Introduction

Community Research and Development Services (CORDS), in collaboration with the target communities, has initiated the Community Resources Utilisation and Management Programme (CRUMP) in order to enhance security of land tenure and reduce problems of land-use conflicts in the indigenous pastoral Maasai areas. Facilitating a process of participatory land-use planning and management does this. The programme empowers pastoral communities and enables them to resist various forms of land alienation, while at the same time improving their resource base.

Background

In Tanzania, the pastoral Maasai traditionally enjoyed access to the entire area of their indigenous lands (i.e. the present districts of Kiteto, Simanjiro, Monduli and Ngorongoro). However, in recent years, they have lost land to other land-uses such as National Parks, agriculture, mining, and infrastructure. The population growth in the pastoral areas has led to land-use conflicts and environmental degradation. This trend drastically reduces the land available for pastoralism and pastoralists continue to be dispossessed of large areas of their indigenous lands. Consequently, the possibilities of relying solely on pastoral livelihood strategies have been increasingly reduced.

Aims

Since the land policy of Tanzania stipulates that security of tenure depends on the use of land, CORDS has launched the Community Resource Utilisation and Management Programme (CRUMP) in the pastoral areas. The programme aims at enhancing security of resource tenure by strengthening the village titling system, enabling the pastoral communities to address land-use conflicts by developing sustainable land-use and resource utilisation management plans. Ultimately, the programme will promote sustainable resource management, community empowerment and improved productivity in the livestock and agricultural sectors contributing to overall livelihood security.

Programme objectives

•  To improve the resource base of the pastoral communities.

•  To reduce land-use conflicts and empower pastoral communities to resist various forms of land alienation.

•  To enhance land and livestock productivity, while promoting sustainable development.

•  To strengthen collective village titling systems.

•  To enhance pastoral household food Security.

Programme activities

•  To mobilise target communities on the importance of land-use planning.

•  and produce village resource maps.

•  To prepare management plans for different zoned areas in each village.

•  To estimate the population and livestock growth of villages so that land-use plans reflect future development trends.

•  To assist villages in applying their village land-use plans to the guidelines from the National land use planning commission.

•  To facilitate 'agreement meetings' between conflicting land-user groups.

•  To facilitate the formation of village land management by-laws.

•  To monitor and evaluate the implementation of the land-use management plans.

•  To facilitate the establishment of village land registration.

Programme outputs/results

•  A secured resource base for the pastoral communities.

•  Reduced land use conflicts in the target communities.

•  Clear and detailed land-use and natural resource management plans.

•  Enhanced environmental management.

•  Land management by-laws in place.

•  To undertake socio-economic and biophysical village surveys through PRA approaches and other methodologies in order to produce village profiles documenting the current status of all village resources.

•  To create a database with the collected village data in order to facilitate documentation and analyses.

•  To facilitate the formation of Village Land-use Management Committees.

•  To organise and facilitate participatory land-use planning and management workshops and training for the villages' Land-use Management Committees and village leaders.

•  To zone village land according to specific uses, e.g. livestock pastures, agriculture, water catchment areas, livestock routes, forests and settlements.

•  Empowered communities capable of carrying out land-use planning and management.

•  Improved land productivity.

•  Improved socio-economic status of the target communities.

•  Improved food security in target communities.

•  Systematised database with finalised village resource profiles.