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Land Use Change Patterns and Root Causes on the Southern Slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Authors:
LUCID’s Land Use Change Analysis as an Approach for Investigating
Biodiversity Loss and Land Degradation Project
Land Use Change Patterns and Root Causes
on the Southern Slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
LUCID Working Paper Number 25
By
Milline J. Mbonile
Salome B. Misana
Cosmas Sokoni
Department of Geography
University of Dar es Salaam,
P.O. Box 35049
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
September 2003
Address Correspondence to:
LUCID Project
International Livestock Research Institute
P.O. Box 30709
Nairobi, Kenya
E-mail: lucid@cgiar.org
Tel. +254-20-630743
Land Use Change Patterns and Root Causes
on the Southern Slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
The Land Use Change, Impacts and Dynamics Project
Working Paper Number 25
By
Milline J. Mbonile
Salome B. Misana
Cosmas Sokoni
Department of Geography
University of Dar es Salaam,
P.O. Box 35049
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
September 2003
Address Correspondence to:
LUCID Project
International Livestock Research Institute
P.O. Box 30709
Nairobi, Kenya
E-mail: lucid@cgiar.org
Tel. +254-20-630743
Fax. +254-20-631481/ 631499
Copyright © 2003 by the:
University of Dar es Salaam;
International Livestock Research Institute; and
United Nations Environment Programme/Division of Global Environment Facility
Coordination.
All rights reserved.
Reproduction of LUCID Working Papers for non-commercial purposes is encouraged.
Working papers may be quoted or reproduced free of charge provided the source is
acknowledged and cited.
Cite working paper as follows: Author. Year. Title. Land Use Change Impacts and Dynamics
(LUCID) Project Working Paper #. Nairobi, Kenya: International Livestock Research
Institute.
Working papers are available on www.lucideastafrica.org or by emailing lucid@cgiar.org.
LUCID Working Paper 25 ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1
1.1 Conceptual and Theoretical Framework.............................................................................1
2.0 METHODOLOGY. ............................................................................................................2
2.1 Selection of Transects.........................................................................................................2
2.2 Data Collection Methods ....................................................................................................2
2.2.1 Interpretation of satellite images......................................................................................5
2.2.2 Household Socio-Economic and People’s Perception Surveys.......................................6
3.0 LAND USE CHANGE PATTERNS .................................................................................6
3.1 A Historical Analysis of land use and cover change 1950s -1970s....................................7
3.2 Patterns of land use and cover change 1973-2000..............................................................8
4.0. ROOT CAUSES AND THEIR EFFECTS
ON LAND USE AND SOIL MANAGEMENT..............................................................15
4.1 Demographic factors.........................................................................................................15
4.2 Government Policies.........................................................................................................19
4.3 Institutional factors ...........................................................................................................20
4.3.1 Abolition of chiefdoms..................................................................................................20
4.3.2 Abolition of Local Government.....................................................................................21
4.3.3 Abolition of Co-operatives ............................................................................................22
4.4 Legislations.......................................................................................................................22
4.5 Social/cultural factors .......................................................................................................24
4.6 Economic factors ..............................................................................................................27
4.6.1 International Economic Factors.....................................................................................27
4.6.2 Local Economic Factors ................................................................................................28
4.7 Environmental Factors......................................................................................................30
4.8 Peoples’ Perceptions of Environmental Change...............................................................32
5.0 CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................35
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................36
APPENDIX.............................................................................................................................41
LUCID Working Paper 25 iii
PLATE
1. Mount Kilimanjaro showing distinct ecological zones.........................................................1
FIGURES
1. Sampling Points along the Machame-Mbokomu Transects gradient ..................................3
2. Sampling points on land use/cover Machame-Mbokomu transects.....................................4
3: Sampling Points within Ecological Zones along the Rombo Transect................................5
4. Land use and cover change on the Southern Slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro 1973-2000.........10
5. Extent of Agricultural Expansion 1973-2000....................................................................11
6: Time Scale.........................................................................................................................16
7: Place of Birth of Heads of Households..............................................................................18
8: Means of Acquiring Plots for Homesteads and Adjacent Farmlands................................26
TABLES
1. Area coverage and change of land use/cover types 1973-2000...........................................9
2a. Land Use and Cover Change Detection Matrix 1973-1984..............................................12
2b. Land Use and Cover Change Detection Matrix 1984-2000..............................................12
3: Population on the Southern Slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro by District..............................17
4: District Population Growth Rates of Mount Kilimanjaro 1948-2002................................18
5: Distribution of In-migrant Husbands by Zone and Village ...............................................19
6: Means of Acquiring the Plot of Land in the Homestead
and Adjacent Farmlands ....................................................................................................25
7: Period when Plots of Land were Acquired by Zone and Villages.....................................26
8: Use of Plots at the Time of Acquisition by Zone and Village ..........................................27
9: Major Cash Crops of the Area...........................................................................................29
10: Proportion of Households that Produce Insufficient Food in a Normal Year...................29
11: Reasons that Support that the Ice Cap is Decreasing........................................................32
12: The solutions to the drying of water sources....................................................................33
13 Decrease of Forest Cover, Animals, Insects and Birds.....................................................34
14: Types of Crops whose Production is Decreasing .............................................................35
LUCID Working Paper 25 iv
1. INTRODUCTION
Mount Kilimanjaro has witnessed extensive land use changes over the last 100 years or more.
These changes have led not only to modification but also to conversion of land cover with
serious environmental implications. Various studies on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro (e.g.
Maro, 1974, 1988; Gamassa, 1991; Yanda and Shishira, 2001; William 2002; Soini, 2002)
give evidence of replacement of forests by agriculture and settlements, severe soil erosion,
disruption of water sources and drying up of rivers. The factors behind these changes are
multi-faceted, but they represent the interaction between biophysical and societal processes
over space and time and reflect the economic, social and political processes and the physical
environment. They also reflect interdependencies among scales, from local, national and
international scales.
This study was undertaken as part of a project on “Land Use Change Analysis as an Approach
for Investigating Biodiversity Loss and Land Degradation”, being implemented in Kenya,
Tanzania and Uganda. A case study approach was adopted for the entire project to facilitate
comparison of geographically different but analytically similar land use situations, taking into
consideration the complex linkage and interactions between society and environment,
reflecting the economic, social and political processes and the physical environment. The
objective was to analyse the patterns and trends in land use change and to identify the root
causes of land use change leading to changes in biodiversity and land degradation. Mount
Kilimanjaro (Plate 1), specifically the southern and south - eastern slopes of the mountain,
was selected as the case study site for Tanzania because of the extensive land use changes that
have occurred there, particularly on the southern slopes since the 1900s. This paper describes
the patterns of land use change and analyses the root causes or driving forces that underlie the
changes in land use.
