tenure systems on range land productivity, health and resource use conflicts in Northern Tanzania
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Date
2021
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
Worldwide, rangelands comprise the largest land use, estimated to cover about 25% of
Earth’s land surface. Rangelands cover at least 10 million km 2 of the earth's land surface
and are estimated to cover about 66% of the land surface in Africa. Although there are
variations among countries, for example rangeland cover 44% in Uganda, 65% in
Ethiopia, in Tanzania 74%, and 80% in Kenya. Land tenure in rangeland is often
categorized as private, communal, open access, and state rangeland. Conflict in
rangelands can happen between different groups like pastoralists and other pastoralists,
pastoralists and crop growers, crop growers and rangelands management, pastoralists and
rangelands management and boundary conflict, although conflict between pastoralist and
crop growers is common in many areas in Tanzania. The study aims to assess the impact
of land tenure change on rangeland health, productivity and resource use conflicts.
Two rangelands from different tenure system were selected. Data on vegetation, above
ground biomass, soil organic carbon (SOC), species composition, and diversity were
collected from 90 rectangular plots (20 x 50 m) distributed randomly in selected
rangelands managed under open access and communal management. Perceptions on
resource use conflicts and drivers were assessed through a semi-structured interview
with 180 households from six villages. An independent t-test was used to compare
differences in vegetation biomass, species diversity, and Soil Organic Carbon (SOC)
between open access and communal rangelands. Two Way Cluster Analysis (TWCA)
was used to assess plant species assemblage in both rangelands. Descriptive analyses
were used to assess trends in resource use conflicts in the two rangelands.
Description
Dissertation
Keywords
Land tenure systems, Range land productivity, Conflict, Northern Tanzania