Participatory rangeland resource mapping for village land use planning
The International Land Coalition case study “Participatory rangeland resource mapping for village land use planning” is situated in Kiteto District in Tanzania.
A key challenge in this area is ensuring the maintenance of livestock movements for optimising pastoral production systems across village boundaries. Participatory rangeland mapping proved to be a useful tool for documenting and gaining a better understanding of methods for facilitating such movements into the VLUP mapping process. The mapping exercise aimed at providing information that would feed into the VLUP process and included: (1) mapping of resources and routes taken to access them, (2) identification of those resources that are key to current livelihood systems, (3) evaluation of how access to these resources has changed and the related causes, (4) determination of current practices for accessing and managing resources, and (5) identification of methodologies for maintaining access to resources that are key to current livelihoods systems, including the option of developing cross-village agreements as part of VLUP.
The mapping exercise took place in the Ng’abolo village of Kiteto District where pastoralism is the dominant livelihood system, and was carried out by a team consisting of villagers, support staff from the local village government, Kiteto district technical staff and NGO staff.
The participatory mapping process followed a classical approach, consisting of several well planned steps: (1) setting the mapping objectives, (2) establishing the facilitation team, (3) identifying the mapping participants, (4) producing a rangeland resource map, (5) adding more details to the map, (6) completing the mapping process, (7) obtaining feedback from other stakeholders, (8) writing the mapping report, and (9) taking the map and report back to the community.
The mapping exercise led to concrete results in the form of paper maps, covering the themes ‘ Livestock Corridors’, ‘Natural Resources’ and ‘Mobility’.
The maps provided valuable details on the distribution of resources in the villages, including grazing areas, shallow and deep wells, and different types of soils, determined by local names. Except for geographical accuracy, the range of topics included in the maps and map symbols used give a professional impression. This proves the strength of a well-balanced team, and the value of including team members with expertise in natural resources, land and environment. Ex-post evaluation indicated that women were as knowledgeable as men on natural resources, grazing and water points. Women were unable to effectively identify administrative boundaries but both men and women needed help from village leaders to draw the village boundaries.
The mapping process confirmed the in-depth knowledge of the local land users about their lands and resources and evidenced the importance of incorporating this knowledge into land use decision making processes. In addition, the discussions that followed the mapping highlighted many community needs including dip-tanks, cattle troughs, reliable sources of water, and vaccination and treatment centres.
At a broader level, the mapping process proved to be a useful addition to the VLUP investigation stage prior to negotiations over and definition of land uses, helping to establish the baseline for cross-village agreements. The project demonstrated that such mapping also provides useful input to general community development planning processes such as ‘obstacles and opportunities for development’ .