Plate 1. Mount Kilimanjaro showing distinct ecological zones
(Source: http://visibleerth.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/viewrecord?18663)
1.1 Conceptual and Theoretical Framework
This study applies the environmental-societal dynamics as the domain of synthesis in
understanding the interaction between biophysical and societal processes. This domain refers
to the way human beings impact the environment and the way the environment shapes human
activities (NRC, 1997). It also refers to the way human beings perceive and respond to the
changes of the environment as being caused by themselves and the way their responses again
impact/change that environment.
Human activities have increasingly modified the environment over time and space. In fact,
their role in environmental change overrides natural changes to ecosystems brought by
climate variations of the past few thousand years (Turner, et al., 1990; Lambin et al. 2003).
LUCID Working Paper 25 1
These activities include cultivation in various forms, livestock grazing, settlement and
construction, reserves and protected lands and timber extraction, among others. These and
other land uses have cumulatively transformed land cover at the local and global scales, with
significant consequences for land cover, biodiversity, soil condition and water and sediment
flows (Turner, et al., 1994). These kinds of impacts are generated by modification or
alterations in the attributes of cover (e.g. degradation of forest through tree cutting) and
conversion of land cover involving complete change from one cover type to another (e.g.
from forest to cultivated land).
The premise for this study is that multiple dimensions of drivers – socio-economic,
biophysical, and land management (proximate causes)– are relevant to land use and cover
change (Turner et al., 1995; Campbell and Olson 1991; Lambin et al. 2003). In this
perspective, the human dynamics of land use change can be fitted to large-scale and small
processes, and the variable importance of human and biophysical forces that operate at
different spatial and temporal scales will be more apparent.
Land use and land cover change, and the resultant environmental change thus form a complex
and interactive system linking human action to use/cover change to environmental feedbacks
to their impacts and human responses. Land use patterns, driven by a variety of social,
economic, political and natural processes, result in land cover changes that affect biodiversity,
water, land productivity and other factors, that cumulatively affect the biosphere. As such, an
understanding of current and future land use/cover dynamics and their environmental
consequences requires an understanding of these dynamics at various times in the past (a
historical dimension) and the diverse set of forces/processes driving these dynamics. These
forces must also be put into historical and cultural contexts. According to Turner et al. (1995),
cultural practices are important sources of variation in land management (proximate causes) at
the level of the unit of production, and may endure over long periods of time, transcending
shorter-term historical periodisation.
2.0 METHODOLOGY.
2.1 Selection of Transects
Primary data were collected in three transects, namely the Machame Transect in Western
Kilimanjaro, Mbokomu Transect in Central Kilimanjaro and Rombo Transect in Eastern
Kilimanjaro (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The Machame Transect began in the mountain
ecological zone at a height of about 1,800 metres above sea level (S 03° 10 43 and E 037°
14 301). The Transect ended in Kikafu River at a place called Longoi located at 762 metres
above sea level (S 03° 25 842′′ and E 037° 17 876′′). On the other hand, the Mbokomu
Transect (Figure 3) began in the mountain ecological zone at about 1,831 metres above sea
level (S 03° 25 842′′ and E 037° 17 846′′). The transect ended in the lowlands at a place
called Mabogini located at 775 metres above sea level (S 03° 25 163′′ and E 037° 22 763′′.
The Rombo Transect began from the highland ecological zone at Kitangaro (03o 07 57′′ and
E 037° 34 18′′) to Msaranga in the lowland ecological zone (S 03° 38 306′′ and E 037o 40
546′′).
2.2 Data Collection Methods
A triangulation of information sources was applied to this study, as outlined in the LUCID
project methodological guide (Maitima and Olson 2002). This involved a variety of methods
to describe the land use patterns and change and to identify the root causes of these changes.
The methods included interpretation of satellite images, household questionnaire survey and
review of available literature. A historical analysis of land use and cover change since the
1950s was based on available records.
LUCID Working Paper 25 2
Figure 1.Sampling Points along the Machame-Mbokomu Agro-climatic Zone Transects
LUCID Working Paper 25 3
Figure 2. Sampling points on land use/cover Machame-Mbokomu transects
LUCID Working Paper 25 4
Figure 3: Sampling Points within Ecological Zones along the Rombo Transect
2.2.1 Interpretation of satellite images
An analysis of land use and cover change on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro was done based
on the interpretation of satellite images. Four different images were obtained and used in the
study. These covered the periods 1973, 1984 1999 and 2000. The 1973 and 1984 images were
Landsat MSS while the 1999 and 2000 were Landsat 7 ETM+. The 1999 and 2000 images
were combined to form a 1999/2000 colour composite mosaic at a scale of 1:150000.
Each image was first radiometrically and geometrically corrected and geo-referenced to
Transverse Mercator geographic projection (UTM Zone 37 South Grid). Colour composite
images (hard copies) were produced at the scale of 1:150000 to facilitate the visual
interpretation process. After interpretation, the polygons were digitised to produce land use
and cover maps, and vector maps of towns and villages were overlaid on these maps for
visual referencing. Maps showing land use and cover patterns on the slopes of the Mount
Kilimanjaro for the three periods were then produced at a scale of 1:250000. There were,
however, some distortions resulting from cloud cover on the 1973 and 1984 images, which
led to an underestimation of forest coverage for the two years. The lack of clear contrast
between forest cover and cultivation with tree crops, which is basically an agroforestry system
of cultivation, with coffee, banana and tree mix, also led to either overestimation or
underestimation of the latter class on the 1973 and 1984 images.
Since the interest of this study was to show land use change patterns on the southern slopes of
Mount Kilimanjaro, the area of interest was clipped from each of the three maps and the area
coverage for each cover category determined. It was necessary to merge some of the classes
in order to reduce their number and improve clarity of the maps. Thus, for example,
cultivation with tree crops, mixed cropping and cultivation with herbaceous crops were
merged to form one class namely mixed, herbaceous tree crop cultivation. Bushland, bushed
grassland and grassland were merged to form bushland-grassland. Similarly, bushland with
crop cultivation was merged with grassland with crop cultivation to form bush-grass mix with
cropland.
The 1973, 1984 and 1999/2000 clipped maps were then overlaid to detect changes in land use
and cover between the three time periods. The main interest was to show the extent to which
LUCID Working Paper 25 5
agriculture had expanded in the area at the expense of other cover classes. Therefore, only a
few classes, mainly irrigated agriculture, mixed, herbaceous tree crop cultivation, bushland-
grassland, bush-grass mix with cropland and sugarcane, were considered in the change
detection. Change detection matrices for 1973-1984 and 1984-2000 were developed from the
statistics generated from the overlaid maps to show how much area of one cover category
changed to each of the other categories over the two time periods.
