V. INFORME SOBRE OTROS REQUERIMIENTOS LEGALES Y REGLAMENTARIOS
3. Normas de registro y valoración
3.2. Inmovilizado material
For about 10 years after independence, land distribution and control in Endamarariek and surroundings were still shaped by colonial policy. The goal of the colonial government to include Karatu farmers in national and international markets and the cash economy (see for instance Beidelman 2012:17) had a sustained effect on land use in the region. During the late colonial
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period and the first decade after independence, the patterns of agriculture in the lowlands changed gradually from herding to medium- and small-scale farming. The plough was introduced by the British in the late colonial period, and its usage helped to turn grass and bush land into agricultural plots.During the first 10 years after independence, the political vision of TANU for rural Tanzania (see chapter 5.5.1.) did not reach the local level. In 1963, the offices of chief and sub- chief were officially abolished, and a District Development Committee was established. In practice, however, the leadership and control of land introduced by indirect rule continued to be used. The chiefs and sub-chiefs who had worked for the colonial government remained in office until Nyerere’s speech in 1973 (Mbulu District Book 1930–61:55).
As described for the late British colonial period, wage labour on European farms triggered immigration to the area around Karatu town. A group of wheat farmers emerged out of the immigrants. In 1975, northern Mbulu was the largest single wheat-growing area in Tanzania. Wheat was first grown in Mbulu by South African farmers in the 1930s. During the Second World War, these farms increased their production. The government supported wheat production by granting guarantees and mechanised wheat schemes were introduced. However, at end of the war local farmers also started growing wheat. They used oxen at first but later hired tractors and combine harvesters from European settlers (see Coulson 1982a:98). The cash crop was sold in big cities such as Arusha and Dar es Salaam. The commercialisation of agrarian production was also reported by Schultz (1971:213). A transition from subsistence to cash crop production took place between Karatu town and Endabash village. Wheat production more than tripled between 1963 and 1966/67 and Iraqw farmers tripled their land holdings from approximately 6,000 acres to 18,000 acres in the area. The number of tractors doubled and one out of four farmers used an ox plough. In 1967, all arable land in Mbulu was distributed (Schultz 1971:213).
The economic elite of northern Mbulu consisted of large cattle herders and wheat farmers, who had traditionally seen increasing the number of cows as the best way to maximise wealth.163 After independence, this group changed their strategy of wealth accumulation. Some people from the Mbulu Mountains who had migrated to northern Mbulu during colonial times (see chapter 5.4.2.) had tactically co-operated with European settlers (see also Raikes 1975a:9; Hagborg 2001:72). Local farmers provided the Europeans with easy access to land, while the Europeans helped them to access machines and knowledge about the large-scale cultivation of wheat. One example was the former sub-chief and chairman of the court Hau, who was placed in
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Endabash during British indirect rule. He had huge land holdings and had managed to enter into good relations with the colonial government on the one hand and with the European farmers on the other hand.164
The colonial policy also favoured the expansion of the Catholic Church in Mbulu (see chapter 5.3.2.). This had visible effects on land use because churches and other buildings were built and surroundings fields were used for agriculture to supply the staff. The church also introduced a new system of spiritual thought that contradicted the local cosmology. As shown in chapter 5.2., the elders' position was legitimised by cosmology, and their interpretation of the divine entities supported local beliefs, which decisively shaped land and water use. Bishop Winter enthusiastically worked towards the missionary spreading of the Christian faith, and thus worked towards a questioning of power structures based on local cosmology.165
Land Distribution and Patterns of Production in the Reseach Area before Operation Vijiji
After 1961, land in the reseach area and surroundings was cultivated by local farmers on fields with a size of 1,000 acres (some 4 km²) or more. These farmers owned the full range of cultivation equipment such as medium-size trucks and tractors provided by a colonial programme of wheat schemes in that region. In northern Mbulu District "the owners of tractors cultivate about 90 percent of all wheat land either through ownership, under share-cropping agreements or under contract arrangements for those who do not own tractors” (Raikes 1975a:4).
Most entrepreneurs were Christians who had been skilled at selling and buying cattle, others had grown cash crops like onions, and some had worked for European settlers or were government clerks (see also Iliffe 1979:457; Schultz 1971:211).
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Interview with Gabrielli Tlatla, 11.03.2010.
165Between 1952 and 1969, Bishop Winter supported the building of 22 primary schools in Mbulu District, four new parishes and a
seminar for Catholic priests in Mbulu. During his leadership, 53,950 people converted to Catholicism. In 1969, the leadership of the Catholic Church changed as a result of Africanisation. Bishop Winter left and the Mbulu parish was put under the directive of the diocese of Tabora. All primary schools that had been run by the Catholic mission in Mbulu were nationalised. However, the teachers who had been trained by the missionaries continued to teach (Kinyaiya 2007:36).
