Land policy 2016 attracts criticism

The government and stakeholders last week locked horns over the new Draft National Land Policy, 2016, which is being debated before its enactment next year.

While stakeholders blame the government for formulating a new land policy that intends to take land from the people, the government defends the instrument, which will replace the National Land Policy, 1995 since, as according to the government, it takes into account social, economic and political changes.

Government officials and stakeholders presented their views during a breakfast debate held at the British Council. It was organised by the Policy Forum under the theme: The New Lands Policy (Draft) 2016: giving land back to the people or taking it away from them?

Speaking during the debate, a political science lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Mr Sabato Nyamsenda, said the Draft National Land Policy, 2016 was not good for the country as it promoted land grabbing from small-scale farmers to medium and large-scale farmers on the pretext of investment.

He noted that it had sidelined villagers in land ownership and decision-making processes. “Petty traders and poor urban dwellers haven’t been considered in urban development plans, something that will escalate forced evictions without compensation,” he explained. He noted that the country’s state of poverty would worsen if the Draft National Land Policy, 2016 was endorsed and implemented.

“The Draft Land Policy, 2016 shouldn’t be endorsed as the country’s people are most likely to lose their land, which is a precious asset for them. Most of them use land for farming and get basic needs from it,” he said, adding: “Tanzania has recorded increased land disputes that one million hectares have been grabbed from small-scale farmers between 2009 and 2016 in favour of foreign investors.”

He noted that the government had copied some sections of the policy from the Indian Land Policy, warning that the latter had resulted in disasters in India and the same were most likely to be experienced in the country if the policy was endorsed.

Land Rights/Ardhi Yetu Programme coordinator from Care International Tanzania Mary Ndaro said since women constituted more than 50 per cent of the country’s population, their interests should be included in the country’s development plans.

“Most rural women depend on land to feed their families and meet their basic needs. The Draft National Land Policy, 2016 has neglected women’s rights in accessing and owning land. The interests of the larger population haven’t been considered, when formulating the policy,” she said.

Gender adviser Mwanahamisi Singano queried whether the Draft National Land Policy, 2016 won’t contradict the recently endorsed law on natural resources without violating people’s rights of accessing and owning land.

Development cooperation coordinator at the Embassy of Finland William Nambiza was critical of increasing disputes between farmers and pastoralists due to inadequate grazing and appealed to the government to introduce a grazing plan as the third plan on top of the village and urban land plans.

For his part, Sikika Executive Director Irenei Kiwia was impressed by the debate on land and said stakeholders wanted to know the way the new Draft National Land Policy, 2016 would allow land formalisation to be used as capital. “Women’s rights, especially ownership and use of land, should be extended to include lease and sale rights,” he noted.

However, Mr Kiria pushed for more public awareness on policy content. Earlier, in his presentation, a political science lecturer at the UDSM, Mr Richard Mbunda, highlighted people’s expectations from the to New National Land Policy, 2016, including resettlement of people facing acute land shortages, as a way of empowering them.

“People want to know issues of ideology and philosophy connected with the new policy regarding investment. They want to know whether the policy takes care of people’s development or just attracts foreign investment. In this regard, local people will not be considered as investors,” said the UDSM don.

He said the Draft National Land Policy, 2016 was expected to consider issues of compensation and lay emphasis on improving the lives of affected families instead of either compensating them inadequately or not compensating them altogether.

Mr Mbunda said there was a need for taking into account the rights other social groups, such as hunter-gathers.

The UDSM don said issues related to general land needed to be redefined because general land included unused village land. The definition has facilitated village land grabbing on the pretext that it is unused. However, he said land administration bodies were not indicated in the new Draft National Land Policy, 2016.

“The draft guarantees women’s access to land. However, it is silent on women’s rights to own and make decisions on land and its products. It is also silent on the coexistence of domestic and wild animals and ways in which conflicts could be avoided in such communities,” he said.

He noted that accommodating foreign investors in the agricultural sector seemed to be a major push for the new policy rather than promoting development of the rural poor. “The Draft National Land Policy, 2016 does not define precisely land tenure and ownership systems.”

Concluding his presentation, Mr Mbunda commended an adopted consultative process, but section wise analysis of the provisions of the Draft National Land Policy, 2016 indicated that people were given land. However, the general policy-making initiative didn’t embody the spirit of land for rural development.

In general, the Draft National Land Policy, 2016 provides an important starting point for the formulation of a new people-centred land policy to be formulated.

The director of rural and town planning in the Ministry of Land, Housing and Human Settlements Development, Prof John Lupala, reacted to stakeholders’ concerns, saying the new Draft National Land Policy, 2016 wasn’t intended to take land from people, rather it was formulated following global changes in a social, economic and political atmosphere caused by globalisation. He said currently, the ministry was consulting ministries over cross-cutting issues in the draft to be accommodated in the final draft.

“Through consultation with the ministry responsible for gender development, issues related to women have been considered. Land interests for rural people, hunters and gathers have also been taken care of. Reserved land for pastoralists has been taken on board, but taking into account land capacity and the size of livestock,” he said.

He said village powers in land decision making had been reinstated and the land commissioner would be responsible for overseeing decisions made by respective villages on land use.

“The role of the private sector is vital in the implementation of the National Land Policy, 2016. The government is incapable of doing everything alone. Having 59 private land survey companies and 40 land planning companies, they are expected to share their experience and expertise for the benefit of the country,” he said.