Host communities' attitude towards benefit sharing from natural gas extraction: insights from Kilwa District, Tanzania
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Date
2020-05-19
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA),
Abstract
Tanzania is among the blessed countries in Africa in terms of minerals endowment. However, natural gas extraction is in its
infancy stage. The existing studies on natural gas extractions in Tanzania focused more at the national level with limited understanding
of the host community’s issues. This study was conducted to examine the host community’s attitude on natural gas extraction in Kilwa
District. Specifically, the study assessed: (i) host communities’ attitude towards benefits sharing, and (ii) factors that influence host
communities’ attitude towards benefit sharing. A structured questionnaire was administered to 373 respondents. A Likert scale was used
to measure the attitude of host community members towards benefit sharing. An Ordinal Logistic Regression (OLR) technique was used
to examine factors influencing attitudes of communities towards benefits sharing. The findings revealed that overall the respondents had
a negative attitude (60%) towards benefits sharing from the extractive industry. Distance from extraction activities, access to electricity,
the relationship between the community and extractive companies and sex of respondent were important determinants of attitude (p <
0.05). The study concludes that the high level of negative attitude implies host communities dissatisfaction towards natural gas
investment that may translate into resource curse in the country. This calls for immediate practical interventions by policymakers,
planners, and extractive companies to address challenges that limit equitable access to various benefits by host communities.
Description
The East African Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities V. 1, Issue 2, June 2019, pg. 53-59
Keywords
Host community’s attitude, Natural gas, Benefit-sharing, Tanzania