How Angelista defied all odds to own land
When her husband divorced her in 2004, Angelista Pinda had no time to linger on the misery. “Immediately after I got divorced, I and my two daughters were denied everything – from basic needs to shelter,” she said.
As the 50-year-old Angelista now recalls that day, it brings back nostalgic memories of discrimination and hopelessness. “My life took a turn for the worst. I wasn’t prepared. Was being a woman a curse? I thought. One of the precious possessions that I lost was my piece of land. I used to work hard day in and night at the farm. It was my livelihood,” she recalls. By tradition in their rural Tanzanian community, women did not inherit the land they farmed, no matter the improvements they made to the land, and no matter the number of years they had laboured on the plot. Generally, only a son was considered a rightful heir.
Most rural people, a majority of whom are women, rarely have access to formal or legal ownership to land due to the complicated traditional beliefs, attitudes and perceptions that dictate land ownership, deeming it a preserve of male members of the society.
As a result, women are placed in a position of considerable insecurity with regards to their land rights.
But then Angelista knew that she didn’t have to be weak, for her daughters need their mother. She had to set an example and needed to show them that women aren’t inferior and that they deserve and can do as much as men. “I did not want my daughters to feel any less than what they already saw in a patriarchal society we live in,” Angelista tells Woman Magazine.
Angelista’s misery became her strength and not her weakness. “I did not lose hope. It was time for me to prove to my village that women can own land. I did manual and petty jobs for quite some years and began saving till I had enough money to buy a farm. I made sure my farm’s title was shared with my two daughters name on it,” she says.
Angelista didn’t stop there. 15 years down the lane, today she not only owns a farm but also built two houses. “I bought motorbike to help me with my farming activities and later bought a welding machine to support my niece who was struggling,” Angelista tells.
Angelista is currently one of the leaders in the village government, and the elders in the village have voted her to represent the village’s community in even higher positions.“I encourage other women who pass through a similar journey like mine, not to give up, because nothing is impossible, it takes only commitment and determination to succeed in life,” says Angelista.
Angelista is a classic case of many Tanzanian women who are denied the right of possessing land and resources for economic activities. Although women formally have the legal right to own land under the 1999 Village Land Act, women rarely buy and own land.
According to USAID, in 2015, only 20 per cent of women possessed land in their own names in Tanzania.
The customary practices often require women to access land through their fathers, brothers, husbands or other men who control the land.
This makes women vulnerable and decreases agricultural productivity. When women lose their connection to this male relative, either through death, divorce or migration, they can lose their land, home and means of supporting themselves and their children.
Traditional cultural attitudes, bureaucratic mismanagement, corporate corruption, and lack of sufficient rural education pose obstacles to women’s ability to own land or defend their ownership to competing interests.
The women in Tanzania have until now had tenuous rights to the land they rely on to feed their families. Though Tanzania’s Land Act and Village Land Act (both passed in 1999) provide for women’s ownership of land, customary practices regarding marriage and inheritance continue to discriminate heavily against women.
The current constitution upholds equal rights to the property for men and women but does not clarify whether the law or custom take precedent when there is a conflict. And such a conflict exists in communities across the nation, undermining women’s rights.
According to the research titled ‘The role of women in Agriculture’ shows that women in Africa, including Tanzania, undertake almost half of the agricultural labour, without legal control over the land they farm and the proceeds of their labour, women have neither the incentive, security, nor opportunity to improve their harvests.
Ms Mary Makondo, the Commissioner of Lands from the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development reiterated the government’s commitment to empower and support Tanzanian women to own land.
“The government in collaboration with other land stakeholders is committed to survey and demarcate all the land by 2024,” said Ms Makondo.
She made the remarks when she addressed participants during a meeting convened by Care International Organisation in partnership with other Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) held in Dodoma earlier this month to mark this year’s International Women’s Day celebrations.
Among other objectives, the meeting focused on the importance of joining voices between CSOs, local women in communities, and other stakeholders to address challenges facing women in their daily lives especially domestic violence and lack of their voices in important decision-making processes.
Women’s land rights were among the agendas discussed at this year’s IWD celebrations which locally took place in Mashujaa grounds in Dodoma Region.
Ms Makondo further said the government recently had embarked on the Land Tenure Support Programme (LTSP) implemented in Kilombero, Ulanga and Malinyi districts in Morogoro Region.
Referring to the positive impacts of the programme, Ms Makondo further revealed that at least 40 per cent of the surveyed and demarcated land in the districts was owned by women.
Ms Makondo further said the issuance of land title deeds has enabled the majority of the women in the districts to have access to sufficient loans from financial institutions and Banks to run their economic activities including agriculture.
Tanzania’s Land, Housing and Human Settlements Development minister William Lukuvi last year announced to reduce the land title deed premium levy from 2.5 to 1 per cent in a fresh bid to make it easy for the majority Tanzanians to secure the important documents.
He said the move was aimed at enabling more Tanzanians to easily secure title deeds. Explaining the aim of the meeting, Ms Mary Ndaro from Care International said, “The aim is to discuss what is land for women and what land means to most women as a source of identity, economic tool, and mark of economic freedom, and security.”
Ms Ndaro further called upon the activists in the country to continue attending capacity building training to gain skills that will really help them to engage in global movements more precisely aimed at empowering the women.
Ms Glory Maro, one of the participants who attended the meeting representing the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism said, “Women’s right to own land is essential for her and her community regarding the fact that land is a source of income.”
She added: “If a woman owns a land, she is able to engage in development activities at all levels.”
Such is an example set by Angelista.
Therefore, the CSOs and other stakeholders in Tanzania have further called for the joint efforts to vigorously advocate for women’s engagement in economic and leadership decision making platforms from local government to the national level.