2.2.2 Household Socio-Economic and People’s Perception Surveys
Socio-economic data were collected along the three transects by using a questionnaire, which
was prepared by the LUCID project regional office and there were a few modifications made
to suit the Tanzanian situation (Maitima and Olson 2002). The questionnaire captured the
main economic activities of the people, land ownership and migration. The villages and
households along the three transects were randomly selected but the selection closely
followed the ecological zones of Mount Kilimanjaro. Besides the closed questionnaire
interviews with individuals who had knowledge of the different dimensions of land use
change in the study area provided additional information on the nature of land use change
over time, particularly since the 1950s, causes of such changes and loss of plant species. Such
key informants included owners of farms and long time residents in the area, as well as
government officials.
A study of people’s perceptions on the slopes Mount Kilimanjaro was conducted in two
transects in April 2002. In Machame transect two villages were selected; these were Foo
village in the highland ecological zone and Longoi village in the lowland ecological zone. In
the case of Mbokomu transect, Korini Juu and Mandaka village were selected to represent the
highland and lowland ecological zones respectively. In each village about 10 households were
selected to fill the questionnaire, giving a total of 40 households. Also a number of focus
group discussions were held with elderly (60-90 years), middle aged (30-59 years) and young
populations (15-29 years).
3.0 LAND USE CHANGE PATTERNS
Mount Kilimanjaro is an important ecosystem that has unique resources and many
opportunities for the development of its people. It has five distinct ecological zones, which
can be clearly observed on Plate 1 and Figure 1. These are: the lowland zone, reaching an
altitude of about 900-1000 meters; the cultivated belt (coffee-banana belt) extending up to
1700-1900 m; the montane forest zone, which includes the half mile strip along the southern
edge of the forest and the Kilimanjaro Forest Reserve extending to 3500-3700 m; Heathland
occurring in the alpine and sub-alpine zones at altitudes exceeding 3,500 m.a.s.l., and the
alpine desert (the summit) dominated by bare rock and ice.
Over the years, major changes in land use have occurred on the southern and southeastern
slopes of the mountain. The major land use changes have been the expansion of cultivation
down the slopes and the replacement of natural vegetation by cultivated land. Both the
lowlands and the highlands are intensively cultivated, leading to fragmentation of the
bushland vegetation, which seemed to have been characteristic of the lower slopes. In the
uplands, there has been encroachment on the forest for agriculture and in some areas exotic
trees have replaced the indigenous trees. In the lowlands, including the plains agriculture has
expanded into areas formerly used for grazing and wildlife conservation. These changes have
taken place at different time scales as illustrated in the sections that follow.
3.1 A Historical Analysis of Land Use and Cover Change 1950s -1970s
Vegetation patterns on the southern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro have been completely
altered, with a large proportion of the forest, particularly towards the lower boundary,
consisting of secondary vegetation. A belt of cultivated grassland and cropland has replaced
LUCID Working Paper 25
6
virtually the entire lower part of the montane forest belt. Much of what used to be scrub, bush
and lowland forest has been converted to cropland or grassland.
Historical records indicate that much of the present day cultivated land in the highlands was
initially forest. With the establishment of settlements, which started in the middle zone up to
1400 m (Iliffe, 1979), the forests were cleared for cultivation of bananas. Only useful tree
species were retained in the farms while less useful species disappeared gradually (Fernandes
et. al., 1984). Two different types of land use emerged, the Kihamba or home gardens where
houses were built and multi-purpose trees were intercropped with food crops, mainly bananas,
finger millet and beans, and the shamba land (small fields between the different vihamba)
where food crops like maize, beans, yams, sweet potatoes, finger millet and grass for
livestock were cultivated (Anderson, 1982). This farming system, which is an agroforestry
system, was supported by a sophisticated irrigation system using traditional fallows.
According to Mwasaga (1991), this cultivated belt replaced the lower montane forest belt.
With time, cultivation extended to the upper zone, an area where grazing of livestock and the
collection of fodder was more extensively practiced (O’Kting’ati and Kessy, 1991). In the late
19th century, with the arrival of missionaries and early colonialists, large scale farms were
opened up mainly for coffee production. Coffee was introduced in 1983 by the Catholic
Mission, which led to the conversion of the upland grazing lands to large-scale coffee estates
necessitating stall-feeding of cattle (Mtei, 1974). Smallholder farmers also started to grow
coffee on the Kihamba, intercropping it with bananas and trees.
With the emergence of the Kihamba system and the introduction of coffee, many indigenous
trees were replaced with exotic tree species, such as Grevillea robusta, Eucalyptus, Persea
Americana, which were planted for various purposes, such as timber, shade, fruit and animal
fodder. Eucalyptus was mainly planted for fuelwood supply and poles. Some indigenous
species, such as Albizia schimperiana and Newtonia buchananii were, purposely retained in
the farms for soil conservation. These are leguminous plants, which add nutrients to the soil.
According to Soini (2002a) the expansion of coffee production led to the conversion of the
grazing areas in the uplands, which necessitated stall-feeding. Some of the small fields
(shambas) where food crops were grown and Dracaena groves, areas set aside for burials and
sacrifices were also converted to home gardens. Agriculture and settlement increasingly
spread to steep river valleys and down the slopes to the lowlands, with cultivation of food
crops being pushed to the lower slopes. The lower slopes that bordered settled areas and the
plains were mostly covered by woodland and bushland (Holland, 1996). The Chiefs allocated
lowland plots (shambas) to upland farmers from the 1940s to 1960s so that a farmer would
have a kihamba (home garden) in the upland for coffee/banana production and a shamba in
the lower slopes/lowlands for food crop production (Maro, 1974). More coffee estates were
established in woodland and bushland zones in the upper lowlands (Soini, 2002a).
The major crops grown in the lowlands were maize, beans, finger millet and vegetables.
Cotton was also being produced in some areas as a cash crop on a smallholder basis. In the
dry low-lying areas (with rainfall less than 700mm), pastoralism was the main land use type,
practiced mainly by the Maasai herdsmen.
Thus by 1950s, the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro were already settled and intensively
cultivated. This is also confirmed by socio-economic survey, which revealed that majority of
the people (about 94%) who acquired land between 1950 and 2001 acquired land that was
already under cultivation. According to Maro (1974), there were two steps in the
intensification of land use. The first step was when the fertile highlands were converted to
home gardens and small fields of food crops, followed later by establishment of large-scale
coffee estates. The second step was when part of food crop production was moved to the
lower slopes.
LUCID Working Paper 25 7
By 1961, there was still space in the home garden area for small fields of sweet potatoes,
other vegetables and small patches of grazing lands (Soini, 2002a). With increased
population, however, the small fields were converted to Kihamba. Thus over time, the upper
slopes became more uniformly covered by home gardens while in the lowlands, more bush
land was opened up for food production. Soini (2002a,b) observed that there had been
expansion of cultivation to more and more marginal land down the southern slopes of the
mountain since the 1960s, as well as extreme fragmentation of natural bushland vegetation
and appearance and expansion of settlements. Thus by 1965, for example, areas of induced
vegetation brought about by cultivation and grazing through the removal of the original
vegetation were found nearly all around the mountain from 760m to 1820m (Greenway,
1965). Since then, there had been a lot of encroachment on the grazing areas by agriculture
particularly by people who were migrating from the densely populated highland areas. This
led to expansion of areas under agriculture and a decrease in grazing areas. Near the rivers,
irrigated agriculture (small-scale) for crops such as rice and vegetables became common.
