Celebrating the issuing of the first-ever certificate of customary rights of occupancy for shared grazing to a livestock keepers association in Tanzania
Mkami Amos and Fiona Flintan, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
On 30 April 2019, 22 representatives (16 men and 6 women) of the OLENGAPA Livestock Keepers’ Association received the first-ever group certificates for customary rights of occupancy (CCRO) for grazing land issued to a Livestock Keeper’s Association.
The livestock keepers come from the villages Orkitikiti, Lerug, Engongwangare and Ngapapa in Kiteto District, Central Tanzania: all of whom had agreed to formalize the sharing of 30,000 hectares of common grazing land and other livestock resources such as water, through a joint village land use agreement. Originally three villages had produced the plan, but it was expanded to include a fourth village – Engongwangare – in 2018.
This joint village land use agreement had been developed through a process of joint village land use planning, implemented for the first time as a pilot project supported by IFAD and Irish Aid (amongst others) and led by ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, the National Land Use Planning Commission and local NGOS, including KINNAPA Development Association and Tanzania Natural Resource Forum. The project was a collaboration developed by the International Land Coalition, and a contribution to its Tanzania National Engagement Strategy (NES).
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| Women from the villages making up OLENGAPA celebrating the issuing of the CCROs |
The livestock keepers come from the villages Orkitikiti, Lerug, Engongwangare and Ngapapa in Kiteto District, Central Tanzania: all of whom had agreed to formalize the sharing of 30,000 hectares of common grazing land and other livestock resources such as water, through a joint village land use agreement. Originally three villages had produced the plan, but it was expanded to include a fourth village – Engongwangare – in 2018.
This joint village land use agreement had been developed through a process of joint village land use planning, implemented for the first time as a pilot project supported by IFAD and Irish Aid (amongst others) and led by ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute), the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, the National Land Use Planning Commission and local NGOS, including KINNAPA Development Association and Tanzania Natural Resource Forum. The project was a collaboration developed by the International Land Coalition, and a contribution to its Tanzania National Engagement Strategy (NES).
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| The Chairman of OLKA, Mr Kilekene Nongojeki, and the former Chairman Mr Sayeyi Musa holding up their CCROs |
The event was officiated by a Director of the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Zakariyya Kera on behalf of Prof Elisante Ole Gabriel, Permanent Secretary. Other participants included the Kiteto District Commissioner Hon Tumaini Magessa, and officials from Kiteto District, Manyara Regional Commissioner’s Office, Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries as well as representatives from ILRI and local NGOs.
Speaking on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, Prof Elisante Ole Gabriel, Zakariyya Kera said, ‘’The OLENGAPA grazing area provides to pastoralists the opportunity to improve their social and economic development.”
Hon Tumaini Magessa emphasised that the grazing land should be used as planned, “This grazing land should serve its use, that is for livestock keeping and there should be no encroachment or any other land uses.”
He further highlighted that strict measures would be taken for any violation of the agreement.
As the first pilot undertaken in joint village land use planning in the country, the process to reach this moment had taken several years and much investment by all actors involved. Negotiations between farmers and livestock keepers had taken place, and eventually agreement reached on the different land uses including the allocation of the shared grazing land, which flowed across the village administrative boundaries. The joint village land use agreement has kept the shared grazing land intact, and use cannot be changed without the agreement of all four villages.
Not only was the shared grazing land secured, but also village land for agriculture, settlement and conservation. The process followed the government Guidelines on Participatory Village Land Use Planning, enabled by the Village Land Act No. 5 of 1999 and the Village Land Use Planning Act No. 6 of 2007. For more details see Kalenzi, 2016.
In celebration of the moment and the presentation of certificates village women sang and danced. Speaking on behalf of the OLENGAPA Livestock Keepers’ Association, Mainge Lemalali Barikiwa, a respected community elder expressed his gratitude to the Sustainable Rangeland Management Project for supporting the OLENGAPA community and enabling them to acquire the CCRO, ‘’The OLENGAPA community has been experiencing the unending conflicts between pastoralists and crop farmers: this CCRO will help the community to protect the grazing land and reduce conflicts within our community.’’
The Sustainable Rangeland Management Project has support jointed village land use planning in three additional clusters of villages in Kiteto, and communities themselves are raising funds to acquire their CCROs. The Project is now upscaling the approach in a new District – Chalinze – another hotspot for farmer-herder conflicts. It is anticipated that the approach will once again serve to resolve such conflicts and protect land uses including grazing.
Speaking on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, Prof Elisante Ole Gabriel, Zakariyya Kera said, ‘’The OLENGAPA grazing area provides to pastoralists the opportunity to improve their social and economic development.”
Hon Tumaini Magessa emphasised that the grazing land should be used as planned, “This grazing land should serve its use, that is for livestock keeping and there should be no encroachment or any other land uses.”
He further highlighted that strict measures would be taken for any violation of the agreement.
As the first pilot undertaken in joint village land use planning in the country, the process to reach this moment had taken several years and much investment by all actors involved. Negotiations between farmers and livestock keepers had taken place, and eventually agreement reached on the different land uses including the allocation of the shared grazing land, which flowed across the village administrative boundaries. The joint village land use agreement has kept the shared grazing land intact, and use cannot be changed without the agreement of all four villages.
Not only was the shared grazing land secured, but also village land for agriculture, settlement and conservation. The process followed the government Guidelines on Participatory Village Land Use Planning, enabled by the Village Land Act No. 5 of 1999 and the Village Land Use Planning Act No. 6 of 2007. For more details see Kalenzi, 2016.
In celebration of the moment and the presentation of certificates village women sang and danced. Speaking on behalf of the OLENGAPA Livestock Keepers’ Association, Mainge Lemalali Barikiwa, a respected community elder expressed his gratitude to the Sustainable Rangeland Management Project for supporting the OLENGAPA community and enabling them to acquire the CCRO, ‘’The OLENGAPA community has been experiencing the unending conflicts between pastoralists and crop farmers: this CCRO will help the community to protect the grazing land and reduce conflicts within our community.’’
The Sustainable Rangeland Management Project has support jointed village land use planning in three additional clusters of villages in Kiteto, and communities themselves are raising funds to acquire their CCROs. The Project is now upscaling the approach in a new District – Chalinze – another hotspot for farmer-herder conflicts. It is anticipated that the approach will once again serve to resolve such conflicts and protect land uses including grazing.
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| Hon Tumaini Magessa, Kiteto D.C. presenting the CCROs to village leaders – the Chairman of OLKA, Mr Kilekene Nongojeki, and the former Chairman Mr Sayeyi Musa |