rufiji environment management project - Coastal Forests of Kenya ...

REMP Technical Report 40: Rangeland Resources in Rufjiji
extends the agricultural season to all but one month of the year, leaving little time for crop residue
consumption by livestock.
Local people in Rufiji villages should reserve their own rights to resources and to maintain their
identity with the help of the District Councils by placing tight limits on outsiders especially on flood
recession agriculture “mlau”. They may welcome herders on temporary basis to graze on crop residues.
It is expected that immigrant herders should respect this and that will maintain good relations with
farmers. Farmers who invest in large scale cash cropping are less likely than traditional small holder to
seek good relations with herders. Similarly, commercial farmers exclusive land use rights, may deny
herders access to valuable grazing resources.
3.11 Land tenure system
Similar to other parts of the country, the National Land Policy (NLP) and the Land Act 1999 and the
Village Land Act 1999 applies to Rufiji District. The land is vested in the President and managed and
regulated on his behalf by the Commissioner for Lands. At village level, it is prescribed as a
management role for the Village Council and a consultative role for the Village Assembly. Land is
arguably the most common pool resource. Communal land ownership is the dorminant land tenure
system in the area. At village level, the boundary issue obviously is not simply one of the demarcation
or geographical space. Usually it is about resources and, very frequently, a common resource like
pastures and forests which may not be physically occupied by households but to which the community
has defined (customary rights to) access. Yet it is easier for outside interests to rationalize and justify
excluding such lands from villages on the ground that they are unoccupied. It was apparent that some
areas are under disagreement as to who has the right to own the land. The villages under discussions
are between Uchembe -Uponda and Bungu, Ikwiriri north and Umwe. It is important for all villages to
define their land and natural resources, their boundaries and their customary access rights.
It is important to keep on educating village members on the reviewed land policy in the country. The
posters that remind villages on issues on land policy are quite useful. Some of the posters were seen at
Ikwiriri (S) which had the following Swahili words:
ZIJUE SHERIA ZA ARDHI 1999 NA JINSIA
kifungu cha 60 (2) –sheria za Ardhi Vijijini ya 1999:
“Kifungu hiki kinaeleza kuwa baraza la kijiji limepewa Uwezo wa kuunda
baraza la ardhi ya kijiji litakalo kuwa na wajumbe saba (7) na kati yao watatu (3) LAZIMA wawe
wanawake”.
Kifungu cha 60 (9) Sheria ya Ardhi Vijijini ya 1999
“Kifungu hiki kinatamka kuwa koramu katika Baraza za ardhi la kijiji litakuwa na wajumbe
wasiopungua wanne (4) na kati yao wanawake ni lazima wawe wawili (2)”
WITO: Mikutano katika mabaraza ya Ardhi isiendeshwe bila koramu iliyopo kisheria kufuatwa.
This implies that successful resource management can not be divorced from economic activities, such
as cultivation fishing, hunting or herding. Among the villages visited, ownership, conservation and
management of resources should go together. The rules of tenure have effect on preservation and
protection and thus affecting surrounding ecosystem. The resource conservation will be practiced by
those to whom the resources belong. When the resource is owned, then villages will be serious to
invest time and effort in conservation. Almost in all villages, there is a need for deliberate creation of
awareness and education. Villages should be facilitated in making the overall village environment
management plan and describe the boundaries of its land and natural resources, and therefore
mechanism of ownership will be initiated. That means Rufiji has a variety of flora and fauna with great
biodiversity. Local communities mainly depend on forests to supply their needs such a building
material, herbal medicines, wild fruits, and bee’s products. Forestry is the main source of bioenergy for
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