This is a report on TALA-Media joint mission in response to recently reported killings of 5 agro pastoralists and farmers in Maguba area Malinyi Division in Ulanga District. These people were allegedly reported to be killed by gun shots by the Tanzania Peoples Defense Forces on Saturday 17th March, 2012. 

This report is a compilation of primary and secondary sources of information, evidences and facts collected through consultative meetings and interviews with CSOs and Community members. More information was obtained from different credible sources including the UN treaty bodies, UN special procedures, ACHPR, government reports, media as well as reports of fact finding missions of pastoralists’ CSOs members. Validation was done by pastoralist CSOs and National CSOs in two different meetings

This is a stakeholder submission prepared by a coalition of 24 pastoralists and huntergatherers’ Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), forums, networks and groups. The stakeholders submission is a compilation of primary and secondary sources of information, evidence and facts collected through consultative meetings and interviews with civil society organizations, public officials and community members, experts on pastoralism as well as members of the academia.

In this communiqué, the undersigned Non-State Actors (civil society,pastoralist, research, private, farmers’ unions and other stakeholders) champion a call to action and outline recommendations on livestock policy advocacy strategies that take into consideration the unique conditions and opportunities of the livestock sector development in Tanzania.

A Summary of Demands that were Presented by pastoralists and hunter-gatherers organizations before the Constitutional Review Commission in January 2013

This chapter addresses issues related to securing access and rights to resources, and gaining benefits from the resource within the context of one community-based initiative in the village of Ololosokwan in Tanzania.

This paper presents several case studies to show how the Ujamaa Community Resource Team (UCRT) has been working within Tanzania’s legal and policy framework to support a diverse range of pastoralists, agro-pastoralists and hunter-gatherers, all of whom face fundamental threats from external appropriation of, or encroachment on, lands and natural resources. The work also responds to local needs to rationalise resource use rights amongst competing local groups, such as farmers and livestock keepers.

The first draft of the Tanzanian constitution incorporates many provisions that will improve the rights and interests of pastoralists, huntergatherers and women in these communities.

 However, there remain some important outstanding issues that must be addressed in order to ensure adequate reform that protects these marginalized groups’ interests

Communal lands are central to the livelihoods of many Tanzanians, particularly to pastoralists and hunter-gatherer groups. But a number of factors can undermine the security of these lands remaining ‘communal,’ in turn threatening the livelihoods of many people and cultures. This brief sets out a new mechanism for strengthening community land rights by securing local tenure through acquiring a Certificate of Customary Right of Occupancy (CCRO).

In northern Tanzania, new grassroots groups called Women’s Rights and Leadership Forums (WRLFs) are mobilizing women and men in pastoralist communities to promote and defend local land rights. This briefing highlights some of the WRLFs’ achievements and strategies; asks how these forums, which appear to be a part of an emerging grassroots social movement for land rights, can be further supported; and explores whether such forums could be replicated elsewhere in the region

Large-scale land acquisitions have increased in scale and pace due to changes in commodity markets, agricultural investment strategies, land prices, and a range of other policy and market forces. The areas most affected are the global “commons” – lands that local people traditionally use collectively — including much of the world’s forests, wetlands, and rangelands. In some cases land acquisition occurs with environmental objectives in sight – including the setting aside of land as protected areas for biodiversity conservation.

Across the world, areas with high or important biodiversity are often located within Indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ conserved territories and areas (ICCAs). Traditional and contemporary systems of stewardship embedded within cultural practices enable the conservation, restoration and connectivity of ecosystems, habitats, and specific species in accordance with indigenous and local worldviews. In spite of the benefits ICCAs have for maintaining the integrity of ecosystems, cultures and human wellbeing, they are under increasing threat.