"The Land Is Getting Smaller"
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"The land is getting smaller": Changing territorial strategies ofpastoralists in Tanzania Olivier LaRocque Department of Anthropology McGill University, Montreal January 2006 A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fuI filment of the requirement of the degree of Master of Arts © Olivier LaRocque, 2006 McGill University Library and Bibliothèque et 1+1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-24884-3 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-24884-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l'Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans loan, distribute and sell th es es le monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non sur support microforme, papier, électronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriété du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. ln compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privée, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont été enlevés de cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. ••• Canada Table ofContents TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................. .ii LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................... .iii ABSTRACT & SOMMAIRE ....................................................................................................................... .iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................... vi INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 1 General Context ofPastoralism in Tanzania Context... .................................................................. .2 Research Objective and Thesis ....................................................................................................... .4 Controversy about livestock mobility in Monduli District............................................................... 6 The grass is not greener elsewhere .................................................................................................. 7 RESOURCE USE IN MAASAI TERRITORy.............................................................................................. 9 The notion ofpastoral territory ...................................................................................................... 13 The notion ofproperty rights in land. ............................................................................................. 14 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF LAND TENURE IN TANZANIA. .................................................... 16 Political implications for pastoralists ............................................................................................... 19 METHODOLOGy........................................................................................................................................ .22 CASE STUDIES IN MONDULI DISTRICT ................................................................................................. 26 Lashaine Village .............................................................................................................................. .26 Monduli Juu Village ........................................................................................................................ .28 Olkaria Village ................................................................................................................................ .31 Mti Moja Village ............................................................................................................................. .33 Losirwa Village ............................................................................................................................... .35 Selela Village ................................................................................................................................... .41 Esilalei Village ................................................................................................................................. .46 DISCUSSION................................................... ;.............................................................................. .49 CASE STUDIES IN BAGAMOYO DISTRICT ............................................................................................ 56 Commercialization and herd distribution ......................................................................................... 60 Grazing access in peripheral areas .................................................................................................. 61 Encroachment, coriflicts and the privatization solution ................................................................... 65 SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................... 68 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................... 70 APPENDIX ...................................................: .................................................................................................. 76 GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................................................... 79 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................................... 80 11 List ofFigures Monduli District. ........................................................................................................................................ .25 Seasonal grazing plan frameworks: Losirwa Village: ........................................................................................................................... .37 Selela Village: .............................................................................................................................. .43 Esilalei Village: ............................................................................................................................ .45 Study area in Bagamoyo District. ................................................ ,............................................................... 59 111 Abstract This thesis is the result of fieldwork in Tanzania alongside pastoralists. Since mobility is a condition of pastoral existence, the study followed patterns oflivestock movements in several sites, along seasonal migratory routes, and in areas where pastoralists have relocated permanently. Large-scale land alienation from their customary territory by the government and the encroachment of agriculturaIists threaten the integrity of the pastoraIists' livestock economy. Most pastoralists now farm to supplement their dairy diet. Since agricultural development secures a stronger claim on land, pastoralists also pre-empt outsiders' claims for land by expanding their own farming activities. However, the study suggests that the transformation ofkey seasonal pastures into large commercial farms and subsistence farm plots has a cumulative effect on the availability of pastoral resources. The chronic scarcity of dry season grazing resources exacerbates competition among pastoralist groups. Large pastoral territories are fragmenting into less sustainable pastoral management units and strategies of exclusion are replacing earlier arrangements based on reciprocity of access to facilitate live stock mobility. As a last resort, sorne pastoralists relocate in agricultural areas where prejudices against pastoralism run high and live stock mobility is further constrained. Altogether, political constraints now shape livelihoods from livestock more so than ecological factors. The loss of live stock mobility increases the vulnerability ofherd-owners to occasional droughts, and stationary herds are more likely to cause environmental damage. Pastoralism is often deemed economically unsustainable and environmentally destructive, but the examination of political