3.2 Patterns of land use and cover change 1973-2000
As observed by Soini (2002a), there has been continuity of land use on the mountain in time
and space. The two types of land use, the home gardens (cultivation with tree crops) and
shamba (mainly with mixed cropping), have remained a characteristic way of Chagga farming
until today. Consequently, the general trend of land use as can be depicted from the 1973,
1984 and 2000 land use and cover maps (Figure 4) and Table 1 has been the expansion and
intensification (measured by percentage of land under cultivation) of cultivation, particularly
in the lowlands. It is evident from the maps that mixed, herbaceous and tree crop cultivation
has expanded at the expense of natural vegetation. In 1973, about 54% of the land in the study
area was under some form of cultivation, with 48.5% being under mixed, herbaceous and tree
crop cultivation. By 1984 and 2000 the area under cultivation had expanded to 62% and 63%
respectively, with the area under mixed, herbaceous and tree crop cultivation being 53% and
57%, respectively.
Data in Table 1 reveal that mixed, herbaceous and tree crop cultivation increased by 8.8%
between 1973 and 1984 and by 8.3% between 1984 and 2000. Overall, there was a general
increase of this cover category of 17.8% between 1973 and 2000. The rate of increase may
seem to be small compared to other use and cover classes. This is because three different land
use classes have been combined to form this category, which has obscured the differences in
land use change among them. The three classes are cultivation with tree crops characteristic
of the uplands, which does not seem to have changed much over the two time periods as shall
be explained later, mixed cropping, and cultivation with herbaceous crops both characteristic
of the lowlands. Much change seems to have taken place in the latter two categories.
LUCID Working Paper 25 8
Table 1. Area Coverage and Change of Land Use/Cover Types 1973-2000
Cover change
Coverage in Hectares 1973-1984 1984-2000 1973-2000
Use/cover type
1973 1984 2000 Ha % Ha % Ha %
Natural forest 16461.4 30059.6 32086.9 +13598.2 +82.6 +2027.3 +6.7 +15625.5 +94.9
Degraded forest
(forest
clearing/regeneration)
1374.3 37.9 1993.7 -1336.4 -97.2 +1955.8 +5160.4 +619.4 +45.1
Bushland-Grassland 27779.4 18637.1 16797.6 -9142.3 -32.9 -1839.5 -9.9 -10981.8 -39.5
High Altitude Grasses 2322.3 4570.1 2462.9 +2247.8 +96.8 -2107.2 -46.1 +140.6 +6.0
Bush-Grass Mix with
Cropland 5442.1 9032.3 3789.1 +3068 +56.4 -4721 -55.5 -1653 -30.4
Mixed Herbaceous
Tree Crop Cultivation 73730.6 80230.4 86865.9 +6499.8 +8.8 +6635.5 +8.3 +13135.3 +17.8
Irrigation (herbaceous
crops) 366.3 1915.7 2330.6 +1549.4 +422.9 +414.9 +21.6 +1964.3 +536.2
Plantation
(Sugarcane) 0.0 1470.0 1747.4 +1470.0 +100.0 277.4 18.9 +1747.4 +100
Swamps/Marsh
Either Permanent or
Seasonal
2021.3 2230.6 1138.2 +209.3 +10.3 -1092.4 -48.9 -883.1 -43.7
Swamps/Marsh with
Cultivation 2112.6 1060.4 1029.6 -1052.2 -30.8 -30.8 -2.9 -1083 -51.3
Urban Areas 245.0 564.1 1552.9 +319.1 +130.2 +988.8 +175.3 +1307.9 +533.8
Airfields 31.4 45.9 78.8 +14.5 +46.2 +32.9 +71.7 +47.4 +150.9
Cloud cover 19975.8 2008.4 0.0 -17967.4 -89.9 -2008.4 -100.0 -19975.8 -100
TOTAL 151862.5 151862.5 151873.9
*Underestimate due to cloud cover
Note: Clouds covered much forested area in 1973 so the apparent increase in forested Ha is
not due to land use/ cover change.
Much of the cultivation, particularly mixed cultivation and cultivation of herbaceous crops,
seems to have extended to the lowlands and plains (Figure 5) where a decline of bushland-
grassland can be observed from the maps. There has been a general decline of bushland-
grassland from 27,779.4 ha in 1973 to 16797.6 ha in 2000, a decrease of 39.5% (Table 1). A
similar pattern can be observed between 1973 and 1984, with a decrease of 32.9%. Soini
(2002a) observed that while the upper slopes became more uniformly covered by home
gardens (cultivation with tree crops) since the 1980s, more bushland was being converted to
agricultural land for food production in the lowlands.
A greater part of the Bushland-grassland vegetation (about 9198 ha) was converted to mixed,
herbaceous tree crop cultivation between 1973 and 1984 (Table 2a) compared to 6915.9 ha
between 1984 and 2000 (Table 2b). These results correspond to the observation made by
Soini (2002a) that more bushland was opened up for food production by 1982 in response to
increased population pressure on the upper slopes. Today patches of bushland vegetation
remain only on top of volcanic hills or in areas not suitable for cultivation because of shallow
soils.
Most of the bushland-grassland areas were used as grazing lands by the Maasai pastoralists.
This implies that expansion of agriculture into these areas has been at the expense of grazing
land, which has been reduced significantly over the years as depicted from the bushland-
grassland decline. The expansion of agriculture into the traditional grazing areas has also been
a major source of conflict between farmers and pastoralists.
