THE government and civil society organisations have partnered to promote access to land rights for rural communities but they have faced difficulty in reaching many people who do not know their land rights and how to accesses these rights. Both government and civil society functionaries live far from communities that need their services most. For those who on rare occasions live within communities, they face the problem of understanding traditions and culture of the relevant community and this hampers their efforts to reach out to many beneficiaries of their work.

For this reason projects encourage villagers to form local groups which are trained in basic land laws, land rights and secure tenure, good governance, human rights and conflict resolution, among others. Community members are responsible for selecting members of the groups, usually one group per village, basing on terms and conditions set by the village assembly. NGOs and government provide guidance on formation of such groups and thereafter provide training for those selected.

These groups carry various names but basically they execute similar responsibility, which is promoting access to land rights for villagers.

HakiArdhi, for example, call them Land Rights Monitors (LRMs). They are individuals who are democratically elected by villagers to help ensure sustainability in land rights and governance and create continuity at the community level in its land rights and governance training programme.  

Action Aid Tanzania uses Community Development Facilitators (CDF), while Mtandao wa Vikundi vya Wakulima Tanzania (MVIWATA) - a network of small-scale farmers’ organizations - uses Promoters. On the other hand the Lawyers Environmental Action Team (LEAT) have Social Accountability Monitoring (SAM) teams. 

The idea behind is that local groups are better placed to promote land rights for villagers and sustain benefits that community members enjoy from implementation of specific projects. These groups also mobilise villagers to conserve the natural environment and adapt to impacts of climate change in order to build economic and environmental resilience for the community so that ownership of land and secure tenure become more meaningful.

The Tanzania Grass Roots Oriented Development (TAGRODE) that is conducting land rights related projects in  four villages in Morogoro and Iringa regions has helped villagers to establish Community Forums. These are groups formed by small holder farmers and pastoralists’ representatives in each of the four villages covered under the project. “The village government proposes the names of people who are eligible to join the forums but these must get approval by the village assembly. The criteria for selection include completion of secondary school education, the candidate must be hard working and must be acceptable in the village because of good character. The forums comprise 20 people, ten males and ten females,” explains Dickson Mwalumbandu, Field Coordinator for TAGRODE.

 Community Forums act as an oversight structure to advocate and sensitize the community members on land rights and tenure. Members of Community Forums work on voluntary basis. In a bid to underscore the value of land, Community Forum members insist that no person should sell their land especially if they have only one plot because they will never have a place to live and neither will they have a reliable source of livelihoods. “That will be the end of their lives. Forum members also encourage villagers to train their children to know their land rights and be guardians of the family land and thus village land,” explains Mwalubandu.

In implementing the Enhancing land rights and land security of Rural Communities in Iringa and Morogoro Regions project, TAGRODE is working with Mlimba District Council to promote land rights and secure tenure for villagers in the project area. “We strive to build a sense of ownership among community members that each of them has the obligation to protect their land rights and that we only help them to fulfil that obligation better. The responsibility to protect ownership rights must come from within the villagers and all community members in general. That is why we helped them establish the Community Forum because members of the forum live in the village, they know the problems that exist in relation to land rights and can therefore help their folks to solve these problems and to participate fully in promoting access to land rights. Besides they can easily win the trust of community members than someone who does not live in the community,” explains Zubery Mwachulla, Executive Director of the organization.

Norbert Mpangile, Ikule Village Executive Officer says that villagers acknowledge the important work being done by members of the community forum. He explains that they play a big role in educating and raising awareness of the importance of owning land and ensuring that the ownership is protected. “They do this by engaging individual members, in church, in mosques and during village assemblies. Community Forums also advocate for women ownership of land although traditions and customs remain big obstacles,” he explains.

The problem of failure of women to access land rights is not isolated to Ikule since in almost all villages under Mlimba District Council, villagers are still entrenched in traditions that do not allow women to own land. “It is an age-old belief that makes it difficult for people to change their mindset. Under the circumstances members of community forums should step up efforts to educate people about equitable land rights for both men and women. It will take time for people to change,” says Hiyasinti Edwin Libandama, acting District Lands Development Officer for Mlimba District Council.

Enock Kapola is a member of the Ikule Community Forum. He explains that the Forum’s activities focus on educating community members in accessing land rights and how to protect the land they own by acquiring evidence of ownership. The Forum also strives to raise awareness among villagers of the need to abandon traditions that prohibit women from owning land. Some women simply don’t want to own land for fear of breaching traditions and drawing the wrath of the family or the clan. “Since women and men make up families and the village population in general, there is no reason why some should have more rights than others when it comes to land ownership. The issue of equal rights becomes more conspicuous at family level where the wife and husband can have joint ownership in order to build a strong economy. We insist that when women own land they don’t infringe men’s rights of ownership; it is just about gender equality,” he says.

But some villagers are reluctant to take part in activities that will have their parcels of land surveyed and mapped so that they can eventually be given CCROs. Besides conservatism, there are also fears that land certification is just a trick by the district council that would ultimately add to new sources of revenue through land tax or levies.

Even with the use of community forum, implementation of the project does not meet expectations of villagers and they are losing patience. “Awareness is high. People want to see their plots of land being surveyed and mapped and eventually being issued certificates of occupancy. But things are moving rather slowly and they blame forum members for the delay. Their trust is waning.” 

However, TAGRODE ED acknowledges some minor delays but is confident that the project activities are running according to schedule. “We are implementing this project in partnership with other stakeholders including the Mlimba District Council which is the major partner. Sometimes they are held back by other obligations and this slows down the pace of implementation. But I am confident we will accomplish the project as scheduled,” says Dickson Mwalubandu.

As awareness of land issues becomes high Ikule Villagers now look forward  to having their land surveyed and are willing to pay 30,000/- to have more than one plot of their land surveyed. The project surveys and maps one piece of land and ultimately issues one Certificate of Customary Right of Occupancy (CCRO) free of charge for every individual. Those who want more plots surveyed, mapped and eventually be issued with certificates are required to part with the said amount.

“However project staff must visit the village frequently so as to reassure villagers that the project is ongoing and the objectives will be met. Currently forum members shoulder the burden of explaining the project status and villagers seem not to trust us anymore,” says Frank Msemwa, a member of the forum.

Another CF member at Ikule village, Zakayo Mbwilo explains that the forum has to a small extent been involved in resolving conflicts related to land ownership. “But we need more training in conflict resolution and we should be given the responsibility to resolve such issues in the village. Currently our participation is limited and our impact in conflict resolution is minimal,” he says.