Lake Tanganyika Biodiversity Project

Pollution Control and Other Measures to Protect Biodiversity

in Lake Tanganyika (RAF/92/G32)

Socio-economic Special Studies - Tanzania

SOCIO-ECONOMIC STUDIES IN TANZANIA

for the
LAKE TANGANYIKA BIODIVERSITY PROJECT
A Practical Assessment and Draft Workplan

Martin Walsh

Social Sciences Department

Natural Resources Institute
U.K.

Dar es Salaam

August 1996
 SOCIO-ECONOMIC STUDIES IN TANZANIA
for the
LAKE TANGANYIKA BIODIVERSITY PROJECT

A Practical Assessment and Draft Workplan

Martin Walsh

Social Sciences Department

Natural Resources Institute
U.K.

Background

1. This report is based upon a three-week consultancy visit to Tanzania (21 July - 9
August 1996), undertaken as part of a mission designed to make a practical
assessment to follow up the baseline reviews and draw up plans for detailed
socio-economic studies to be initiated in the second phase of the Lake Tanganyika
Biodiversity Project (LTBP). The LTBP Inception Workshop held in February 1996
endorsed proposals for in-depth participatory action research at selected sites in each
lakeside country, to be undertaken jointly by the social science and ennvironmental
education (EE) components of the project. Four thematic areas were identified for
investigation on a national basis: (1) fisheries livelihoods and fishing practices; (2)
agricultural land use and livestock; (3) deforestation and energy needs; and (4)
population settlement and economic development.

2. The main part of the report considers how this process of action research might be
implemented in Tanzania, and comprises, in effect, a draft workplan for future studies.
This is subject to the comments and inputs of other project staff and participants,
including other members of the mission. In particular it should be noted that this draft
has been drawn up without reference to the detailed recommendations of the EE
specialist who worked in Tanzania and Zambia or of the social scientist who worked
in parallel in Zambia (neither of whose reports were available at the time of writing).
Discussions in the field with the EE specialist, however, led to the conclusion that this
work can and should be an integral component of the socio-economic studies, and this
view is reflected in the workplan.

3. Following a mix-up over travel arrangements, most of the first week of the
consultancy was spent in Dar es Salaam instead of Kigoma as originally planned.
This left a relatively short time for joint work with other members of the mission (its
team leader and the EE specialist), and only one week instead of the greater part of
two weeks for meetings and field visits in Kigoma Region. The third week of the
consultancy was spent in Dar es Salaam, where further meetings were held and this
report prepared. The results of these meetings and of the field visits undertaken
during the consultancy are described in detail in an annex to the report (this may be
removed for the purposes of wider circulation).

Strategy

Pushing the process forward

4. Given the various delays in project implementation to date, there is a clear need to
begin socio-economic action research as soon as possible. The field visits and
meetings held during this consultancy comprised a first step in this process. Ideally,
this work should now be continued at the same rate, extending the process to areas in
Kigoma Region not yet covered in detail and also conducting the same kind of
preparatory investigation and activity in Rukwa Region.

5. The early appointment of the project’s Regional Socio-economic Coordinator

would be highly desirable, and facilitate the prosecution of this work with some
energy. Unfortunately there seems to be little prospect that this appointment will be
made in the near future (at present cvs are being collected, while a decision has yet to
made about the terms and conditions which will be offered to the successful
candidate). The proposed appointment of a Tanzanian national counterpart for
socio-economic studies (to be available as and when needed on a consultancy basis)
may help to fill this gap - if they can be set to work immediately. On the other hand it
may do no more than add to the number of resource persons participating in the
project at national level, and put an additional strain on the project budget (assuming
that any work undertaken on the lakeshore would have to be paid for at going market
rates).

6. As an interim strategy, TOR have been drafted for the project’s local counterpart in
Kigoma, Beatrice Marwa (a Fisheries / WID officer who accompanied the current
mission), asking her to continue collecting background information and making the
relevant institutional and individual contacts in Kigoma Region (along the lines
described in the annex to this report). Otherwise provisional plans have been made
for the writer of this report to return to Kigoma circa mid-October, and to spend 2-3
months in the field supervising the work outlined below. It would be an obvious
advantage if a Regional Socio-economic Coordinator was in post by this time and able
to participate in this work (if nothing else this would reduce the need for external
consultancy inputs, whether from Dar es Salaam or overseas).

7. As far as possible this work should be coordinated with parallel activities in

Zambia, Zaire and Burundi (the security situation permitting). During the mission
TOR were drafted for initial socio-economic investigations in Zaire, and it was agreed
that I should visit Uvira for at least one week later in the year to follow up on this
study and other actions to push forward a programme of action research in this area. It
was also suggested that the lead investigator, Mambona wa Bazolana (of CRH,
Uvira), might profitably be involved in some of the participatory research activities in
Kigoma Region, as a prelude to adapting this experience to the Zairean situation.

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The objectives of action research

8. The proposed action research can and should have two main objectives. First, to
provide information which is lacking in the existing literature (as summarised in the
baseline studies) and in particular to identify the main socio-economic factors and
trends in each of the thematic areas already specified (fisheries livelihoods and fishing
practices; agricultural land use and livestock; deforestation and energy needs;
population settlement and economic development). This should include consideration
of linkages between these thematic areas (how does each impact upon the others?). It
should also include description and assessment of the relevant institutional
frameworks and development interventions already undertaken or proposed in each of
these areas, as they relate to LTBP’s concerns.

9. The second objective is to encourage the development of institutional linkages and

actions appropriate to LTBP’s own objectives. There is not only a pressing need, but
also a clear opportunity to do this as part and parcel of an information-gathering and
data-analysis exercise. Participatory research which involves individuals drawn from
different institutions (government, NGOs and research institutes) can also be used to
strengthen linkages between these institutions and to explore ways in which their
activities might be better coordinated in future. This includes community-based
organisations and formal institutions within the villages, and not just the NGOs and
government agencies operating at District and wider levels.

10. Recent changes in policy at the national level in Tanzania have created a much
improved enabling environment for the development of natural resource management
at the local level. The overall trend is towards decentralisation of control over
resources and the evolution of village-level mechanisms to ensure their more effective
management in partnership with District authorities. The new policies, however, do
not provide blueprints for implementation at local level; and in some cases they
suggest different approaches to related problems. Natural resource management
strategies are therefore evolving in piecemeal fashion by a process of trial and error
(some of the more interesting experiments are those in community wildlife
management on the fringes of various National Parks). Pilot activities on the ground
are helping to give sharper definition to the new policies, showing how they might
(and might not) be put into practice. LTBP’s work should clearly be part of this
process.

11. In this context it is important to get the balance between research and action right.
There is no need for the project to duplicate existing research, and where other
agencies are already sponsoring actions relevant to the project’s objectives the more
important task may be to assess their effectiveness and examine ways in which they
might be strengthened and applied elsewhere. In the course of the consultancy it
became evident that the baseline reviews had not picked up on all of the research
previously undertaken nor many of the actions which NGOs and other agencies have
begun (in some cases since the baseline reviews were prepared). We learned, for
example, of a series of village PRAs conducted in Kigoma Region under the auspices
of KIDEP, though we have not yet been able to obtain the reports of these. More
recently the Belgian NGO COOPIBO has undertaken high quality participatory
3
research in Kasulu District and begun pilot activities in conjunction with the
Development Office of the Anglican Church on the basis of this research. There is
clearly no point in repeating this research. In this case better use of project resources
can be made by entering into dialogue with COOPIBO and its local partners,
exploring ways in which their work can be built upon. This may or may not lead to
proposals for further research, while other kinds of intervention may prove more
appropriate.

The selection of sites for action research

12. As the (draft) report on the Inception Workshop emphasises, the selection of sites
for socio-economic research and pilot actions should be closely linked to the analyses
and proposals produced by other project components. This includes analysis of the
threats to the biodiversity of the lake as well as proposals for the conservation of its
biodiversity (for example the suggestion that new aquatic reserves might be created).
In this respect there is a clear need for continuing interaction between project
components, especially as our understanding of the problems and issues changes and
develops over time. The different threats to biodiversity - and the major thematic
areas already outlined - should be further specified and prioritised, and as far as
possible key locations or ‘hotspots’ identified. It would, for example, be useful to
know which issues should be tackled as a matter of urgency and which require
longer-term planning (where has the most damage been done, where is it occurring
now, and where is it most likely to occur in the future?). This kind of information is
essential for the selection of research and action sites, combined with the assessments
which preliminary socio-economic investigation provides.

