Assessment of land use conflicts and their management in mount Meru area, Arusha Tanzania
Loading...
Date
2004
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
The study was conducted to assess land use conflicts and their management in Mount
Meru area of Arumeru District, Arusha Tanzania. The main objective was to study the
nature and types of land use conflicts in order to discern the underlying causes and come
up with appropriate management approaches to mitigate these conflicts. Primary data
were obtained through PRA, discussion with key informants, questionnaire survey and
field observations. Secondary data were obtained from the available archive. Multiple
linear regression model was used as a tool for analysis. About 91.9% and 92.7% of
respondents indicated that land is not enough for crop production and livestock grazing
respectively. Moreover, 32.0% of respondents indicated that conflicts emanate from
grazing illegally in the forest. Among the factors involved in regression model, big
number of livestock had positive influence on illegally grazed livestock (p = 0.01). About
18.0% of respondents indicated conflicts emanating from farm boundaries, and 16.0%
indicated conflict resulting on encroachment into forest and wildlife reserves. 14.0%
indicted conflicts emanating from illegal tree cutting from forest reserves for household
use and selling, while 11.0% and 9.0% indicated other sources of conflicts e.g. Poaching
and illegal fuel wood collection respectively.
Finally the study recommended that big herds, which are fed under free-range could be
sold and replaced with few stall-fed improved cattle breed. Further, optimization of
home gardens productivity can be achieved by planting as many crops in limited space
available and use of improved good quality seeds and fertilizers. It is also recommended
that formal education and promotion of environmental education be used to create
resource conservation awareness. Where appropriate government should redistribute
abandoned big farms to landless people and finance part of the establishment costs for
people migrating to spacious districts. Further, Management Plans should address the
concept of Joint Resource Management
Description
MSc. Dissertation
Keywords
Land use conflicts, Mount Meru, Arusha, Tanzania