Conflicts over natural resources in maasai district of simanjiro, tanzania
by Tom ole Sikar
Simanjiro District lies south of Arusha town on the Maasai steppe and is categorized as a semi-arid zone. 85% of the 65000 inhabitants who lived here in 1995 are Maasai pastoralists. There are also other Bantu groups, the majority recent immigrants, living in the district and practicing subsistence agriculture. Small groups of Ndorobo hunters and gathers are found scattered throughout the district. They are few in numbers compared to the pastoralists and farmers and are living in abject poverty.
In addition to livestock and vast stretches of open land the district is also bestowed with substantial quantities of gemstones and wildlife resources. Because of the availability of natural resources deemed necessary for development, various individuals and groups of people have migrated into the district in large numbers in recent years. This situation has led to various conflicts between the immigrants and inhabitants of the district over management and utilization of the available resources.
Background to the conflicts
Large scale commercial farming
Land use is a key issue and the alienation of land is a source of considerable tension in the district. By 1994 over 50 000 ha of land had been alienated in Simanjiro district for about 80 large scale farms ranging between 90 and 13 000 ha. These farms only produce seed beans, the majority of which are exported to Holland. To discourage and prevent pastoralists from grazing their cattle on these farms, all biomass residues are burnt immediately after harvest.
This type of land alienation is achieved through title deeds granted by the Government to the immigrant settlers without any consideration of the resident Maasai's land use needs. Although the law requires that before such deeds to public land are granted current owners and users are consulted, this is not always the case for pastoral lands.
In losing control of their right of land use planning over these alienated lands, the Maasai have in fact also been denied their livelihood which has been centred around optimum use of resources through traditional pastoralism. The pastoral use of natural resources has an inbuilt flexibility which takes into consideration prevailing conditions and has proven to be an effective response to the exigencies of a difficult environment for many generations. This flexibility is now severely taxed as traditional grazing areas have been lost to large scale farms. Traditional grazing patterns have been disturbed or restricted to confined places which has led both to herd losses and to over exploitation and degradation of resources.
Land alienation inevitably includes the loss of vital traditional water sources as the land demarcated for the farms encompasses several natural water holes and springs to which herders are now denied access and control. Local pastoral control of water resources works because it is based on principles of equal and fair rights and responsibilities to share among all herders in need of water for their stock. Control by these new immigrants has meant exclusion of the pastoralists and this has only led to conflict.
The combined loss of grazing and water rights are the two most serious problems for the Maasai in Simanjiro. These are compounded by others. Stock routes to access other resources, ea. salt licks, livestock markets, etc. have been blocked by 'private real estates'. The language is 'Trespassers will be prosecuted' and it is not just a wooden law without meaning. Its active enforcement has daily implications for the Maasai. Examples abound of the shooting of cattle and people, of fines being levied, of cattle being confiscated and of pastoralists being imprisoned. To add insult to injury most of the land acquired through these title deeds is not put into immediate cultivation or grazing use but rather is held for speculative purposes. From the perspective of the pastoralists, who are restricted, barred and confined from the proximity of their land over which they now apparently have no acknowledged legal rights of access and control, this is a threat to their survival. They see this land, which they are in immediate need of using, lying idle. The result has been that the pastoralists' claims and immediate needs come into head on conflicts with the speculative purposes for which this land is being held.
Mining
The second source of land use conflicts in the district is the use of land for mining of gemstones and other precious minerals. Mining in the district started in the late 1960s when immigrant individual miners began digging pit mines down to 50 meters underground using only the crudest of equipment. The realisation of the seemingly unlimited supply of gemstones, especially the rare and precious 'tanzanite', coupled with the opening of the economy in the mid 1980s, has encouraged both national and foreign mining companies to rush into these areas to establish and expand mining operations. Previously small villages were quickly transformed into 'gold-rush' towns bustling with activity mostly carried out by and of benefit to people from outside the district and Maasai communities. Mining companies have obtained mining concessions over large chunks of pastoral lands from the Government to explore for and extract gemstones. Suddenly these lands became 'prohibited lands' to the pastoralists who are no longer allowed to use them for their own purpose. The expanding mining activities in the district are being carried out parallel to the main land use activity for which this area is best suited, ie. pastoralism. Mining has become a competitor rather than a complementary activity to pastoralism and in several cases is clearly antagonistic. These 'outsiders' have grabbed opportunities available in the district while local inhabitants have been left unaware of the economic value of the mining resources and have consequently been marginalised.