13. Our current approach is both pragmatic and processual. Given existing project
resources, and what we already know (including our knowledge of gaps in this
knowledge), it has been suggested that action research in Tanzania should begin on
the lakeshore in Kigoma Region, and expand from there into the wider catchment
area. The range of issues which can be addressed on the lakeshore, and the fact that
project has begun by establishing its presence in Kigoma, make this a quite sensible
course to follow. At the same time there is an obvious need for the project to extend
its work into Rukwa Region, though the distances involved and the nature of
communications south of Kigoma and down the lake make this difficult. Once
sufficient background information has been collected on Kigoma Region, then the
same process - including institutional networking - should be extended to Rukwa, and
thereafter to the areas of Shinyanga and Tabora Regions which lie within the
catchment area. Meanwhile, intensive participatory research can proceed in Kigoma
Region; and the lessons learned from this will no doubt help in planning similar
activities in other regions.

14. During the consultancy it was proposed that this intensive work should begin in
the vicinity of Gombe National Park. In the first instance a participatory exercise in a
single village adjacent to the park should suffice: each administrative village
comprises a series of sub-villages, and a good study of one such set of sub-villages
will probably yield results which are generalisable along this whole stretch of coast (a
hypothesis which can be readily tested after the study). I would therefore suggest that
4
this first participatory exercise is followed up by another in a very different location in
Kigoma Region, where a different range of issues can be explored in detail. The
timing of these exercises and the various inputs required are the subject of the draft
workplan which follows.

Draft Workplan

15. The following workplan is submitted for discussion. As noted above, the
approach adopted is processual, and the workplan should be viewed as subject to
revision depending upon the specific outcome of its different stages.

August - October 1996

16. Beatrice Marwa to continue gathering background information and making

institutional contacts in Kigoma Region. Keith Banister to visit Sumbawanga and
make initial contacts in Rukwa Region. Andy Menz to advertise post of Regional
Socio-economic Studies Coordinator and liaise with National Project Coordinator
over the appointment of National EE Coordinator and National Socio-economic
Studies Counterpart. Julian Quan to review consultancy reports (EE Zambia and
Tanzania, socio-economics Zambia, socio-economics Tanzania) and address the
question of their coherency.

mid-October - mid-November

17. Martin Walsh (MW) to begin second stage consultancy (4 weeks). Main tasks:
(1) to follow up on appointments in Dar es Salaam; (2) to continue making contacts /
gathering background information in Dar as necessary; (3) to visit Uvira, Zaire, for
one week to assess local capacity and progress of socio-economic research, and help
plan further actions on this basis; (4) to visit Sumbawanga, Rukwa Region, to begin
assessment process there; (5) to make arrangements for intensive studies in Kigoma
Region, identifying participants, selecting locations (including field trips to identify
second study area). [Maximum of 10 ‘researchers’, possibly fewer, including MW,
Beatrice Marwa, TACARE representative, TANAPA representative, other District /
Region officials, Zairean socio-economist (Mambona wa Bazolana) and Tanzania
National Counterpart].

early-December - end-January

18. MW to finalise arrangements for participatory research in a village bordering

Gombe National Park (possibly Mtanga). Initial meeting of study team in Kigoma to
plan the research and in particular brainstorm checklists of research questions and
methods to be employed (one week maximum). MW to devise training exercises as
appropriate.

19. [The issues to be addressed fall under four main headings: (1) fisheries (seasonal
patterns - trends in the fishing economy - overfishing? - the use of beach seines and
other gear - processing and marketing - poverty, age and gender correlations -
5
ethnoicythology - management of aquatic resources and conflicts - relation with
immigrant fishermen - use of temporary fishing camps - impacts of credit and future
options); (2) relations with Gombe National Park (perceptions of the park - boundary
disputes - utilisation of park resources - grass-cutting, wood-cutting, burning - impacts
of the SCIP programme - an aquatic extension?); (3) deforestation, forest
conservation, agroforestry and agriculture (demographic trends - poverty, age and
gender correlations - history of deforestation - use of indigenous and exotic species -
local conservation initiatives - impacts of TACARE and other projects - agricultural
conservatism and innovation - change in farming systems - opportunities and
constraints - relation between fishing and farming and other sources of income); and
(4) institutional issues (mechanisms for natural resource management at village and
sub-village level - the role of individuals and different village institutions - linkages
with other levels of government and administration - the role of CBOs and NGOs)].

20. Fieldwork in village - one week - dividing research team into sub-teams,
reporting back each night. Collective analysis and write-up to take one additional
week in Kigoma (involving all or part of team). Further actions proposed on the basis
of this (possible options include additional research, activities at village level,
institutional interventions).

21. [Total time allocation for the Gombe exercise: 3 weeks, if possible to be
completed before Christmas.]

22. New Year: similar exercise to be undertaken in another location in Kigoma

Region (with shorter preparation period if the composition of the research team
remains more or less constant). The list of possible locations includes: (1)
Malagarasi River / swamp, to examine patterns of utilisation, assess resource
degradation, impacts of pastoralist influx, management options on the fringes of the
Moyowosi Game Reserve; (2) Nguruka, to examine a similar range of questions, in an
area where dense human population has led to encroachment on local Forest Reserves;
(3) highlands of Kibondo / Kasulu District, with special emphasis upon deforestation
and soil erosion, associated with high population and the refugee influx from Burundi
[existing studies, however, including that by COOPIBO in Kasulu District, may
render an exercise in this area redundant]; (4) lakeshore south of Kigoma, possibly
near Mahale National Park, to examine the same range of issues as the Gombe study;
(5) peri-urban Kigoma - Ujiji, to examine various issues including urban growth, the
potential for pollution, and land use in the Luiche River delta.

23. [Costs: it is difficult to estimate the cost of these exercises on the basis of
information currently available. The participation and employment of a National
Counterpart at going market rates would add significantly to the cost. Otherwise I
would estimate a total cost of no more than Tshs 2 million for the two exercises
(participants’ overnight and food allowances), which might be pushed down to Tshs
1.5 million or less].

6
Annex: Chronological Summary of Meetings and Field Visits

Sunday 21 July, Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam

24. Travelled late afternoon from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam. In Dar found that
neither hotel nor flight bookings had been made (original arrangement had been to fly
to Kigoma the next morning to join Julian Quan, Socio-economics Team Leader, and
Malcolm Whitehead, EE consultant).

Monday 22 July, Dar es Salaam

25. LTBP office, telephoned Keith Banister, Scientific Liaison Officer, and Julian
Quan in Kigoma. Attempted, unsuccessfully, to find alternative means of travelling to
Kigoma. Read project documents.

26. [Also called on David Salmon, ODA Natural Resources Adviser, for an update on
the Ruaha Ecosystem Wildlife Management Project (REWMP) and its proposed
successor, Matumizi Bora ya Malihai Idodi na Pawaga (MBOMIPA, Project for the
Sustainable Use of Wildlife Resources in Idodi and Pawaga). David Salmon was
preparing the appraisal sections of the MBOMIPA project submission, to be sent to
Jim Harvey in BDDEA Nairobi at the start of next week, and asked for my advice on
the social appraisal. We also discussed the possibility of my participation in a field
evaluation of the interim project strategy, for 2-3 weeks in September this year, and I
informed him of my likely inputs to LTBP and other NRI commitments over the next
six months.]

Tuesday, 23 July, Dar es Salaam

27. LTBP office, continued unsuccessful search for transport to Kigoma and
continued background reading. Attempted to set up appointments with identified IRA
resource persons (who turned out to be involved in a workshop opening on
Wednesday).

28. In the evening informal meeting with Dr Dawn Hartley, former REWMP TCO
anthropologist, and Dr Alan Rodgers, CTA, GEF/FAO East African Biodiversity
Project. Invited by the latter to attend the next day’s workshop.

Wednesday, 24 July, Dar es Salaam

29. National Environment Workshop. Attended workshop at Kilimanjaro Hotel

entitled ‘Putting Environment on the National Agenda’, organised by the Wildlife
Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST), the IRA (UDSM), and AGENDA (a NGO
initiative promoting environmentally friendly policies and practices within the
business sector in Tanzania). In the morning keynote speeches by Professor Idris
7
Kikula (IRA), Dr Alan Rodgers (representing WCST), Professor R. Mwalyosi (IRA),
Ms Tina Kaiza-Boshe (AGENDA), G. L. Kamukala (Director General, NEMC), R.
Lugembe (PS, Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources), and H. E. The President,
Benjamin Mkapa, plus responses to the latter’s speech by local representatives of the
World Bank, UNDP, and the Informal Donor Group on Environment. Introduced
myself briefly to Professor Kikula and discussed changing national institutional roles
and the place of EE with Dawn Hartley. In the afternoon participated in a working
group on the theme ‘Ensuring Community Participation’ (to be continued the
following day), focusing on natural resource management at the local level and
institutional developments and proposals linked to this. Collected available copies of
speeches and relevant literature from the exhibition connected to the workshop.