LUCID Working Paper 25 9
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%
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%MOSHI
Mweka
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Old Moshi
BOMANG'OMBE MOSHI
Land Cover Classification
Airfiel ds
Bush-Grass Mix with Cropland
Bushland-Grassland
High Altitude Grasses
Irrigation (herbaceous crops)
Mixed Herbaceous Tree Crop Cultivation
Natural Forest
Plantation (Sugarcane)
Swam ps/Mars h Eithe r Perman ent or Se asonal
Swamps/Marsh with Cultivation
Urban Areas
Cloud Cov er
Degraded Forest (forest clearing regeneration)
Towns/ Villages
%Town
Village
Legend
1973 Land Cover 1984 Land Cover
2000 Land Cover
$
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S
Coordinate System: UTM Zone 37 South
Datum: W GS 84
5 0 5 10 Kilometers
MOSHI
Figure 4. Land Use and Cover Change on the Southern Slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro 1973-2000
LUCID Working Paper 25 10
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Irrigation (herbaceous crops)
Mixed H erbaceou s Tree Cr op Culti vatio n
Plantation (Sugarcane)
Towns/Villages
%Town
Vill age
Legend
$
30369Kilometers
Figure 5: Extent of Agricultural Expansion 1973-2000
Figure 5. Extent of Agricultural Expansion 1973-2000
LUCID Working Paper 25 11
Table 2a. Land Use and Cover Change Detection Matrix 1973-1984
Land use/Cover in 1984 (ha)
B-G B-G C MHTC IA PSG
B-G
10368.0 4713.2 9198.7 1168.6 87.5
B-G C
963.3 864.1 3164.3 0.0 0.0
MHTC
828.0 0.0 64177.9 480.0 1382.6
IA
0.0 0.0 263.4 102.8 0.0
Land Use/Cover in
1973
(
ha
)
PSG
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Note: B-G – Bushland-Grassland, B-G C - Bush-Grass Mix with Crops, MHTC – Mixed Herbaceous,
Tree crop Cultivation, IA - Irrigated Agriculture, PSG – Plantation (sugarcane)
Table 2b. Land Use and Cover Change Detection Matrix 1984-2000
Land use/Cover in 2000 (ha)
B-G B-G C MHTC IA PSG
B-G
9286.9 229.5 6915.9 0.1
B-G C
1483.4 776.2 6072.4 194.9 374.6
MHTC
1795.7 2606.8 71039.1 1069.8 186.8
IA
26.7 1130.5 0.0 756.1 0.1
Land Use/Cover in
1984
(
ha
)
PSG
0.4 0.0 83.5 202.9 1182.7
Note: B-G – Bushland-Grassland, B-G C - Bush-Grass Mix with Crops, MHTC – Mixed Herbaceous,
Tree crop Cultivation, IA - Irrigated Agriculture, PSG – Plantation (sugarcane)
Much of mixed cropping and cultivation with herbaceous crops is rainfed and is often
supplemented by the traditional irrigation system because of inadequate rainfall. The main
characteristic feature of agriculture in the lowlands as observed also by Sevaldsen (1997) is
the dominance of food crops over cash crops, with maize being the most important crop
followed by beans. These two crops are intercropped under the mixed cropping system. Other
crops include sunflower, finger millet, groundnuts, banana, cassava, sweet potato and
vegetables like tomatoes, onions, cabbage, spinach and eggplant. Most of these crops are
cultivated by the inter-cropping system along the maize production. Cotton, which is
sometimes mixed with maize, beans and sweet potatoes, has for as long time been the main
cash crop in this zone, but it is now being replaced by tomatoes and other vegetables. Rice is
the main crop in cultivation with herbaceous crops. The crop is grown under irrigation. Very
few trees are found in the shambas in the lowlands compared to the uplands.
The bush-grass mix with cropland increased by 56.4% between 1973 and 1984 but decreased
by 55.5% between 1984 and 2000. The increase in the earlier period is due to the conversion
of 4713.2 ha of bushland-grassland to bush-grass mix with cropland while its decrease in the
latter period may be explained by the conversion of 6072.4ha to mixed, herbaceous and tree
crop cultivation. Yanda and Shishira (2001) observed that bushland with scattered cultivation
increased by 265% between 1952 and 1982 while grassland with scattered cultivation
increased by 1,189% in the same area.
LUCID Working Paper 25 12
Irrigated agriculture increased by 422.9% between 1973 and 1984 and by 21.6% between
1984 and 2000. This could be attributed to the preliminary irrigation schemes that were
initiated in the area by the Japanese between 1975 and 1977 and later the Lower Moshi
Agricultural Development project that was commenced in the area in the early 1980s to
support irrigated agriculture in the lowlands within the lower Moshi area. Generally, an
increase of 536.2% from 366.25 ha in 1973 to 2330.6ha in 2000 can be observed from Table
1. The main crops grown are rice, maize, onions, tomatoes and other vegetables. A number of
smallholder irrigation schemes have been constructed in the lowlands, the largest scheme
being the Lower Moshi Irrigation Scheme constructed by the Japanese in the early 1980s.
There is also a privately owned large-scale sugar cane plantation in the lower Moshi area
covering an area of about 1747 ha on the clipped map in the year 2000, as well as floriculture
estates within the middle zone, most of which have replaced coffee.
Although the maps and statistics show an increase in irrigated agriculture, in practice there
has been a decline in irrigation over the recent past. This is mainly attributed to scarcity of
water for irrigation because of the increased demand and extraction. In the Lower Moshi
Irrigation project area, for example, rice cultivation covers only 1100ha out of the 2300ha
supposed to be under irrigation. Currently, each growing season can only support 200-300ha
instead of the foreseen 600ha due to water shortage. A study by Sevaldsen (1994) in
Makuyuni ward also reported of water scarcity as being the major constraint for most farmers
who practised irrigation.
In the uplands, not much expansion of agriculture can be observed. This may be due to
scarcity of land. Much of the land in the upper and middle zones is so fragmented that there is
no further room for expansion. According to Soini (2002a) most open spaces had been taken
by 1982 for building new home gardens. Today, even these home gardens have become so
fragmented that they are now too small to sustain a family. The average size of holdings
ranges between 0.5ha to 2 ha, with some households having less than 0.25 ha (Oyan, 2000).
This zone is characterised by a belt of intensive cultivation, with the natural vegetation having
been replaced with coffee, bananas and exotic tree species.
According to Soini (2002b), the home garden area on the upper slopes has not expanded
downwards since the 1960s. However, many changes have been experienced in the area.
Because of land scarcity and the limited opportunity to expand agriculture in the upper and
middle zones, farmers have opted to diversify their crop production. Thus cropping patterns
have changed over time. Many homesteads have vegetable gardens in their immediate
surroundings, with such crops as cabbage, tomatoes, onions, eggplant and sweet pepper.
As observed by Sevaldsen (1997), the increased importance of vegetables has been noted all
over the Kilimanjaro region. The increased demand for vegetables grown on Kilimanjaro is
believed to have increased since independence with the expansion of a wage-paid labour force
with limited access to land (Grove, 1993). In recent years, particularly since the 1980s,
vegetables are seen to provide a higher and stable income than coffee, which for a very long
time has been a major cash crop in the area. In response to this, some farmers have uprooted
their coffee trees and planted vegetables and horticultural crops like tomatoes and onions. In
some areas, previous large coffee estates have been planted with flowers, which are grown
mainly for the export market. Some of these estates have now been converted to maize farms.
Diversification of crops has also occurred in middle and lower slopes where tomatoes and
other vegetables have replaced cotton as a major cash crop. Because of the drastic drop of the
price of cotton since the 1980s, many people especially in Makuyuni ward turned to the
production of coffee (Sevaldsen, 1997). But due to the increased scarcity of water and the fact
that many people did not have the required shady environment to make the coffee trees thrive,
many farmers have been forced to turn to new crops such as tomatoes, other vegetables and
LUCID Working Paper 25 13
sunflower. Since the mid-1980s, tomatoes have gained significance as a cash crop and have
even become the number one cash crop for people in Makuyuni ward (Sevaldsen, 1997).
