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| Empowering customary community institutions to manage natural resources in Tanzania - Case Study from Bariadi District |
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Reference |
| Johansson, Lars ; Mlenge, Wendelin : "Empowering customary community institutions to manage natural resources in Tanzania - Case Study from Bariadi District ", Forest, Trees and People-No.22 |
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Introduction to the Institution |
| In July, 1992 a study was carried out by a team of locally recruited researchers to know about the indigenous knowledge, attitudes and practices (IKAP) in relation to plants and environmental degradation in Bariadi district, Tanzania. One of the assumptions behind the study was that IKAP should be approached from within the local knowledge system where it has evolved, therefore the study was carried out by members of the community. Sukuma values of social behaviour are expressed in the concepts of " Mhola " and " Kuhoya ". Mhola means "cool" state of peace and good relation, when people meet they greet by reassuring each other Mhola. "Kohoya" means being together in a relaxed and amiable atmosphere which gives a message that people should be congenial, pleasant and live in harmony.
The paper focusses on "dagashida" as a powerful community institution which meets to formulate sanctions and customary law. In some Bariadi villages, small dagashida (lugoye) are held at the neighbourhood (nzengo) level to settle small disputes, while larger dagashida are held once or twice per year to settle accumulated unresolved issues from smaller dagashida. |
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Coverage of the Institution |
| Bariadi lies in Shinyanga Region, in the middle of the vast territory of the former Sukuma chiefdoms |
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Rules for Management
of the Institution |
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(a) Boundary Rules |
| SOCIAL: The dagashida is open to all men in the community and it is organized according to the traditional age-sets.
Voting does not occur in dagashida but the rules and procedures around it ascertain a high degree of transparency and accountability in decision making. All male members of the community participate in an process which aims at developing consensus. Nobody can afterwards claim he was not informed of the rules, or that he was given no opportunity to explain his position. Often a song is made which includes the decisions taken by the dagashida so that they can be remembered. The process is said to foster "Mhola", a state of peace and oneness |
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(b) Governance
rules |
| The middle age-set of men in their early thirties the "basumba ntale" play a key role in organizing a dagashida and for maintaining discipline and order during the sessions. The meeting places are typically situated under large trees or in forest groves. Normally, dagashida are held on Sundays and they always start at sunrise. The "lutala" who is chosen from among the basumba annouces the agenda and starts the discussions. Everybody is free to contribute to discussions as long as he follows the rule. He is not alowed to deviate from the subject, or present the same view which has already been presented by someone else. He may not address the meeting but has to call upon another man which he addresses in dialogue. Whoever is called upon, must stand up and repeat everything that is said, to relay to those sitting far away. This person has the right to continue the discussion by calling upon a third person and thus the word is passed around without repetition or deviation from the subject.
When reconciliation starts, the youngest age-set (bayanda) starts and negotiates publicly until they reach consensus and give a clear recommendation. The second age-set continues and goes through the same procedure, and so on. Finally, the lutala invites the elders, i.e., the "banangogo" to conclude. Two banangogo in dialogue wil then recapitulate the different age-sets arguments and recommendatiuons and comment on them, until one of them concludes by giving a full consent which cannot be challenged.
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(c) Resource Allocation |
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Conflict Resolution Mechanism |
| SANCTIONS: Violation of rules and decisions reached at a dagashida are punished with fines, "ralida", in form of cattle or money. if the fine is an animal it will be immediately slaughtered and the meat equally shared by all the participants of the dagashida. Failure to pay the ralida ultimately results in "kutulija", which means exile from the community. Such a person will have to move away from the Sukuma neighbourhood as an outcast. |
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Changes in the Institution over time |
| Traditionally women are not supposed to enter a dagashida but have their own institution "purumburu" to settle women's issues. The study team advocated that women should be allowed to participate in dagashida. At first the elders found it almost inconceivable to invite women. In all three villages, however, it was eventually decided that women should also participate, more or less as a a trial. Most "basamba ntale" felt that the participation of women was necessary, if the dagashida should ever recover powers in natural resource management |
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Other Features of Institution |
| Three dagashida was initiated by the research team during their fieldwork. All dagashida were particularly asked by the basamba natale to discuss about the environmental problems particularly related tp natural regeneration and management of non-cultivated land. The three dagashida came up with similar conclusions like :
1. The dagashida should resume its former responsibilities in regulating access to natural resources through the basumba ntale
2. Sanctions on the blocking of specified cattle tracks, since local farmers had recently started to encroach on customary cattle tracks and fence them off
3. Sanctions on passing catle on farmland without the explicit consent of the persons who has crops there. This issue was invariably raised and emphasized by women, because they leave a number of subsistence crops in the fields after harvesting the main crop, and unregulated post-harvest grazing makes this practice almost impossible
4. Recognition of tre tenure. Farmers should have the right to prohibit destruction of planted as well as naturally regenerated trees on land which they use for farming, grazing
5. Sanctions on felling trees of specified indigenous spp.
6. Rules for collaboration in digging and maintaining shallow wells, and for regulating access to the water within user groups
7. Sanctions on uncontrolled bush fires
8. The dagashida should commission further research on indigenous culture |
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Purpose |
| For management of natural resources |
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Country |
| Tanzania |
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Region |
| Shinyanga, Dist:Bariadi |
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Date Of Publication |
| RS-4/02/97 |
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