Thursday, 25 July, Dar es Salaam

30. LTBP office, briefing with Dr Andy Menz, Project Coordinator (back from
leave). Continued reading project documents.

31. [Also drafted suggested key points for social appraisal of proposed ODA
MBOMIPA project for David Salmon].

Friday, 26 July, Dar es Salaam to Kigoma, visit to Gombe National Park

32. Gombe National Park and Research Centre. Shortly after arrival in Kigoma
travelled to Gombe National Park with Keith Banister and Beatrice Marwa, Fisheries /
WID Officer, to meet up with Julian Quan and Malcolm Whitehead. Introduction to
Gombe Stream Research Centre and briefed on some of the activities there and
relations between the Park and surrounding communities. Evening returned to
Kigoma via Mtanga village. Ongoing discussions with Keith Banister and fellow
consultants.

Saturday, 27 July, Kigoma

33. TANAPA officials. At breakfast in hotel fortuitous meeting with a team,

including the Chief Ecologist, from TANAPA headquarters, Arusha, which was
visiting National Parks in the region. Brief discussion on the question of marine /
aquatic parks. The only marine park in Tanzania is at Mafia, begun 2-3 years ago.
TANAPA wanted the responsibility for this but it was taken by the Fisheries
Department. Whereas TANAPA policy is to forbid utilisation in its parks (and also
usually within 1 km of their boundaries), the Fisheries Department permits utilisation
within Mafia marine park outside of a core conservation area. This raises the question
of who might manage an aquatic park in Lake Tanganyika (if one were created
independently of the existing National Parks) and what kind of utilisation, if any,
might be permitted. Closer consideration of the Mafia model, as well as the Zambian
experience in this regard, might be worthwhile.

8
34. LTBP office. Briefed by Julian Quan on progress in Burundi (see his visit report)
and Zaire and issues to discuss with visiting Zaireans. Followed by round table
discussion with visitors from Zaire: Nshombo Mugerwa (Director, CRH), Mambona
wa Bazolana (Fisheries statistician / soico-economist, CRH), and Swedi Elongo
(CADIC). The main outcomes of this discussion have already been described in
Julian Quan’s Tanzania visit report.

35. TACARE. In the afternoon the consultancy team visited the TACARE office in
Kigoma, where we were briefed on TACARE’s programme by George Strunden,
Project Manager, and Emanuel Mtiti, Education Coordinator. TACARE (Lake
Tanganyika Catchment Reforestation and Education) is a project established by JGI
(The Jane Goodall Institute, which also operates the Gombe Research Centre and a
wider EE programme, ROOTS and SHOOTS). The objective of the TACARE project
is “to support villagers in arresting the rapid degradation of their land and to show
ways of sustainable land used. To produce fruit- and tree-seedlings in the villages, to
train villagers in tree planting, contour farming and the benefits of conserving natural
forests” (TACARE 1995). The project began in November 1994 and in its first year
worked with 12 villages along the lakeshore in Kigoma District. Earlier in 1996,
following a violent armed attack by pirates and the theft of project equipment,
TACARE suspended its work in the Kungwe Bay area (for more details on the
security situation see below). The project now targets a total of 22 villages, as follows
(all of the villages accessible by road are recent additions to the programme):

Lakeshore north of Kigoma town: Kagunga, Zashe, Kiziba, Bugamba,

Mwamgongo, Mtanga, Kigalye, Kibirizi.

Lakeshore south of Kigoma town: Bangwe, Kagera, Kaseke, Mwakizega,

Ilagala (these first 5 villages are also accessible by road), Karago, Sunuka,
Kirando A, Kirando B.

Road access from Kigoma town: Mwandiga, Msimba, Simbo, Kasuku,

Nyamoli.

36. In terms of actions on the ground the nursery programme is the most developed.
In the first year a central nursery was established at the Kigoma office and 96 group
and individual nurseries were begun in the original 12 villages with various inputs
provided by TACARE. Following the failure of many of these nurseries Village
Nursery Attendants (ViNAs) were trained by the project. At first these were
volunteers: now they are paid US$ 25 per month by TACARE to ensure their ongoing
commitment to the work. The emphasis has also shifted away from nurseries
managed by village groups to those established and maintained for the whole village
by the ViNAs, who also derive income from the sale of seedlings. To date TACARE
has produced c.10,000 seedlings for schools, 10,000 for individuals, 100,000 for the
village nurseries (c.5,000 per village), and maintains about 30,000 seedlings (mostly
fruit tree species) in its central nursery.

9
37. TACARE has plans to develop different components of a soil conservation
programme, including (1) agroforestry (promoting contour farming, green manuring
and crop rotation through seminars and demonstration plots); (2) land use planning
(defining village boundaries, providing water catchment services in conjunction with
the Water Department, promoting private and village woodlots - to which end the
World Food Programme have offered to provide Food-for-Work in 1997); (3)
horticulture (providing vegetable and fruit tree seedlings and educating farmers via
seminars and leaflets); and (4) forest assessment (through field trips and aerial
observation). TACARE already has an active education and information programme,
using different media, including Swahili language videos provided by ICRAF and
SIDA and local films made by themselves (until the theft of their video equipment).
This work links up with that of the separately-funded ROOTS and SHOOTS in local
schools. TACARE is also planning to establish a primary health care programme to
complement its existing efforts. Meanwhile, it has participated in UNDP /
NORAD-initiated efforts to establish an umbrella organisation of NGOs in Kigoma
which can more effectively coordinate requests to donors (to date a committee has
been formed).

38. Given the existence of some intact patches of forest inland of the lakeshore,
TACARE next plans to extend its work to communities along the Kigoma-Manyovu
road (5-6 hours on foot to the shore). This is a high potential agricultural area, as is
another proposed area of work, around Mgambo, north of Mahale. TACARE has no
other immediate expansion plans (for example for Rukwa Region), though it receives
requests to work in Kasulu District. EU funding is assured until the end of 1997 (via a
special budgt line direct from Brussels), and the EU have expressed interest in
supporting a further phase. At present the lack of a second vehicle and faster water
transport are constraining the physical expansion of activities. A speedboat would
enable TACARE to travel to and from the Mahale area without risking attack by
pirates en route (there is a police post at Mgambo). At present they have one boat
with a 20 hp engine and one whose 45 hp engine was stolen in the pirate attack
referred to above.

39. Pirate activity, though evident for some years, has become much worse over the
past year. The pirates are said to come from Kalemie in Zaire, though many of them
are Bembe with relatives on the Tanzanian lakeshore. They generally attack at night,
not in the daytime. Whereas they formerly confined their attacks to fishing boats on
the lake, they have recently begun to raid villages on the shore. In and around
Sigunga village 30-40 fishing gears have been lost, there are no outboard motors left
in the area, and the residents have begun to move elsewhere. The pirates typically raid
in groups of 10-20, armed with modern automatic rifles and with large quantities of
ammunition. There are thought to be more than 100 such groups of pirates operating
on the lake. Boat engines are their main target, and although government leaders have
promised to intervene, no actions have been taken yet to tackle the problem.

40. Despite this setback to its work on parts of the coastline south of Kigoma,
TACARE has made an enterprising start in tackling the environmental problems of
the lakeshore villages. Local demand for fruit trees is said to be very high, and
farmers are keen to purchase seedlings. There is also a good demand for some other
10
exotic species, including Eucalyptus poles, which are used by fishermen. In general
villagers have shown considerable interest in the nursery programme, although they
have little practical experience of tree planting and some remain to be convinced of its
value. As noted above, TACARE’s agroforestry programme has yet to be fully
implemented: to date the organisation has some experience of contour farming near
Kigoma town (planting Grevillea and Artocarpus trees, with strips of Vetiver and
self-seeding indigenous grass species) and has identified contact farmers in the
lakeshore villages.

41. The experience of agroforestry programmes elsewhere in East Africa suggests

that the programme might benefit from a deeper understanding of villagers’ existing
knowledge and practice, including their use of indigenous tree species, with a view to
incorporating these in the proposed agroforestry systems if and where possible.

