Equal Land Distribution: Distribution as the Alternative for Poverty Alleviation
Author: Mushi, Marco , markmushi@rocketmail.com
Department: Sociology
University: Jordan University College, Constituency of St. Augustine in Tanzania, Tanzania
Supervisor: Celestine Soosai
Year of completion: 2013
Language of dissertation: English language
Keywords:
Land
, Poverty
, Land distribution
, Land management
Areas of Research:
Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy
, Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy
, Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Policy
Abstract
The process of land distribution has been a global problem for decades. It is especially relevant in Africa, especially in Sub Saharan Africa. The main cause of land distribution is self–enrichment, which affects the majority in the developing world. The increasing number of investors is another major factor for land accessibility. The other causes include rapid population growth, presence of natural resources like minerals, modernization, new source of wealth, government expansion as well as both external and internal policies. The study focused on examining factors constraining the availability of land in Kagera region with Missenyi district and Nsunga ward being the case study. The study focused on how socioeconomic, agricultural activities, culture, and gender impact land distribution. The study had five objectives. The first objective was to overview poverty reduction in the study area and the second, was to determine how socioeconomic, agricultural , cultural, gender and political factors act as constraints in the ward. The third objective was to determine the agricultural factors that constrain poverty reduction. The fourth objective was to determine how gender constrains poverty reduction and the fifth was to explore the possible measures to address the situation. The study was conducted in one ward of Nsunga in Missenyi District. About 40 respondents were consulted through questionnaires, and 10 government officials were interviewed. Two focus group discussions were conducted in the study area, one with women only while other contained both men and women.
The study found that self-enrichment was a major obstacle to land distribution in Nsunga, with lack of commitment by leadership, norms and values of individual politicians and civil servants leading to poor utilization of the land. Lack of sufficient information and knowledge also acted as constraints because citizens and government agencies cannot prevent embezzlement and the lack of trust in the government and public authorities also caused problems.
