Planes de empresas

In 1995, Endamarariek did no longer belong to the political unit of the Mbulu District but had become part of the Karatu District. Mbulu District was split and Karatu became a district of its own with an area of 3,300 km2. The modern district of Karatu is located in Arusha Region in

northern Tanzania. It borders Ngorongoro District to the north, Mbulu District to the west, Monduli District to the east, and Babati District to the south-east (see map, Introduction). The district is surrounded by national parks (Manyara National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area) and other tourist sites such as Lake Eyasi. New administrative borders were also drawn at the ward level: the former Endabash ward was split into Endabash and Endamarariek wards. These administrative changes were a reaction to the fast-growing population and an attempt to bring state governance closer to the people.206

In the 1980s, the reseach area and surroundings suffered an economic crisis paired with a number of serious droughts. Many farmers who had settled in less fertile areas during Ujamaa lost their cattle during that time.207

206 _{Interview with John Luciano Mahu, Endallah, 15.03.2009.} 207

In the 1990s, the new trading policies of the central government liberalised and integrated markets. Shops with a variety of products, banks, and restaurants changed the appearance of Karatu town, which had been a small transit town before. The consequences of increasing tourism (see below) also became apparent. Karatu town is situated along the only road connecting Arusha with Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park. The town is also at a short distance from Manyara National Park. To attract tourists, Karatu improved its infrastructure in terms of road building and the provision of petrol stations as well as garages for tourist cars and hotels. The new market opportunities not only increased investment in land for tourism purposes, they also enabled farmers to sell their fruit to hotels. Tourist development in Karatu had also made land expensive. Thus, many people with low incomes were priced out of buying land in Karatu town.

Economic liberalisation created new opportunities for farmers. Trade and business conditions improved and farmers could sell their products in markets. Local farmers became engaged in wider national and international trade networks (see also Hagborg 2001:81). The District Agriculture and Livestock Development Office began delivering extension services in better methods of farming and livestock rearing. In line with the National Agricultural Policy (see above), which promoted individual rights to land to enhance investment and development (see Shivji 1998:19), the extension officers were to a certain extent involved in the agricultural and livestock planning of villages.

Hagborg (2001:9) states that the welfare of the average peasant improved significantly under the new laws because the improved access to markets enabled farmers to increase their incomes. However, he also mentions that farmers living in areas with less fertile soil and less reliable rainfall did not profit from liberalisation (Hagborg 2001:81). This was certainly true in Karatu District. The highlands around Karatu town (Oldeani and Mbulumbulu) are characterised by fertile soil and can be classified as high potential areas. Farmers living in these areas benefited from the new laws. Economic activities diversified during the 1990s, as land use changed from privately owned coffee plantations to a mixture of large and small-scale agriculture. The increased market opportunities also resulted in the intensification of land usage, as shown by the increased numbers of irrigated plots around the town of Mto wa Mbu (see Rohde and Hilhorst 2001:11). Land became a more valuable resource as farmers' profits increased and a burgeoning land market formed. The number of disputes in which people contested their right to land also increased (Hagborg 2001:81).

However, farmers living in less productive areas did not profit from economic liberalisation. The low-potential areas of Karatu where the the reseach area and surroundings are

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located are characterised by low and unreliable rainfall, which limits the diversity of economic activities that can be carried out (see Yanda and Madulu 2003:15). Endamarariek is located in such a region. Due to erosion and seasonal rivers appearing during the rainy season, areas in valley bottoms are difficult to cultivate and the outcome is insecure.208 Furthermore, rainfall is unreliable and villagers often face food shortages. The government provides maize and beans to support families during those periods.209

Rather than benefiting from economic liberalisation, farmers in Endamarariek lost opportunities because of it. As a part of the liberalisation policy, the government reintroduced school fees for primary education.210 The introduction of fees resulted in a reduction of access to primary education for families that could not generate income through the production of cash crops.211