42. While visiting TACARE we also took the opportunity to discuss the history and
causes of deforestation along the lakeshore. When Jane Goodall first worked in
Gombe in the early 1960s, the coastline outside of Gombe (which was then a Game
Reserve) was much more forested than it is now. The subsequent speed of
destruction, associated with growing population, is quite striking, and has caught
many villagers themselves unawares. The traditional farming system - shifting
cultivation on the slopes and more intensive cultivation in the narrow valleys leading
down to the lake - was reasonably sustainable when population densities were low and
settlement more scattered than it is now. The villagisation programme of the
mid-1970s saw all of the good valleys being exploited to the full, and placed
increasing pressure on the slopes in the vicinity of the enlarged village settlements.
Clear-cutting on the slopes (including some very steep slopes) and cultivation with
declining periods of fallow has taken a heavy toll, and there is now very little topsoil
left in some areas, which are becoming unproductive even for cassava.

43. There is a long tradition of burning miombo woodland as part of the shifting
cultivation system. Miombo is, in fact, adapted to periodic burning, which increases
the growth rate. Introduced species, however, are readily destroyed by fires. In the
past there were fewer fires, some of them accidental. Now the same areas are being
burned every year, and suffering accordingly (the increased frequency of burning is
presumably another consequence of higher human population density). Fires are
started for a variety of reasons, especially in the late dry season. One reason is to
stimulate new growth in the absence of rain, thereby providing fresh grazing for either
domestic stock (especially goats) or wild herbivores (hunters may set controlled fires
so that they can hunt in the area three weeks or so later). Woodland is also burned to
make it easier and safer for women and others to travel through the bush. Otherwise
some fires are started accidentally, for example by honey collectors. The early dry
season fires are mainly ones which have begun by accident. (This set of reasons for
burning provided a more satisfactory explanation than that offered earlier in the week
by some government officials, who had said that miombo was often burned in the
belief that the individual or group whose fires burned longest would thereby prosper
and live longer - a belief which is ascribed to the Sukuma and related peoples).

11
Sunday, 28 July, Kigoma, visit to Luiche River

44. Luiche River. Morning field trip with colleagues, led by Vissa Magige, Regional
Land Use Planner. Visited Mungonya (and a northern tributary of the Luiche),
Mahembe Hill area, the Kaseke River, the Luiche River, Simbo, and Luiche Railway
Station. Returned to Kigoma via Ujiji. Observed deforestation and the impacts of
burning near Mahembe Hill (where controlled fires may be set as a preventative
measure, to guard against accidental burning which may damage houses and crops),
erosion on the banks of the Luiche, and the extent of human settlement in the former
Forest Reserve at Simbo. Also discussed the history of attempts to channel the Luiche
and reclaim land for farming in its delta (efforts which have had only limited success).

45. LTBP office. Afternoon continued briefing from Julian Quan on meetings held in
Kigoma before my arrival, including the results of a discussion with fishermen and
others in Mwamgongo. Discussed the possibility of beginning participatory research
and pilot actions in the Gombe area. Met briefly with the Kigoma Rural District
Fisheries Officer (also District Natural Resources Officer), Dominic Kweka. Also
discussed workplan and TOR for further socio-economic investigations in Zaire.

Monday, 29 July, Kigoma

46. LTBP office. Public holiday. Departure of Julian Quan and Malcolm Whitehead
to Dar. Reading papers and reports, including Zairean material; ongoing discussions
with Keith Banister.

Tuesday, 30 July, Kigoma

47. Wildlife Department. Morning meeting with the Regional Game Officer, David
Sommy (accompanied by Beatrice Marwa). Kigoma used to be a District within
Tabora Region, and was the last but one Region to be created in the country, in the
mid-1970s. This is one reason why up-to-date maps are not available. Overall
Kigoma Region has a low population, and this is advantageous for conservation. An
outdated map shows large parts of the Region, especially to the east, set aside as
Game Controlled Areas (GCAs). Some of these, however, have never been gazetted,
but function as ‘open areas’ for hunting; at least one has been all but transformed by
human utilisation; and two have been upgraded to form a Game Reserve (GR).

48. Njingiwe and Moyowosi GCAs were combined to form Moyowosi GR, which
covers an area of 6,000 km2 on the western side of the Malagarasi River and swamps.
The eastern side falls within Kigosi GR, in Kahama District (Shinyanga Region): this
GR is about 7,000 km2. Settlement is not permitted in Moyowosi GR, which is
managed by the Wildlife Department. The ‘project manager’ for Moyowosi used to
be based in Kifura: now there is a ‘sector manager’ there and the ‘project manager’
for the combined Moyowosi-Kigosi GR is based in Kahama. There are three hunting
blocks in Moyowosi, currently assigned to different tourist hunting companies (one
based in Dar and two in Arusha). Hunting licence fees are paid in US$. A buffalo,
12
for example, sells for $600, of which $450 goes to the treasury and $150 into the
Wildlife Protection Fund managed by the Director of Wildlife. 25% of the latter is
given to the nearby Districts, while 75% remains in Dar and is the source of the
regional retention fund from which game patrols outside of the GR are paid.

49. There is no HAT (Hunting Association of Tanzania) branch in Kigoma, although

a Kigoma resident is HAT’s Assistant Chairman at national level. This man, an
Indian, owns a company which uses one of the hunting blocks in Moyowosi GR - and
also a luxury hotel which has been built on the headland south of Kigoma town.

50. Makere North and South (to the west of Moyowosi) is an ungazetted open area
which has been allocated for tourist hunting this year. It has been allocated to a
company in Dar whose owners live in Kibondo District. They also hunt in the Uvinza
open area to the south of Makere. A company based in Arusha also hunts over into
Rukwa Region.

51. In the far north, at Nyamroa in Kibondo District, another ungazetted GCA / open
area has come under pressure from refugees and a lot of the wildlife in it has been
hunted out. Two ungazetted GCAs to the south of Moyowosi GR and east of Uvinza,
Gombe and Luganzo, are now heavily settled.

52. The Wildlife Department plays no role in managing Gombe and Mahale National
Parks (which come under TANAPA), only in providing advice.

53. The Malagarasi swamps are very important and the Wildlife Department would
like to see these and other areas more fully protected and their (eco)tourist potential
developed. The Malagarasi wetlands are threatened by an influx of cattle-herders,
including Tutsi. There are now more than 7,000 cattle along the Moyowosi River.
Sukuma agropastoralists are also coming into the area via the Malagarasi bridge. The
Tutsi in the Ilunde area came in the 1960s from Burundi. They have no farms but just
herd cattle, which are more resistant than the local Ha cattle to tsetse fly. Because
they are living within the Moyowosi GR the Wildlife Department tried to move them
out. A commission involving other ministries was established in January 1995 and its
report (written in Swahili) recommended the removal of the Tutsi. However, the
regional administration blocked this move, on the grounds that the Tutsi had already
been moved once - to their present location - in 1975. It is felt that there was a
political element in this decision, and the Wildlife Department would still like to see
the commission’s recommendations put into practice.

54. A lot of timber is being cut by outsiders. The forest laws are not really applied in
Kigoma Region: elsewhere, for example in Arusha, it is difficult to cut trees without
a permit. There is no traditional protection of forests and there was none during the
colonial period (because of the remoteness of Kigoma and lack of officers posted to
the area). Local people do not know where the Forest Reserves (FRs) are, and their
boundaries are not marked. There is therefore some need for EE and
awareness-raising, to inform people which areas they can utilise. The FRs in Rukwa
Region suffer from the same problem, with the exception of the well-protected Katavi
area.
13
55. The Wildlife Department only has 3-4 staff at regional level, most work at the
District level. Each District has an Assistant Game Officer (AGO) and Game
Assistants (GAs) of different grades working under them. In the open areas there is a
game post near each village with GAs posted there. Hunting quotas are prepared in
the Districts and sent to the Region to forward to the Director of Wildlife in Dar for
approval. Typically a lot of the quota is not consumed. There is a shortage of
ammunition, which has not been imported by the government for the past two years.
The distance of hunting grounds from the villages is also a disincentive to hunters -
motorised transport is a must. Most town-based hunters no longer hunt. There is,
however, some poaching using old-fashioned muzzle loaders, for which shot can be
manufactured locally. In some areas it is estimated that there are two muzzle loaders
for every five houses. Gun owners pay Tshs 1,000 per annum for their licences.
Permits to shoot from the quota expire after 14 days, and it is usually difficult to shoot
the animals listed on the permit in the time allowed.

56. Nonetheless, wildlife numbers are falling, especially big game and buffalo in
particular. Game meat is traded Burundi and the refugee camps. Game meat also
provides an important source of protein for many villagers in the interior. Insufficient
quantities of fish are harvested and sold from Lake Tanganyika: the main markets for
these fish are the District headquarters. The Malagarasi system supplies few fish -
because the rivers are fast flowing, also the swamps shrink in the dry season and many
fish die. There are not many cattle in the area because of tsetse fly: most goats are
found along the Kigoma-Kibondo road.