However, because of the perishability of the crop and the limited market as many people have
become involved in the production of the crop, the prices are no longer favourable, although
they are still much better than the coffee and cotton prices. Also increasingly, a number of
people are becoming involved in off-farm activities as a livelihood strategy because of
difficulties in agriculture caused water shortage for irrigation and scarcity of land.
Although it has been difficult to interpret the changes in forest cover because of cloud cover
on the 1973 and 1984 maps, there is evidence of some forest loss in the south- eastern and
eastern parts of the forest. This is reflected in an increase in patches of degraded forest
characterized by forest clearings and regeneration particularly along the edges of the half-mile
strip. In 1973, the degraded forest covered 1,374.3 ha but by 2000 it had increased to 1993.7
ha. Some of the forest areas have been converted to cultivation, the dominant land use pattern
in the highlands being cultivation with tree crops. Lamprey et al. (1991) also reported of
forest loss in the south - eastern part of the forest reserve from encroaching agriculture
between 1958 and 1987. According to Fernandez et al. (1984), the Chagga home gardens
covered about 1200 km2 by the 1980s. Crops grown in this zone include coffee, bananas, fruit
and exotic trees. Other crops include maize, beans, cabbage, potatoes, carrots and taro.
A study by Yanda and Shishira (2001) on the southern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro revealed
that the area coverage of the natural forest had decreased by about 41 km2 between 1952 and
1982. Some areas that were under natural forest are now under cultivation or degraded types
of vegetation. The most affected areas are the edges of the forest reserve, particularly the half-
mile forest strip, which have been seriously affected by timber harvesting by big companies
and different forms of encroachment. A belt of cultivated grassland and cropland has replaced
virtually the entire lower part of the montane forest belt, pushing the boundary of the forest to
1800 meters. Similar observations were made by (William 2002) who reported that forest
cover in the Half mile strip on the southern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro declined from 194.41
km2 in 1952 to 155.8 km2 in 1982.
Similar changes have been observed on the western and north - western parts of the mountain.
Major changes were observed in the plantations with much of the plantation being turned into
the shamba system where vegetables and maize were being grown. Settlement areas also
increased at the expense of bushland and bushed grassland, particularly around Olmolog and
Lerangwa villages. According to Chapuis et al. (2001), West Kilimanjaro went through major
changes during the last 40 years, although the coffee-banana belt, the most highly populated
land use area is non-existent there. The first major change was a conversion of the Maasai
grazing areas to cultivation with large estates of wheat. This was followed in the 1970s by
increase of small-scale cultivation with herbaceous crops in former grazing areas.
LUCID Working Paper 25 14
4.0 ROOT CAUSES AND THEIR EFFECTS ON LAND USE AND SOIL
MANAGEMENT
The root causes of the land use and cover changes that have taken place on the southern
slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro as described in the previous section are many and are multi-
faceted. They include demographic factors, colonial and post-independence government
policies, institutional factors, legislation, as well as socio-cultural, economic and
environmental factors. All these factors represent the interaction between biophysical and
societal processes over space and time and reflect the economic, social and political processes
and the physical environment. They also reflect interdependencies among scales, from local,
national and international scales. These factors have operated in the study area at different
time periods since the 1950s as illustrated in Figure 6 (figure adapted from Campbell 1998).
4.1 Demographic factors
The settlement of people on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro began several centuries ago
when people of Bushmen type covered nearly the whole mountain. The Bushmen were
displaced by the Chagga who originated from the northeast, probably from among the Kamba
on the slopes of Mount Kenya or the Maasai who were scattered in semi-arid areas of East
Africa. The Chagga were attracted to the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro because of its good
climate and fertile land for cultivation (Stahl, 1965). Despite the fact that demographically
the human population occupied the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro for the last 2,000 years it
appears a dramatic change in population dynamics occurred during the last 60 years (Maro,
1975; Mbonile, 1999). A number of reasons explain these rapid population dynamics:
The introduction of traditional irrigation systems enabled the farmers to grow crops
throughout the year and increase the productivity of staple foods like bananas.
A change in the cropping system with the introduction of coffee as a cash crop. The
money obtained from selling coffee enabled the population on the slopes of Mount
Kilimanjaro to purchase food from neighbouring regions and countries.
The increase of population mobility between the lowlands and the highlands
increased the area that could be cultivated. Resources such as grass and crop residues
were carried to the highlands by farmers who used them to enrich the highland soil
by making compost and by applying manure from livestock fed on the lowland
resources.
The introduction and spread of health facilities began during the colonial period.
Both the missionaries and the government introduced many medical facilities from
local to regional levels. This reduced mortality rates, especially among infants.
Despite the fact that the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro are a leading source of out-
migrants, the region was and is still a major region of in-migration particularly to
areas with large plantations such as the Tanganyika Planting Company, and to urban
centres such as Moshi Municipal and small towns like Boma la Ngombe and Himo.
LUCID Working Paper 25 15
Figure 6:Time Scale Drought Drought Drought El-Nino
Pests
Environment
Independence Resettlement Labour Deployment Act Multipartism
Policies/Politics Colonial policies SAPs
Re-establishment
Of LGAs
Abolition of Abolition of Reestablishment of Legal reforms
Chiefdoms LGAs. Coops Coops land act, etc
Institutional
Organization
Trade Liberalisation
Socio-cultural Land fragmentation
Economic
Demographic
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 20
LUCID Working Paper 25 1
6
Human fertility rates on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro have been declining from a
Total Fertility Rate of about 7.9 in 1967, to about 6.2 in 1988, and finally to about
5.8 in l999. Nevertheless, the rates are still very high when compared to countries in
the developed world where Total Fertility Rates have declined to 1.2 per woman.
As indicated by Msuya (1995) these high fertility levels persist in the midst of declining
mortality rates. In fact the child mortality rate declined from about 152 in 1978 to about 98 in
1999 (DHS, 1991/9992, TRCHS, 1999). Due to the young population structure, the
population will continue to grow for several decades to come (ECA, 2001). As indicated in
Table 3 the population on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro increased from about 267,700 in
1948, to about 840,000 in 1988, and to about 1,053,204 in 2002.
Table 3: Population on the Southern Slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro by District
Districts Year Hai Moshi Rural Moshi Urban Rombo Mount
Kilimanjaro
1948 - - - - 267,700
1957 - - - - 365,000
1967 116,974 242,075 29,423 114,615 503,087
1978 172,444 312,041 52,066 157,715 694,246
1988 200,136 342,553 96,838 200,859 840,386
2002 259,958 402,431 144,336 246,479 1,053,204
Sources: Population Censuses 1948, 1957, 1967, 1988 and 2002
These population dynamics have produced an overall growth rate ranging between 1.9 % and
4.5% for the region (Table 4). This rapid population growth rate results in the population
doubling every twenty years. Because of the rapid population growth, population density has
become very high especially in the highlands. This has led to increased pressure on natural
resources resulting in a scarcity and fragmentation of land and out-migration into the
lowlands. There are also high rates of migration to urban areas. The high population growth in
Mt. Kilimanjaro has been slightly reduced by the heavy out-migration to other regions in
Tanzania and to abroad (Mbonile, 1999).