Land Shortage in the Village

In the 1980s, the reseach area and surroundings experienced a rapid population growth of 3.5% per annum. One result was land shortage. The consequences can be seen on the village level in Endamarariek. After Ujamaa, the government divided the land into 1.5 acre parcels until all village land was distributed in 1995. The village government also distributed former grazing grounds in the valley bottoms to farmers. Local narratives describe land distribution by the village government as a form of unlimited power: “In the years after socialism the village council was like a dictator. They could take away your land and there was no jurisdiction to claim back your land. Nowadays there are parties like CCM and CHADEMA, if the village council does wrong, they are scolded.”212

208 _{Interview with Emanuel Happy, Endamarariek, 04.03.2010.} 209 _{Interview with John Luciano Mahu, Endallah, 15.03.2009.} 210

Primary education is officially free these days, but the schools do not get enough funding from the government so they end up charging various fees to cover their expenses.

211 _{Interview with Emanuel Happy, Endamarariek, 04.03.2010.} 212

Land allocation in Endamarariek from 1940 to 2010

Figure 16. Number of cases of household land allocation (plots and fields) from 1940 until the census of 2010, by method of acquisition

Figure 16 shows how people gained access to plots for houses and fields in Endamarariek from 1940 to 2010. It shows the effects of Ujamaa and the current shortage of land.

In 1975—during Ujamaa—land allocation through the village government reached its peak. More recently, there has been an increase in land acquisition by means of family loans and by buying it from the owner. Acquisition of land applying these methods can be seen as a consequence of land shortages. Matching with national policies, the acquisition of land through money started in the mid-1980s.

Opposition Party in Control

In Karatu District, a strong opposition appeared in the first multiparty election in 1995.213 Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) won the race for Parliament as well as 80% of the elected ward councillor positions (Snyder 2008:291). Whereas the majority of the councils in Tanzania were dominated by the ruling party CCM, the Karatu District council was controlled by the opposition party.

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However, for Karatu District the situation was slightly different: people who had organised themselves in TANU and later CCM tended to change party and became candidates for CHADEMA. The party programme with its anticorruption focus and advocacy of free trade made membership attractive. Businessmen started fighting against corrupt government practices to create a better climate for economic activities.214

CHADEMA’s party platform was peppered with buzzwords used by international donors such as “rights and freedom of every individual”, “accountability on the part of public officials”, and “freedom and democracy” (see Moore 1996:589). Furthermore, the party wanted to encourage the private sector through the protection of private property. Moore states that as “far as its text went, the Chadema charter could have been written in Washington” (Moore 1996:589)

During this period, the district government maintained a relatively strong presence in centres like Karatu and even extended its power. Due to bad roads, state presence in remote areas was and still is comparably low.

Increasing Tourism and Land-Use Planning

The building of infrastructure for tourists influenced land-use planning and access to water and other resources in the Karatu area. Tourist hotels and camp sites were built requiring both land and water. In Karatu town, water consumption increased along with the number of tourists.

Tourism started playing a major role in Karatu’s local and regional economy during the 1990s. “Tourism, along with mining, horticulture, and agriculture, has been a main source of economic recovery, nationally and particularly in northern Tanzania” (Nelson 2007:107). The tourism sector went through some major changes during the last century, from a focus on hunting during the colonial period to the modern picture safari (and more relevant for coastal areas: beach holidays). Tourism had not been important for politicians during socialism. Parks did exist, but wildlife was managed by the central government.215 In the 1980s, the international community's interest in wildlife and biodiversity conservation led to a move toward more

214_{One example is the first chairman of Endamarariek. He changed party because he believed there would be better opportunities for}

his cash crop business when old structures of socialism were replaced with a free market approach.

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The friendship between Nyerere and Bernhard Grzimek (long-time director of the Frankfurt Zoo, Germany) nevertheless laid the foundation for mass tourism in Tanzania. Even though Nyerere himself was not interested in wildlife, he recognised that the state- owned national parks (managed by the TANAPA) and the tourism sector were amongst the biggest income-generating resources in Tanzania (see e.g. Sewig 2009:264).

community-based management216 and conservation and benefit-sharing schemes (Benjaminsen et al. 2011:4).217

However, local narratives in Karatu contradict the official policy of community involvement. The government agency in charge of national parks, named Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), restricted the entrance to Manyara National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area in the 1990s. Women had previously collected firewood or searched for medicinal herbs in the parks, but when tourism increased the boundaries were enforced more strictly. Women particularly feared the penalty of transportation to the next district capital, Babati, because it was 150 km away and they had no cash to buy a ticket home.218