57. We also discussed the new (draft) Wildlife Policy and the implications of this for
developing mechanisms for natural resource management at the village level. The
RGO is well aware of the policy and some of the pilot attempts to put it into practice,
and we agreed that there is considerable potential for this kind of work in Kigoma
Region.

58. Land Use Planning Office. Second meeting with the Regional Land Use Planner,
Vissa Magige (accompanied by Beatrice Marwa). Following Sunday’s field trip we
discussed further the question of flooding and agricultural development (which is
constrained by uncontrolled flooding) in the Luiche River delta. This has already
been the subject of various interventions and proposals, and I was shown the report of
one of these (see references).

59. In 1992-94 Mr Magige took part in a series of PRAs in Kigoma Region,

undertaken under KIDEP and under the authority of the Regional Development
Director. These PRAs were coordinated by Professor Mascarenhas of UDSM. In
1992 three villages were studied as part of a training exercise, which also involved
students from Norway. The villages were Nyanganga and Mkongoro in Kigoma Rural
District and Rusesa in Kasulu District. In 1993-94 he recalls PRAs in six villages (the
total number was higher than this): Kumsenga, Kibuye and Kagezi in Kibondo
District and Mgombe, Shunga and Mwali in Kasulu District. The training exercise
was well organised and funded, and included one week in the field and one week in
class. The subsequent PRAs were undertaken by three separate teams each with four
14
‘experts’ from the ministries / departments of agriculture, lands, community
development and natural resources. They spent four days working in each village, up
to one week per village including transport to and from and preliminary organisation
of the PRA. The available budget was limited and they tried to economise on field
allowances. He estimates that it cost c.Tshs 60,000 per person for two months’ work,
possibly as much as Tshs 100,000. The purchase of cooking utensils (and food) was
the most expensive outlay. Accomodation was usually provided by the villagers,
although each team also had a tent which they could use if necessary.

60. The work itself included collection of existing data together with local
government officers (for example information on populations of people and livestock,
local resources and the work of existing projects), mapping exercises (transects and
boundary demarcation), soil sampling and land use recording, administration of
household questionnaires, and group discussions and village meetings to elicit project
proposals and prioritise these in order to produce short-term and long-term plans.
There was, however, minimal follow-up of these plans because the whole excercise
was only conceived as a trial and not as an integral part of KIDEP. Reports were
written on each of the villages (12 in all?): these are probably filed in the Regional
Development Director’s (now Regional Administrative Secretary’s) office, while
copies of these and other relevant reports should be obtainable from Professor
Mascarenhas in UDSM. The report on Mkongoro village should be especially
relevant to work in the vicinity of Gombe National Park. (Action: Mr Magige agreed
to continue to search for copies of these reports and Beatrice Marwa will follow up
on this).

61. TACARE. Follow-up meeting with Emanuel Mtiti, Education Coordinator

(accompanied by Beatrice Marwa). TACARE did not undertake participatory
research prior to (or after) beginning its work in the lakeshore villages, but gathered
baseline information from government sources and casual observation. TACARE is
now planning to undertake surveys to assess awareness of the project: this will be
done through self-administered questionnaires and interviews.

62. In the earlier FAO-sponsored seedling distribution programme, seedling were

simply raised in town and sent to the lakeshore villages by boat. The TACARE
project planning process was initially top-down, but led into more partcipatory
discussion with villagers. Local leaders, the VEOs, village chairmen and religious
leaders helped TACARE a lot. Efforts to promote collective village nurseries failed,
hence the shift to central project nurseries with paid Village Nursery Attendants
(ViNAs). Communal nurseries did not work because cooperative labour was not
performed. Now some individuals are competing with the ViNAs. The following are
the ViNAs working in the Gombe area:

Mwamgongo - H. Rubase
Bugamba - Z. Kayonko
Kiziba - N. Adam
Kigalye - S. Omari
Mtanga - G. Manyesha

15
63. Bubango village has no ViNA but is in TACARE’s future plans. It takes four
hours to walk to Bubango from the lakeshore, but only half an hour by road from
Kigoma town.

64. Seedlings are sold to villagers at Tshs 200 each (both fruit and timber tree
species): higher prices are charged in Kigoma town. The demand for seedlings is the
product of a number of factors. Fishing incomes are low, and therefore people are
looking for alternatives. Farmers have to walk for up to two hours to reach areas
where they can open up new farms: close to the villages soil fertility has declined and
cassava is less productive than it once was. Farmers are therefore switching from
seasonal to permanent crops (most of the agricultural labour is performed by women:
fishing is a male activity). Both FAO and now TACARE have had some impact in
sensitising people to new agricultural opportunities. Hitherto vegetable production
has not been common along the lake - the consumption of green vegetables has been
interpreted as an indication of poverty. TACARE is now trying to promote vegetable
growing, particularly because anaemia is a local health problem.

65. In the 1960s and early 1970s the fish catch was so good that it was possible to
obtain fish for free from fishermen if you asked (E. Mtiti is from Mwamgongo and
remembers doing this). Since then, however, payment has been necessary. Fishing is
seasonal and sometimes the catch is insufficient. Fishermen can sometimes obtain
higher prices by selling their catch in town or elsewhere, rather than by remaining
with the fish in the village. Fish-smoking is mainly done in the fishing villages,
because they are unable to transport the fish immediately to town. Fuelwood is
therefore a problem - in Mwamgongo firewood is sold in the village. Some villagers
buy charcoal in Kigoma town - for cooking rather than fish-smoking - the ultimate
sources of this being villages along the roads to Kasulu (in the uplands) and Uvinza
(in the lowlands). There is some interest in (improved) charcoal stoves. Palm oil
residues are also used for fuel now in the villages.

66. Some villages now have their own ‘forest reserves’. Both Zashi and Bugamba
villages, to the north of Gombe NP, have reserved tree-covered hills on their land.
Otherwise many of the people living around Gombe are still unhappy with the fact and
do not understand why Gombe has taken their land. There is therefore some
tree-cutting within the park, though offenders are punished if caught.

67. Timber for boat-building is brought by rail from Nguruka and surrounding
villages, an area well-known for its timber. Some timber also comes from the south
(from Rukwa? Mahale?). There are more trees in the south than in the north. The
southern stretch of the lakeshore is less densely settled than the north: there are
greater distances between villages, the villages themselves are smaller, and they have
more land (cultivation does not, therefore, extend right up the hills). Some of the
southern villages are relatively young, and were created by refugees from Zaire in
c.1965. Fishing is a traditional activity among the Ha in the north: fishermen used to
go fishing with torches of burning grass, and would keep several bundles of grass in
the boat waiting to be lit. Some nets were used at this time. When kerosene lamps
were first introduced there was only one per boat.

16
Wednesday, 31 July, Kigoma to Gombe National Park

68. Ministry of Lands. Morning meeting with F. T. Matalisi, Regional Land

Development Officer (accompanied by Beatrice Marwa). The Ministry is charged
with applying the land policy of 1983, and has to prepare Certificates of Occupancy
for each village. However, they have no money to survey and prepare titles: c.50 of
220 villages in Kigoma Region have been surveyed. There was a joint programme
with the Ministry of Natural Resources, and further finance has been promised by
USAID, but they only have Tshs 100,000 in their account and they cannot withdraw
this. Under the new land tenure arrangements villages will get title for 999 years and
individual villagers for 33 years.

69. After a brief meeting (Mr Matalisi had been called to another meeting) we then
met with Mutta Dio, the Regional Town Planner, also responsible for environmental
issues. There are no funds to survey villages and he is mostly concerned with urban
planning. If there is not a lot of bush it is possible to survey village boundaries in one
week - this is the minimum - and it is even possible to survey five villages at once.
However, since he took up his post in Kigoma four years ago they have not surveyed
any village boundaries. At the time of villagisation (in the mid-1970s) village
boundaries were marked by natural features. In each village the Kamati ya Ujenzi
[Building Committee] was the one most directly involved: no records of village
boundaries were sent to town at this time

70. His junior, the Town Planner, Mr Tarimo, participated in the PRAs mentioned
earlier. He is still working here.

71. The plans for Kigoma town are held in this office and we examined some, briefly.
Different areas are set aside for different uses, for example residential plots, industrial
plots, social services and public open spaces. There are only small-scale industries in
Kigoma: the TANESCO power plant is the largest enterprise. The diesel-powered
generators do not supply enough power for the town and its economic resources are
therefore not exploited fully. In March 1996 an entrepreneur came from Dar (he was
originally from Ujiji) to build a fish-drying plant. The Ministry was ready to find and
allocate him a plot, but when he saw that there was insufficient power he returned to
Dar and has started building at Kunduchi instead. A European once tried the same
enterprise and caught a lot of fish for this purpose but could not find a market for all
of them. There is no cold storage in Kigoma.