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Landholdings in the area of today’s Karatu District in 1974/75 (before Operation Vijiji)Figure 14. Landholdings of 2,000 land holders in the area of today’s Karatu District before resettlement in 1974/75. Based on data available at the office in Karatu (United Republic of Tanzania 1994:51)
In contrast to European-run farms in Kilimanjaro, privately owned plantations were not nationalised in today’s Karatu District. The coffee and wheat schemes run by white farmers in the area continued to produce.
Just before the implementation of Operation Vijiji, the area of today’s Karatu District had 17 villages with more than 2,000 landholders who had received land from elders or the sub- chief/Kahamusmo (see Figure 14). In all, 60% held less than 10 acres of land, 26% held between 10 and 20 acres, 12% held between 20 and 50 acres, while only 2% had more than 50 acres of land (United Republic of Tanzania 1994:51).
Endabash is located in the north-eastern part of the district. It is the area where the research village emerged during resettlement. This area was too dry for wheat cultivation and had poor soil qualities. The principle food crop in Endabash was maize, usually intercropped with beans. Some people grew potatoes, green vegetables and various legumes as well as pumpkins and gourds around their houses (Raikes 1975a:100). In the decade after independence, patterns of production around Endabash consisted of a mixture of livestock husbandry and maize, sorghum, and millet cultivation. Usually the fields had the shape of a square surrounded by
grazing land. With the extension of farmland, pasture grounds shifted to the western part of the district (see map 4) (Schultz 1971:207).
Nyerere’s Speech in Endabash/Mbulu—A Particular Development Strategy, 1973
Nyerere's public speech on 6 November 1973 was the initiating event that heralded the resettlement into Ujamaa villages in northern Tanzania.166 To overcome poverty, Nyerere promoted a particular way of development in rural Mbulu through education, hard work in the agricultural sector and life in Ujamaa villages.
During his speech, Nyerere gave the people negative feedback on the way of life he had observed during his travels. Instead he promoted maendeleo (English: development). One particular sentence from Nyerere's speech has become part of the district's oral history, and many informants referred to it in their narratives: “Tokeni kwenye mashimo” (English: Leave your holes!)
By the term “holes”, Nyerere meant the houses in the region that were built into the sides of hills. He emphasised that change and development could only be achieved by moving into modern houses in modern centralised villages. “Before the resettlement people had lived in houses called tembe with clay on the roof. But the new buildings needed to be built fast so they built these houses with tin on the roof.”167
The forced change in housing styles was also described by Lawi, who states that government officials pressed people to abandon their “backward” houses and adopt the “modern” style (Lawi 2007:84). The change in housing style can be seen as a symbol of the gradual changes in values that came about under Ujamaa.
Translating Nyerere’s Speech—A Particular Idea of Modernity
In the years following Nyerere’s speech, his discourse on the backwardness of the “traditional” way of life continued to frame local policies. The ward secretary—who officially acted as both party and government head in the area—and the people who had been appointed by him shared the idea that the “backward” style of life needed to be overcome. Education, modern agricultural techniques and bush cleaning to open new settlement areas were seen as the way to overcome poverty in rural Mbulu.
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Nyerere travelled all around Tanzania in those years. Many people honoured him for what he did: travelling to the villages, he took the hoe (Swahili: jembe) in hand and worked side-by-side with the people. His fight against the individual enrichment of local officials was also admired by the people. To symbolise state power, a monument was built in Endabash (a village halfway between Mbulu and Karatu) at the spot where Nyerere proclaimed the Arusha Declaration.
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The extension of the educational sector was one of the socialist government’s main strategies for developing rural Tanzania. Formal education also provided a means to implement particular ideas of modernity and to strengthen government control by teaching children the ideals of the socialist government. A primary school was built in every Ujamaa village. It was mandatory for all children to attend four years of primary education to learn how to read and write in Swahili,168 the language of trade, economy, and the Tanzanian government. For most of the children in the research area, Swahili was a second language.The first public meeting of the village government of Endamarariek concerned the building of the primary school and the teacher’s house. All villagers were encouraged to contribute money. The primary school was placed on a plot that had belonged to the family of a ritual expert.169 The choice of location symbolised the replacement of Iraqw methods of education by “modern” education.
A school board was formed comprising the village chairman and additional four elders. They supervised the school’s construction and spread the message that every child should attend school. In Endamarariek, many people resisted sending their children to primary school. The son of the first chairman remembers:
Some people even hid their children inside the house when they saw the government coming to convince them to send their children to school. I think parents feared loosing influence on their children. Some even pretended not to have children just to avoid them going to school.170
However, a few people who had worked on European farms or were engaged in the trade of cash crops had a more positive view of formal education.