Beginning in the 1990s, the tourism industry in Tanzania boomed as private investments streamed into the country and put its many resources to use. In 1998/99, tourism made up 40% of total exports. In 2001, it made up 12% of GDP (see Nelson 2007:105). In Karatu, the district government continues to encourage investments in tourism infrastructure such as roads, hotels, campsites, and restaurants. Tourism has also helped small business owners: people have started shops, restaurants, timber-selling businesses, and hostels for drivers and guides near the hotels (e.g. the Lake Manyara Hotel), camp sites (such as Endallah camp site), and other tourist lodging (such as Gibbs Farm, an old coffee plantation). However, access to jobs at the hotels is limited. Contact with tourists is in English and thus villagers from remote areas with poor schools are excluded from these business opportunities.

NGOs and Development Programmes

From the 1990s onwards, NGOs, development agencies, and other donors started playing a major role in shaping land and agricultural policy in rural Karatu. Tanzania had opened its doors to these agencies as part of the liberalisation process. Shetto and Owenya (Shetto and Owenya 2007:89) count five NGOs working on the improvement of farming conditions in Karatu in 2000. One example is the Karatu Development Association (KDA), which started in 1991. KDA is one of the oldest NGOs in Karatu. It is sponsored by the Danish Association for International Co-operation (Shetto and Owenya 2007:73). Its aim is to alleviate poverty by helping farmers to engage in microfinance and by improving agricultural practices through demonstration fields and other methods. KDA also conducts demonstrations at churches and schools (Shetto and Owenya 2007:73).

216

The Serengeti was declared a World Heritage Site in 1979 by the UNESCO.

217 _{However, the official government policy was de facto contradicted by cases where pastoralists—especially the Maasai—were}

excluded from national parks. For example, pastoralists were forced out of Mkomazi Game Reserve in 1988 when the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism cancelled all previous permits for grazing and residency (Neumann 1995:367).

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The NGOs focused on helping farmers produce for the market to increase their income. Bilateral agencies (e.g. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit) and multilateral agencies (e.g. World Bank) began implementing programmes in co-operation with the pro-liberal district government. This was possible because the local government reform enabled district governments to control donor money.

The growing influence of NGOs, development agencies, and other donors on agricultural practices also increased the value of land by connecting it to the income that could be made from cash crops. Hence, it led to more conflicts over land located in high potential areas.

Land and Water Access and the Catholic Church

In contrast to other regions (see e.g. Moore 1996:592), the land of the Catholic Church in Mbulu had not been confiscated and redistributed to peasants during Ujamaa. Instead, the Catholic Church maintained and even extended its access to land during the 1980s. In Endamarariek, the Catholic Church of Mbulu used its new land to build a mission centre, a dispensary, a female vocational school, a secondary school, and a drinking water distribution system. In this region, the church continues to provide social services that should be provided by the government. The Catholic Church grew with the village and became a significant power player in the community. Priests acted both as patrons and development brokers. They maintained their position by running the services mentioned above.

The water pipe serving the area was built by Misereor (a German Catholic development agency) in co-operation with the Diocese of Mbulu. The pipes measure more than 60 km and deliver water from the Marang Forest to Endamarariek.219 The project was started in 1989 and was finished in 1994.220 A local water administration (ENDAWASO) was established to manage the water system. Until today, ENDAWASO has its own independent legal framework. This sometimes causes conflicts with district leaders in Karatu town, probably because they are afraid of losing influence.221 The constitution of ENDAWASO also frames water-use planning and controls access to the only piped water available in Endamarariek. The water board members influence the water prices and policies of ENDAWASO. Most board members are elected, but the diocese holds a permanent seat on the board, thus maintaining its influence (see for details chapter 6.4.2.).