72. The Ministry plans protected areas in the town. These are allocated to the town
council and it is their job to plant trees and make firebreaks. The Ministry has been
unable to undertake any environmental planning outside of the town, and has only
managed to conduct a reconnaisance along the coast, c.1992-93.

73. Travel to Gombe National Park. In the afternoon Beatrice Marwa and I travelled
to Gombe in the TACARE boat, piloted by Mwiga Hamis and Felix Mgenda (they
received overnight allowances of Tshs 7,000 each, while Tshs 7,800 was spent on
food, Tshs 1,200 on oil and Tshs 26,600 on 70 litres of petrol for the trip (we used
17
little more than a half of this petrol)). On the way we called in briefly at Kalalangabo,
a sub-village of Kigalye. Nearby there is a patch of gallery forest in a gulley and
lower slope leading to the sea. Fish are smoked here with wood from oil palms.
Beatrice Marwa mentioned that a total of around 600 loans were given by the former
project, including c.300 to women (51 of these to women’s groups). We also called in
at Mtanga, to make an appointment for tomorrow afternoon.

74. Gombe Stream Research Centre. Afternoon and evening discussion with Dr
Anthony Collins, Director of (Baboon) Research, and William Wallauer, researcher
(filming chimpanzee behaviour). The Research Centre has a collection (not complete)
of offprints and other publications relating to research undertaken there and on related
themes elsewhere. I went through these, taking notes on some (Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperatives n.d.; Thomas 1961; Kano 1971; Clutton-Brock and
Gillett 1979; Murray 1992; Shirakihara et al. 1992; Kamenya 1995; Whittier et al.
n.d.). Research at Gombe itself has focused primarily upon primates, chimpanzees
and baboons in particular: there has been comparatively little research on other
aspects of the park’s flora and fauna.

Thursday, 1 August, Gombe National Park, visits to Mwamgongo and Mtanga, return
to Kigoma

75. Gombe National Park. Morning meeting with Peter Msuya, Park Warden in
Charge. The park has fewer visitors at present than it usually has because of the
closure of the route from Burundi. The TANAPA SCIP programme is operative in the
villages around Gombe. They began by providing school desks. In Mwamgongo,
Mtanga and Chankele they are building classrooms (two in the latter place); in
Mgaraganza they have installed windows and made other improvements to the school;
and in Bubango they are building a dispensary. The SCIP officer also undertakes
conservation education in the surrounding villages. One of the problems for villagers
is lack of resources. In Mwamgongo, for example, there is no fuelwood and villagers
therefore look to the park to cut firewood, including wood for smoking fish. The park
authorities have to prevent them from cutting in the park and it is quite hard to
persuade villagers to perceive the park otherwise.

76. The aquatic extension of Gombe should be a priority. In Mahale National Park
the boundary extends 1.5 km into the lake. In Gombe the boundary is 100 m inland of
the shoreline. The fishing camps along the shore were originally allowed as
compensation to local residents who were moved from the park. At that time there
were very few fishermen, but now the fish catch is very large. This is an important
breeding area and he would like to see the park boundary extended into the lake by 1.5
km or even only 1 km. He has seen an impressive film on the fish at Mahale, where
TANAPA patrols the lake to prevent incursions by fishermen, and he would like to
develop Gombe in the same way.

77. Kuhe (Boulengerochromis microlepis) used to be abundant, but fishermen now

fight over them. One problem is the use of kokoro, seine nets. In Mwamgongo there
are 6-7 lift nets and 12 beach seines. Villagers convert lift nets into beach seines:
18
they say that fish are migrating to the lakeshore and that they cannot afford the engines
and other gear which would enable them to fish in deeper waters. In theory there is a
1 km buffer zone where fishing is not allowed all around the lake. The fishermen in
the camps outside Gombe come from all over: some past wardens may have allowed
more of them in. There is some uncertainty over the boundaries of the park: people
were once moved away from the southern boundary at Kizinga (in line with
TANAPA’s usual policy of excluding settlement within 1 km of park boundaries).
Following the reduction in fish stocks some boat owners have begun to move
elsewhere to farm. Some have begun running shops. Mwamgongo and Mtanga have
the greatest problems because of the lack of land to cultivate. In Bubango and other
villages oil palms can be planted.

78. TANAPA has no contact at the park level with the Wildlife Department, only at
higher levels. There are 16 park rangers and three outposts in the park. There is not a
lot of poaching, only cutting of grass and wood for building and fuel. There is no
anti-poaching unit in Kigoma town. On some places along the escarpment people
(specifically Rundi) live right on the park boundary. The original inhabitants of the
park were Ha. There are also Bembe in the area - and he has heard that they eat
baboons. However, someone who did research on the park’s vegetation in the past
returned in 1992-93 and said that he was very happy with its development. Firewood
is not used in processing dagaa, which are sun-dried: he does not know how much
wood is cut for smoking relative to ordinary domestic uses. Someone has already
proposed introducing improved stoves: rural electrification would be an ideal, but
will take a long time.

79. Mwamgongo village. Visit with Beatrice Marwa to the TACARE nursery
followed by meeting with the Village Executive Officer, Abubakari Rugumamu, also
attended by the Ward Education Officer, the Chairman of the Kamati ya Ustawi wa
Jamii (the committee which deals in particular with environmental issues), and
another village elder. Mwamgongo is a large village (population 6,738 according to a
census conducted this year), which is also the ward headquarters.

80. The TACARE-sponsored nursery is now in its second year. A lot of seedlings
have already been distributed free of charge, especially indigenous (?) tree species.
Some are now sold and the ViNA has started to raise oranges. People have begun
planting seedlings on the hillsides. The nursery plot was donated by the owner of the
farm (with oil palms) on which it is located, close to the river which runs through the
village.

81. The boundary with Gombe National Park is at the top of the hillside immediately
to the south of the main settlement. Over the past three years there has been some
conflict with the park authorities. The village has set aside this slope for tree planting
and reafforestation, but every year the vegetation along the boundary is burned by park
rangers (presumably as a preventative measure) and the seedlings planted by villagers
have been destroyed. The villagers have complained (for example to TACARE) and
have been advised to pursue their case against the park through the District offices;
however, nothing has been done about it to date. Villagers complain that when they
burn forest within the park they are arrested and charged, but when the park burns
19
their own seedlings no action is taken. (Apart from the SCIP programme it is evident
that there is no regular forum for villagers and park officials to meet and discuss
issues such as this).

82. There is a lot of competition now on the lake and many more boats than there
used to be in the past. Beach seines, which catch immature dagaa, are popular
because lift nets and engines are too expensive. In some seasons fish are found closer
to the surface of the lake, in other seasons they go deeper. Most of the non-local
fishermen in the village are from neighbouring villages. (No attempt was made to
discuss these issues in greater detail, given that villagers had recently been
interviewed by Julian Quan and Malcolm Whitehead and that intensive participatory
research is scheduled for later in the year).

83. From Mwamgongo we sailed north to view the lakeshore at Bugamba and Kiziba.
There is extensive cultivation in the hills behind Bugamba. Refugees from Burundi
are said to be ‘hiding’ in these hills, and producing a lot of charcoal there. At the
southern end of Bugamba we were shown a hamlet that had only recently been settled
by villagers moving down to the lakeshore. Two or three years ago the surrounding
area was all forested, but now there is a lot of cultivation, albeit with some miombo
patches. A group of young men (vijana) in the village had been adamant that there
should be no firewood cutting in these patches, and they enforced this decision by
beating offenders (with sticks) themselves (as a more effective alternative to reporting
them to the local balozi, ten-cell leader). Recently, however, the youths who led this
action have moved to Kigoma town, and it is not clear whether the strictures they
imposed will remain in force.

84. After viewing Kiziba, we turned south to return to Kigoma via Mtanga.

85. Mtanga village. Meeting with the Assistant VEO (the VEO had been removed
from office) and Primary School Headmaster, Mwalimu Mwanyesha (originally from
Sumbawanga); followed by visit to the TACARE-sponsored nursery (run by his wife),
where we were joined by the Village Chairman, Mzee Poroto, and others. Mtanga
comprises six sub-villages (vitongoji): we were in Mtanga A. The nursery is in the
shade of some exotics planted under the FAO project: we were told that people
remember this earlier tree planting programme and remain grateful for it. The nursery
is now in its second year. In the first year around 2,000 seedlings were given away to
villagers, mostly exotics. Now they are raising some indigenous species (for example
mbambakofi) and fruit trees, which they are sure people will buy. Villagers have
already planted a lot of trees around their homes, including on the hillsides, as a result
of the earlier programme mentioned above. Some hillsides near the village have been
set aside for preserving miombo.

