The Role of Local Authority Institutions on Peasants Pastoralists Land Use Conflict Mitigation in Tanzania:

Abstract

The current study investigated the role of Local Authority institutions on peasants- pastoralists land use conflict mitigation in Arumeru District in Tanzania. Specifically, the study investigated, the role played by local government authority towards conflict resolution among peasants and pastoralists, and assessed the effectiveness of the measures taken in mitigating farmers pastoralists conflicts. Similarly, the study recommended the best strategies for mitigating conflicts between peasants and pastoralists in Arumeru District. The study employed a mixed approach to research using a descriptive research design with a sample of 36 participants selected through simple random sampling and purposive procedures. The data collection involved the use of structured interview, questionnaires and documentary review. The analysis of data involved the use SPSS version 20 to generate frequencies and percentages for quantitative data, and the use of thematic analysis for qualitative data. The study findings revealed that majority (75%) of respondents had awareness on conflict resolutions among peasants and pastoralist. However, the issue of corruption among village chairperson was mentioned to be one of the critical factor that hinder the achievement conflict mitigation among the parties. It was mentioned by the respondents that the village chairpersons are not paid salary do the take the conflict as the means of acquiring wealth. Similarly, the findings suggested that the conflicts were timely resolved as it was reported by majority 80%) of respondents. The findings indicated that there is effectiveness by the local government authorities in dealing with land conflicts. Nevertheless, the cost set to solve the occurred conflict, seems to be the hindrance factors on timely mitigation as not all people in the community can afford the cost on time. It was further revealed from the findings that there was no village land use plan; thus peasants and pastorals were free to use any part of the land that caused much conflicts among the parties. Thus the findings suggest that, there should be effective enforcement of land policies, by-laws and guidelines and capacity building to village and communities on the proper use of land. The study concluded that land is a potential resource for both peasants and pastoralists‟ economic activities, the increase of people goes hand in hand with the increase of the use land for economic activities, and the local government authorities should adhere to the planned policies, by laws and guidelines for effective distribution of land to reduce the occurrence of conflicts. Therefore, the study recommends that there is a need for ongoing training and seminars for to all stakeholders on the proper use of land mitigating conflicts among the communities. With regard to the future studies, the study recommended a similar study to be conducted in other areas experiencing a similar problem.