In addition to losing access to large areas of grazing land and water rights, mining activities have brought with them other hazards. These include increasing numbers of accidents when herders and their cattle have fallen into abandoned and uncovered mining pits and increasing numbers of livestock thefts by miners. Also there is serious environmental degradation, ea. deforestation due to land being cleared to facilitate mining activities and to meet the rising demand for fuelwood and charcoal in the numerous bustling towns. Soil erosion caused by this deforestation coupled to the underground soils being brought to the surface and washed into the rivers during the rainy season is polluting the rivers. Dynamite blasting is also making its contribution to environmental problems and, together with the pit mines, marrs the countryside with ugly scars.
Equally evident and perhaps even more harmful is the distortion of the Maasai culture. The influx of people to pastoral lands for mining opportunities has brought along with it alien and incompatible cultures and customs, new and previously unheard of human diseases, and new and conflicting knowledge systems and skills concerning nature and resource use, and conflicting interests.
Tourism
The third major area of conflicts over land use is related to tourism and its accompanying new ideas concerning wildlife resources management and utilization. In this regard it is important to make clear that pastoralism and wildlife (both wild animals and wild plants) are not in conflict with each other. In fact they have co-existed in harmony since time immemorial and a natural balance has existed in resource use. Today, the government's emphasis on mass tourism and top down approaches to wildlife management involves the establishment and expansion of protected areas and the enactment and enforcement of wildlife legislation. This has accelerated the competitive trends and accentuated the differences between the consumptive and non-consumptive approaches to natural resources. The modern world sees nature as something to be owned, consumed, hunted and photographed - bushmeat, medicinal plants, hunters' trophies, the Maasai. The values of the Maasai have on the other hand stressed the nonconsumptive values of nature and the importance of respecting the natural balances, which have included human enjoyment of these magnificent resources but also acknowledging the need to live in harmony as part of a whole.
The 'modern' seems to be winning and dominates the agenda, bringing with it the destruction of wildlife resources, now the 'property' of the state. The new rules and law enforcement practices in the name of wildlife conservation have been instituted to replace traditional methods of wildlife management. As a result, land has been lost to wildlife by creating protected areas (National Parks, Game Reserves, Buffer Zones, etc.). Households have been forced to stop their animals from grazing in these areas. At the same time the wild animals have been allowed to graze with domestic animals in traditional grazing areas such as the Simanjiro Plains. This situation has enabled the transmission of diseases like malignant catarrah fever from wildebeest to livestock. The pastoralists, to diminish the risk, have no choice but to surrender this grazing land to the wildebeest. However, they are not allowed to compensate this loss by grazing their herds in wildlife designated areas during times of the year when this would be safe. Nor are they compensated for diseases, lost fodder or damage to their crops. Rather, because it is an offence to graze in protected areas, the local residents are now being fined, imprisoned or having their livestock confiscated. The wildlife conservation effort is made antagonistic to the pastoralists way of life, thus leading to further conflicts.
Finding a way forward
In trying to find ways to address the serious conflicts and environmental problems presently existing in Simanjiro District it appears that a radical change is required. This change must be based on recognition of the Maasai's rights and capacity to make an informed contribution to the planning of all activities in their area. Acknowledging their capacity to manage the natural resources in a sustainable manner as well as their rights to do so implies that they must be given a leading voice in deciding how these resources, the land and water, the wildlife, and the minerals can best be utilized. This utilization can not only be to contribute in a meaningful way to the short term economic development of the country today. It must also ensure that local people, those dependent on these resources for their survival today and in the future, will benefit and be able to contribute to sustainable use that will help to create the kind of world where the needs of all take precedence over the greeds of a few. The challenge remains. Let their voices be heard.
Tom ole Sikar is a rural development economist working with the Simanjiro District Drought Rehabilitation Programme. You are welcome to contact him for further information at the following address: P.O. Box 2777, Arusha, Tanzania.
Note The situation in Simanjiro is critical and for the Maasai living here it is a question of their very survival. it is clear to us that natural resource management must be informed and directed by local communities who are one of the central stakeholders in these resources. Their inclusion in policy and decision making requires the direct communication of their perspectives on the problems and solutions with respect to land, natural resource management and tenure. We feel that the new video technology, as it has been used by the Maasai in Ngorongoro (see article on page 28) offers an opportunity to make this possible. We invited those who are involved in development work in this district to support such an effort. Please contact: Tom ole Sikar, at the address above or Francis ole Ikayo, P.O. Box 12599, Arusha, Tanzania. |