Generally, this interpretation of the census data is supported by data obtained in the household
survey conducted in December 2001 to January 2002 (Machame and Mbokomu transects) and
September 2002 (Rombo transect). The information on the place of birth and residence in the
three transects indicates that 84.8% of the husbands who have the right to inherit the land
were born in their current villages of domicile. Others were born outside the village but within
their districts (9.3%) and about 3.7% were born within the same region. Those who were born
in other regions were only 2% (Figure 7). The low proportion of in-migrants from other
regions reflects the difficulty of in-migrants have in accessing land because tradition and
culture limit land sales. The major reasons given for in-migration include seeking land for
cultivation and habitation. Others followed their parents or husbands to new places of
residence.
LUCID Working Paper 25 1
7
Table 4: District Population Growth Rates of Mount Kilimanjaro 1948-2002
District 1948-1957 1957-1967 1967-1978 1978- 988 1
1988-2002
Hai - - 4.2. 1.5 1.9
Moshi (Rural)
- - 2.5 1.0 1.2
Moshi (Urban - - 7.0 8.5 2.9
Rombo
- - 3.4 2.6 1.5
Mt. Kilimanjaro 3.5 3.2 2.9 1.9 1.6
Source: Computed from 1948, 1957, 1967, 1978, 1988 and 2002 Census
83%
8% 7% 2% Outside Kilimanjaro
Region
Within District
Within Region
Within Village
Figure 7: Place of Birth of Heads of Households
Nonetheless, there are major differences in in-migration between the lowlands and the
highlands. As indicated in Table 5, out of a total of 48 in-migrants, 40 were living in lowland
villages like Kimashuku (13 in-migrants), Mandaka (16 in-migrants) and Longoi (10 in-
migrants). Only 6 migrated into the highlands.
An indication of high out-migration from the Kilimanjaro region is that of the 235 surveyed
households, 113 had sons aged above 20 years who lived off farm. The number of such sons
varied per household and ranged from 1 to 5 per household. In addition, out of those 113
households, the place of residence of the first son living off-farm was as follows: 3 lived
within the village, 10 within the district, 9 within Kilimanjaro region and 91 lived outside the
region. The destination of three quarters of those living outside Kilimanjaro region was Dar es
Salaam and Arusha, the major commercial centres in the country. The major occupations of
the sons who had moved with the region include petty trade and being guides/porters of
tourists. This young population exploits the rich tourist industry in the northern circuit of the
country, which include Mount Kilimanjaro and National Parks like Arusha, Serengeti,
Manyara, Ngorogoro and Tarangire.
LUCID Working Paper 25 18
Table 5: Distribution of In-migrant Husbands by Zone and Village
ZONE Village No of in-migrants Percent
Foo 0 0.0
Wari 1 2.2
Tema 0 0.0
Korioni Juu 1 2.2
HIGHLANDS
Katangara 1
Sub-Total 3 6.3
Uduru 1 2.2
Nshara 0 0.0
Korini Kusini 3 6.7
MIDDLE
Kisale 1
Sub-Total 5 10.4
Kimashuku 13 28.9
Mandaka 16 35.6
Longoi 10 22.2
LOWLANDS
Msaranga 1 2.2
Sub-Total 40 83.3
TOTAL 48 100.0
The departure of this young population has affected labour availability at the household level,
and has influenced farm management. The increase of absentee farmers in the region has led
to poor farm management or abandonment of farms leading to changes in the biodiversity of
the farms (Mbonile 2003). This is mainly the result of leaving older adults to attend to the
farm. Only a few households, especially in the lowlands, utilize part-time farm workers.
4.2 Government Policies
The current situation on Mt. Kilimanjaro is to a certain extent a reflection of past colonial
policies, particularly land policies that led to the land alienation and gazettement of forest
reserves such as Kilimanjaro and Rau. The local communities were thus denied access to
resources in the forest reserves. In Western Kilimanjaro, land was alienated for large-scale
wheat farms and ranches reducing land available to the local population for cultivation and
grazing. This situation has been aggravated by post independence policies that led, for
example, to the gazettement of Kilimanjaro National Park (KINAPA) and the establishment
of exotic forest plantations in Rongai and West Kilimanjaro that replaced indigenous forests.
Due to high population density in the Kilimanjaro highlands, there was no place for the
establishment of Ujamaa villages. Therefore, the government made an attempt to reduce
pressure by resettling some of the population to less densely populated areas such as Rukwa
and Morogoro regions. In the lowlands, however, Ujamaa villages were established between
the pastoral and other communities. This greatly affected wildlife corridors and natural
vegetation as it involved clearance of vegetation for settlement and agriculture. In 1983, the
Government enacted the Labour Deployment Act, which led to the resettlement of the urban
unemployed into the lowlands.
Also important are the agricultural policies that have influenced land use on Mount
Kilimanjaro. For example, in 1983 an agricultural policy was introduced to avert the food
crisis facing the country then. The standard of living of the farmers was to be raised by using
modern methods of agriculture and animal husbandry. This policy influenced land use on the
slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro through the expansion of cultivated land especially in the
lowlands. During this period, various traditional cash crops like coffee and sisal were
abandoned in favour of annual crops like maize and vegetables.
The Tanzanian government’s energy policy focussed on oil exploration and developing
hydropower and ignored firewood and charcoal, the main energy source used by people. The
high prices of petrol products and electricity have resulted in dependence on firewood and
LUCID Working Paper 25 19
charcoal, endangering some of the most common three species on the slopes of Mount
Kilimanjaro such as mijohoro.
The government’s mining policy has also had a big impact on the biodiversity of Mount
Kilimanjaro because large- scale and small-scale mining have been destructive of the
environment. The major mining activity on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro is the extraction
of salt and sodium carbonate in the semi-arid lowlands. Other minerals heavily extracted are
the volcanic products of pumice and volcanic rocks. Miners neatly cut them into bricks and
they are used extensively in the building industry (Bagachwa, et. al. 1995). These mining
activities have been responsible for the loss of native vegetation and degradation of the land
in the affected areas. Where the volcanic rock is extracted, for example, large open pits are
left leaving the areas a wasteland.
The industrial policy has also influenced land use and biodiversity on Mount Kilimanjaro.
Moshi town, a regional centre, was earmarked in 1969 as one of the country’s growth poles.