86. We had a brief discussion about the relationship between the village and Gombe
National Park (there has been some friction along the boundary, but this was not
mentioned, perhaps because we were not in the sub-village concerned). Our
interviewees felt quite positive about the park, and made it clear that the fact that
fishermen were allowed to camp on the lakeshore was an important element in
maintaining good relations. Although we did not raise the issue of an aquatic
20
extension of the park, this suggested that such a proposal would not be well received,
especially if it seemed that villagers were being further excluded from access to
resources which were once unequivocally theirs.

87. After leaving Mtanga, we looked more closely at the landscape between there and
Kigoma, and especially at the patches of miombo and other forest on the slopes. Our
boatmen recounted various examples of local efforts to conserve forest and / or
encourage its regeneration. In one area the Village Chairman had forbidden further
deforestation at particular sites; in another one family had decided to preserve the
gallery forest on its land. These and other cases of local conservation measures
reported during our trip indicate that a fair degreee of enviromental awareness has
already developed, and that the need to take some action has been recognised, at least
by some villagers. This is a trend which should obviously be encouraged, not only in
the ways which TACARE is doing, but also by seeking ways to strengthen the local
institutional framework and linkages which can support conservation efforts.

Friday, 2 August, Kigoma to Dar es Salaam

88. Kigoma Airport. Drafted workplan for Beatrice Marwa, asking her to continue to
gathering background information and making individual and institutional contacts of
the kind pursued over the past week. This will require looking at other areas and
institutions working within Kigoma Region, as well as following up on particular
tasks identified during the mission (for example location of existing PRA reports and
participating, if possible in the PRAs said to be planned for August / September by
CARITAS in Kasulu (?) District.

89. Return by air to Dar and brief contact with Andy Menz and, subsequently,
Malcom Whitehead (prior to his departure for U.K.).

Saturday, 3 August, Dar es Salaam

90. LTBP office. Informal discussion with Andy Menz, gathered reports in office.

91. Embassy Hotel. Report reading and note-taking.

Sunday, 4 August, Dar es Salaam

92. Embassy Hotel. Report reading and note-taking.

Monday, 5 August, Dar es Salaam

93. Department of Sociology, UDSM. Morning meeting with Professor C. S. L.

Chachage (suggested by Professor Kikula of IRA as possible national lead counterpart
for socio-economic studies - see Julian Quan’s report). After briefing him on LTBP,
21
we discussed his extensive research and consultancy experience, including his
experience of PRA-type methods. Of particular interest was his previous work in the
Lake Tanganyika area. In 1990 he had participated in a survey on the use of different
media in Kigoma. In 1991 he had worked as a consultant for Cowiconsult (?),
together with others, in drawing up socio-economic profiles of a series of lakeshore
villages between Kigoma and Mpulungu. These profiles were based on focused
discussions within the villages concerned, and designed to gain an understanding of
local factors relevant to the main objective of the consultancy, which was concerned
with the improvement of landing sites. Unfortunately I was not able to see any of
these profiles, because the two-volume report had been lent out (all of the
socio-economic profiles are in one volume). Professor Chachage, however, showed
me similar profiles from another piece of work, narrative descriptions of each village
and the main features of the local community and its economy. He has also
supervised and/or is aware of the work of a number of research students in Kigoma
and Rukwa Regions, and has himself worked on the problem of dynamite fishing in
the Dar es Salaam area.

94. We went on to discuss some of the problems of natural resource management at

village level. He pointed out that many villages do not have a good record in this
respect, and that financial embezzlement by village leaders has been rife in the
post-villagisation period. The lack of effective village government democracy and
accountability poses an obvious threat to resource management, especially where
these resources are valued and money is involved. We also discussed the new land
tenure policy and the Titling Individualisation and Registration bill (not yet passed
into law). He feels that this has some serious shortcomings, in particular the provision
that public lands are still owned by the state, and effectively in the dispensation of the
President. He notes that Professor I. Shivji made a very worthy contribution to the
Land Commission which preceded the preparation of this bill, but considers that the
process was subsequently flawed under the influence of World Bank sponsorship and
by the employment of American and British lawyers to complete the legal work.

95. Professor Chachage is evidently a very busy man, and in high demand as a
consultant. He is currently coordinating a long-term study of Aids and supervising the
work of research students (MA and PhD candidates) to this end. He is involved in
starting a new journal of sociology in Dar and, following a trip to Senegal, will repair
to the Universities of Hull and Cambridge in the U.K. to complete a book on natural
resource planning (including sections on wildlife management, forestry, and mining -
which he has already written extensively about). He expects to finish this book in
October or so, and will not be available for other work before then. (Action: I asked
Professor Chachage to send a copy of his cv to the LTBP office, together with the two
volume report which includes the profiles of lakeshore villages. LTBP Dar to
photocopy this report - in particular the socio-economic profiles - and send the copy
to LTBP Kigoma, returning the original to Professor Chachage).

96. NB: the other suggested national lead counterpart for socio-economic studies, Dr
Claude Mung’ongo, of IRA / UDSM, was out of town for the week and therefore not
available for a meeting. His current involvement in interdisciplinary research on
deforestation, habitat destruction, biodiversity, and resource use in miombo areas of
22
Kasulu District - see Julian Quan’s December 1995 report - would appear to make
him a more obvious choice for the counterpart position, assuming that such an
appointment is agreed. (Action: can Andy Menz follow up on this in our absence?).

97. Library, UDSM. Attempted to contact Professor Ophelia Mascarenhas to follow

up on the PRAs which she had supervised in Kigoma Region (see above). I was
informed that Professor Mascarenhas is on sabbatical leave, though I might search for
the PRA reports under her name in the catalogue of the East Africana collection.
Access to the catalogue and collection, however, could only be granted if I came with
an official letter of request from LTBP. (Action: LTBP to prepare such a letter and /
or seek permission to use the library via the IRA / other UDSM contacts prior to my
return later this year. There are many documents, including unpublished theses, of
potential value in the library which I would like to consult if and when opportunity
arises).

98. COOPIBO. Afternoon meeting with Paul Bottelberge, Country Coordinator

(together with Andy Menz). COOPIBO is a Belgian NGO which is currently working
in eight countries (including Zaire) and receives most of its funding from the Belgian
government. In Tanzania it is active in agricultural development and the rural housing
sector, and directly engaged in the implementation of six projects in both the north
and south-west of the country. In 1995 it began work on two more projects, a housing
programme in Kahama District (Shinyanga Region) and an agricultural development
programme in Kasulu District (Kigoma Region). The latter is of particular relevance
to LTBP. In April 1995 a multidisciplinary team of six consultants undertook a
survey in Kasulu to assess the potential for COOPIBO to contribute to sustainable
agricultural development in that District and to find potential partners for this work.
The resulting report (Coopibo Tanzania 1995) provides a wealth of information on
farming systems and trends in that area, as well as on the activities and capacity of
different local NGOs. As a result of this survey COOPIBO decided to work through
the Development Office of the Anglican Church, and is on the point of signing a
memorandum of understanding to this effect with the Anglican Bishop. In 1997 it is
anticipated that intensive work will begin in four villages in two different wards
(Muganza and Mnyegera in Heru Juu, Murufiti and Titye in Heru Chini). COOPIBO
will begin its work by providing further training to the staff of the Development
Office (who already have experience in zero-grazing and agroforestry), and by
developing small rural infrastructures (the potential for small-scale irrigation and
some bridge-building have already been identified). It is expected that in June 1997 a
planning seminar for all the local stakeholders will be held, in which a five-year plan
of action will be outlined. Meanwhile, later this year (8-10 October 1996), COOPIBO
will hold a seminar on environment and food security in Kigoma town (which Keith
Banister is expected to attend).