219 _{Interview with Father Florian, Dar es Salaam, 13.03.2010.}

220 _{When the water project was finalised, the guest of honour was Nyerere, Interview with Father Florian, Dar es Salaam, 13.03.2010.} 221

Allocation of Land and Conflict Resolution

Beginning in the 1990s, farmers and herders who had lost land rights during Operation Vijiji began to claim back their original land in the primary courts in Mbulumbulu, Endabash and Karatu (see also Hagborg 2001:81). These cases are interesting in that a number of people based their claims on customary law, and customary rights were sometimes granted by the courts.

An analysis of land cases stemming from villagisation pending before the primary court of Karatu shows that churches and village governments were also defendants:

During the first seven months of 1992, 97 suits were filed in this court involving 89 claimants and 565 respondents, of whom five are village governments, three churches, a mosque, one a UWT and one a Vijana plot. The rest of the respondents can be considered to be family heads. The total land claimed amounts to some 1693 acres. The average size of the plots held by respondents is 3 acres. It will be seen that land claims below 10 acres are 43 per cent, between 11 and 40 are 42 per cent and between 40 and 100, 15 per cent. (United Republic of Tanzania 1994:52)222

It is especially interesting that courts were increasingly employed to settle conflicts. The gradual shift of using state courts for dispute management instead of elders can be explained by one common practice: the land giver (no matter whether it was the Kahamusmo or state officials) was always consulted in the case of a conflict. Since most land in Karatu was redistributed by state officials during Ujamaa, these officials are now the ones consulted when conflicts arise.

The Struggle for Customary Land Titles

As mentioned above, large-scale farmers in Karatu initiated a massive flood of lawsuits in which they claimed their customary land rights back. The plaintiffs in the primary courts were exclusively former large-scale farmers. The defendants were predominantly small-scale farmers and village governments having built schools and other public buildings.

The Tanzanian government found itself in a dilemma: it had resettled thousands of villagers without a legal basis and 20 years later the former owners returned to claim their land rights based on customary law. The government's reaction was a preservation of the status quo. It enacted the Regulation of Land Tenure (Established Villages) Act of 1992 (see Table 5) that extinguished all customary land rights for land held prior to Operation Vijiji without compensation. The courts were instructed to reject claims for restitution (Schneeweis 2002:100).

The interference between customary and state land rights found its peak in the case of Attorney General v. Lohay Akonaay and Joseph Lohay. This case ended at the Court of Appeal. In

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its decision, the Court nullified major parts of the Regulation of Land Tenure (Established Villages) Act of 1992 for being in conflict with the Tanzanian constitution (Wanitzek 2005:180).

Lohay Akonaay and Joseph Lohay (father and son) had received land in Mbulu district from the Kahamusmo in 1943. During Operation Vijiji, the family was resettled to an Ujamaa village called Kambi ya Simba. In 1987, they started a court case to recover their right to their old land. The court arrived at the conclusion that

customary or deemed rights in land, though by their nature are nothing but rights to occupy and use the land, are nevertheless real property protected by provision of Article 24 (1) of the Constitution and, therefore, that deprivation of a customary or deemed right of occupancy without fair compensation is prohibited by the Constitution. (Rwegasira 2012:87)

This judgment was a cornerstone for the acknowledgement of customary land titles in statutory law. Still, the discussion on how to regulate the numerous conflicts between customary land rights and statutory land rights was a big political topic and resulted in the advent of the land reform process (see chapter 7.1.).

Changes in Inheritance

The scarcity of land in Karatu District resulted in two dynamics. First, inheritance rules changed. In chapter 5.2.1., the inheritance of land was described as follows: usually family land was handed over to the youngest son while all other male children searched for new areas to clear. With the support of the Kahamusmo and later the village government, they would obtain land for agricultural purposes. However, the last land in Endamarariek was distributed in 1995. Due to land scarcity, family land is now subdivided to all sons.

Another consequence of land scarcity was that no land was left fallow because otherwise the village government would reallocate it and farmers would risk losing their rights to it (see also (Eklo and Klein 1995:23). Ecologically this caused a lot of problems with soil fertility. The government policy (combined with an increase in population) leads to environmental problems (such as erosion) as well as decreased crop yields.

The conduct of the village council as the institution of absolute power in reallocating land is confirmed by informants in Endamarariek.223 That is why people increasingly lent their land to

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