99. In addition to COOPIBO’s plans for Kasulu District, we discussed their

experience of undertaking participatory research. COOPIBO make extensive use of
OOPP (Objective Oriented Project Planning) with farmers, and Paul Bottelberge
extolled the virtues of the ‘problem analysis’ component of this. COOPIBO charges
other organisations a maximum of US$ 150 per day for the use of its well-qualified
and experienced consultants, and pays them a corresponding maximum of Tshs
23
40,000. Those with less experience are given half this amount. ‘Trainees’, which
might include government officers at District level, are paid a fee of Tshs 5,000 per
day, though they could well be paid as little as Tshs 1,000. In the field all of these
categories are also given an allowance of Tshs 1,000 per day for food (Tshs 5,000 in
Dar). COOPIBO would be quite happy to hire out its staff as consultants to LTBP for
PRA activities at rates negotiated on this basis. Equally, they would be prepared to
act as subcontractors to undertake PRA-type work.

100. COOPIBO normally gets 75% of its project funding from the Belgian
government, and has to make up the remaining 25% from other (for example NGO)
sources. Their participation in LTBP activities (an EE campaign was suggested)
could therefore be funded simply by topping-up Belgian government funds.

101. In Zaire COOPIBO is supporting local NGOs in Kasai and Kivu. These
programmes are managed directly from Belgium, and do not involve the Tanzanian
office.

Tuesday, 6 August, Dar es Salaam

102. Royal Netherlands Embassy. Morning meeting with Byarugaba Kamara,

Programme Officer - Environment (Bob Hensen, Second Secretary - Development,
was out of town). We discussed the possibility of (renewed) Dutch funding for
fisheries credit linked to LTBP activities: this would require a worked-up proposal to
be considered locally or in The Hague according to the level of funding proposed. At
present Dutch aid is focused on District Rural Development Programmes in three
Regions: Kagera, Arusha and Shinyanga (including Kahama District). Assistance
outside of these three Regions would require special arrangements. The Dutch
government is, however, interested in LTBP and favours projects which relate to
environmental protection. For further information on the defunct Lake Tanganyika
credit line and the ongoing Lake Victoria scheme, Mr Kamara recommended that I
speak to James Yonazi at FAO (see below).

103. Department of Environment. Afternoon meeting with Rawson Yonazi, LTBP

National Coordinator for Tanzania. After briefing him on the purpose and progress of
the consultancy, he raised a series of issues, as follows.

104. (1) Host institution. The LTBP project document does not make it clear which
the host institution(s) should be. The local academic institutions are appropriate for
this role, for example UDSM and Sokoine University. The IRA / UDSM has
socio-economists and studies such as those proposed should be undertaken in close
collaboration with them.

105. (2) Local institutions. Local government institutions from the village to higher
levels are important for resource management. It is important to review what has
already been done on related projects, for example the community wildlife
management work at Manyara and Selous National Parks, and to build upon this.

24
106. (3) NGOs and CBOs. Care should be taken in working with NGOs. Most
Tanzanian NGOs are very new and were created in the early 1990s. In Dar es Salaam
there are some ‘briefcase’ (i.e. paper) NGOs, and many are not known at the village
level. It is important not to give NGOs too much responsibility and to raise hopes
falsely at the village level. The project should see how NGOs might be strengthened.
CBOs are much more important at the local level.

107. (4) Regional socio-economist. The terms and conditions of the appointment
should be clarified. An appointee from one of the universities would have to take a
leave of absence: being stationed in Kigoma would make it a less attractive (and
therefore necessarily a more remunerative) post. A monthly salary of US$ 1,000 or
less would only attract recent graduates who were unemployed and looking for their
first job (I had conveyed Andy Menz’s starting suggestion of US$ 700-900 per
month). Well-qualified candidates with a masters or doctorate would only consider
the position if the salary offered was US$ 2,000 or more per month. This is the sort of
income they might expect from consultancy work, and most of the people in this
category are involved in numerous consultancies. LTBP should fix the salary at the
going market rate.

108. (5) Lead national counterpart for socio-economic studies. Such a person should
be employed on a part-time consultancy basis, and preferably should be someone
attached to UDSM, for example in the IRA. This will ensure some continuity in the
work and will mean that the results of the studies will be deposited in an appropriate
institution. It is best to appoint a single individual rather than working through a team
of resource persons who can be drawn upon for consultancy as needed. Contracting
with a whole institution would entail the project paying a large overhead. The TOR
for a counterpart should be drawn up and sent officially to him so that he can clear
them with his Director.

109. (6) The project budget should be broken down into separate regional and
national budgets.

Wednesday, 7 August, Dar es Salaam

110. FAO. Morning meeting with James Yonazi, National Programme Officer (and
brother of the above), to discuss the question of credit for fisheries. He noted that one
problem with the now-defunct credit scheme for Lake Tanganyika fishermen was that
the CRDB, the bank which managed it, was not really interested because the credit
line was very small (although interest rates were very high). The bank did not follow
up on debtors very effectively. Credit for fishermen has to be tailored to an
understanding of their livelihoods and in particular an appreciation of the difficulties
they may have in repaying when fishing incomes are irregular and often inadequate (as
is the case on Lake Tanganyika). He recommended the FAO publication by U. Tietze,
Credit for Fishermen on Lake Tanganyika (Rome, 1989), for a detailed account and
analysis of the past scheme. He also suggested making contact with Mr Moreni, a
fisheries economist with the Fisheries Department (based in Ardhi House in the
Ministry of Lands), who backstopped the Kigoma project in Dar.
25
111. We also discussed the ongoing FAO credit line for fishermen in Kagera, on Lake
Victoria. This is now in its second phase, supported by the Dutch government as part
of an integrated rural development programme (the first phase was UNDP funded).
The programme recognises that fishermen are also engaged in other activities, and
support has been provided for the establishment of woodlots and school nurseries
(funded from other sources). Proposals are being considered to initiate a similar
programme in Mwanza. Loan repayments are easier to collect on Lake Victoria than
Lake Tanganyika because of the larger catch and ready market for Nile Perch (many
of Lake Tanganyika’s fishermen also live in relatively remote locations by
comparison). Nonetheless the programme is still experiencing a lot of problems over
repayment. To a large extent the recovery rate on this and other fisheries credit
schemes depends on the aggressiveness of the CTA concerned, and whether or not
he/she is prepared to be seen as a ‘tax collector’.

112. These problems are likely to be exacerbated on Lake Tanganyika, where the
fisheries are comparatively light and involve more risk (including the risk from
piracy). Where boat engines cost Tshs 2-3 million, most fishermen cannot even afford
a 25% down-payment. I asked if he knew of any attempt to apply the minimalist
group-lending model to fisheries credit in Tanzania: he did not, though he was aware
of its application in the agricultural sector. On the question of environmental impacts,
he surmised that fish processing around Lake Tanganyika had less adverse impact
than in the Lake Victoria case because of the prevalence of sun-drying in the dagaa
fisheries. In general he felt that fisheries were declining as a source of livelihood
around the lake.

113. LTBP office. Afternoon report reading and writing.

Thursday, 8 August, Dar es Salaam

114. Embassy Hotel. Public holiday. Report writing. Evening met with incoming
MRAG biodiversity consultants, Dr Philippe Petìt (ENSAT, Toulouse) and Dr
Edward Allison (ODG, University of East Anglia). Briefed them on my work and
conclusions and discussed a number of issues, including (1) the siting of acquatic
parks (there was general agreement that an aquatic extension at Gombe might not be
the most viable option, given probable low biodiversity in the area and the need to
retain good relations with local fishing communities); (2) overfishing in the northern
part of the lake, leading to the southward migration of fishermen (which seems
evident from Phillipe Petìt’s PhD work on the Burundian and Zairean fisheries); (3)
the need for careful assessment of any credit scheme for fishermen and its likely
impacts (if credit is offered at all then it should be linked to the promotion of larger
net mesh sizes); (4) the possibility of involving local fishermen in monitoring
biodiversity (favoured by all: Phillipe Petìt’s experience in Burundi is again relevant
to this, and he provided an interesting perspective on the wide extent of fishermen’s
ethnoicythyological knowledge); (5) the need for ongoing communication between the
natural and social scientists to determine the best sites for research and other
activities; and (6) the need to initiate these activities as soon as possible, adopting a
26
trial and error approach, with increasing refinement as more information becomes
available. Philippe Petìt’s earlier experience on the lake should prove invaluable, and
I asked him to ensure that a copy of his 1995 thesis was deposited in the LTBP
Kigoma office. The close link between the MRAG briefs, especially fishing practices,
and the NRI work on socio-economics was evident from our discussion, and should be
fostered.

Friday, 9 August, Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar

115. LTBP office. Morning discussion with Andy Menz on the appointment of a
Regional Socio-economics Coordinator, the possible roles of an Information Officer,
and the project budget. The informal call for cvs of potential candidates for the
regional post has met with little response and we agreed that the next step should be to
advertise.

116. Late afternoon return to Zanzibar, en route to Mombasa and U.K.

27
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29