Many industries were then established including the tool and machinery industry, sack
factories, soft drinks factories, and breweries. These industries provided employment to the
population in Kilimanjaro and so reduced the number of people who directly depend on the
extraction of natural resources. However, some evolved into important sources of pollution,
particularly water pollution. The pollution affected major water sources for the region such as
the Njoro Springs. Large rivers including the Rau, Weruweru, and Kikuletwa were threatened
by liquid pollution and solid waste materials produced by the major settlements along their
banks.
4.3 Institutional factors
4.3.1 Abolition of chiefdoms
During the colonial period, the custodians of natural resources were chiefs, the traditional
rulers. The establishment of indirect rule in 1926 by the British Colonial Government
sanctioned the nomination of several traditional rulers. This role was strengthened by the
African Chiefs’ Ordinance of 1953. The first post-independence amendment of local
government was made in 1962, amending the Local Authority Ordinance of 1953. This
amendment abolished the chiefs’ roles and functions completely and left them powerless over
control of natural resources; they were then only concerned only with traditional issues. As a
whole, government bureaucrats and party authorities have replaced the chiefs who had been
custodians of natural resources for several centuries, leaving control of natural resources in
the hands of non-stakeholders (Oyugi, 1998).
On Mt. Kilimanjaro, the abolition of chiefdoms changed completely the structure of local
government and land tenure. The local chiefs, called mangi, had been extremely powerful in
protecting the scarce land resources. The protection of natural resources was then left in the
hands of local governments that were manned by people who were not indigenous to that
locality. The control of local government by distant authorities made possible the gazettement
of several protected areas and some sacred areas that preserved natural resources (Mniwasa &
Shauri, 2001).
4.3.2 Abolition of Local Government
Local government as an administrative system has experienced a troubled history in Tanzania.
On several occasions, the government has attempted to either decentralize or centralize the
local government (Mniwasa & Shauri, 2001). The first attempt to centralize the local
government occurred during the colonial period when independent local institutions were put
under colonial rule, so were administered by the colonial local government system. However,
this approach was terminated in 1969 by the post-independence government. The second
attempt occurred in 1984 after the failure of structural decentralization that began in 1972
(Mukandala, 1998).
LUCID Working Paper 25 20
In 1926, a British governor named Cameroon established indirect rule that led to the colonial
bureaucracy pretending to give power to the indigenous people to control their localities.
During the last eight years of the British Administration, there was an attempt to democratise
the local government system in Tanganyika by introducing the local Government Ordinance
(Cap 333) of 1953. This ordinance replaced the Native Authority Ordinance (Cap 72) of 1926
(Max 1991:24). In 1962, the post independence government did not abolish the local
government structure but integrated it into the government and the ruling party by revising the
Local Government Ordinance.
A decentralization process occurred between 1972-1982 when the government reorganized
the administration to give more power in decision-making and participation to the regional
and district authorities (madaraka mikoani). The Parliament enacted the Decentralisation
Government Administration (Interim Provisions) Act of 1972 abolishing local government
authorities and replacing them by larger bodies called District Development Councils. Since
there was then no control of natural resources at local level, the period can be described as the
most chaotic period in the history of natural conservation in the country. It was during this
period that several areas that had been conserved by the colonial government (including
Kilimanjaro Forest Reserve) were invaded. The whole process led to the near disappearance
of some forest reserves in the country. The marketing of plant species such as bamboo, used
to maintain water sources and catchment areas, led to their depletion in several catchments.
This was also the period of rapid expansion of cultivation into natural vegetation and into
sacred wetlands. Since the Act weakened the power of local people, there was an invasion of
pastoral land by farming populations. The areas that suffered most by this type of invasion
were the semi-arid areas that were formally considered marginal for agriculture (Mniwasa &
Shauri, 2001; Mbonile, 2002)
Additional changes in policy that impacted local government and natural resources
conservation took place between 1983-1998. In 1982, the local governments were re-
established to enhance the decentralization of government administration. A number of local
government acts were enacted including:
1. Local Government (District Authorities) Act No. 7 of 1982.
2. Local Government (Urban Authorities) Act No. 8 of 1982.
3. Local Government Finance Act No. 9 of 1982.
4. Local Government Services Act No. 10 of 1982.
5. Local Government Negotiating Machinery Act No. 11 of 1982.
6. Decentralization of Government Administration (Interim Provisions)(Amendment)
Act No. 12 of 1982.
In 1984, Act No. 15 was enacted which constitutionally sanctioned the existence of local
government authorities and affected their conservation of natural resources in the country.
The process of changing the powers of the local government continued through to 1997 when
the Regional Administration Act of 1997 moved power from the regions to the district.
Through this act the local governments became the providers of social services and goods.
They were permitted to work with other organizations located within their respective areas
such as Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) (Mniwasa & Shauri, 2001).
The Land Act No 6 of 1999, amending the Local Government (District Authority) Act of
1982, established three standing committees that greatly affected environmental management.
One is the Economic Affairs, Works and Environment Committee that is directly involved in
sustainable management of natural resources. In urban areas, a standing committee of Urban
Planning and Environment was established that made the conservation and environmental
management measures paramount in urban planning (Hala, 1999; Kironde & Ngware, 2000).
As a whole, the recent amendments to local government authority have put a strong emphasis
on local communities participating in environment management (Mniwasa & Shauri, 2001).
LUCID Working Paper 25 21
To attain sustainable development, regions like Kilimanjaro need to balance accelerated
economic growth with efficient management of the environment. It is also important to
develop a sustainable framework for the utilization of natural resources (Liviga, 1999).
4.3.3 Abolition of Co-operatives
Another institutional policy change that influenced the utilisation of resources on Mount
Kilimanjaro was the abolition of parastatal co-operative unions. In the Kilimanjaro region, co-
operatives had been driving forces of development. The first one was established in 1923,
followed by the Kilimanjaro Native Co-operative Union in 1932. In 1976, their abolition led
to the fluctuation of cash crop prices because there was no authority to monitor and level the
world market effectively. The authorities that replaced the co-operative unions were detached
from the farmers, the stakeholders. The abolition greatly affected coffee production in
Kilimanjaro because farmers could no longer buy chemical inputs and coffee became infected
by pests and diseases like the Coffee Berry Disease (CBD).
In the 1980’s, the decline led to farmers uprooting coffee and substituting it with crops like
maize and vegetables that would provide them money within a short period. The re-
establishment of co-operative unions in 1984 occurred when the economy of the country was
in deep recession. By then, the co-operative unions had lost most of their assets. They were
forced to establish a new infrastructure and could not concentrated on the well being of the
farmers. To compound the problem, the re-establishment of the co-operative unions coincided
with trade liberalisation, which allowed private dealers to compete with co-operatives. Most
farmers opted for the private market that paid the money promptly, but they then had no
security of supply of inputs like fertilisers and pesticides. Many farmers abandoned their
coffee farms and the coffee trees turned into bushes (Maddox et al., 1996; Mbonile, 1999;
Ponte, 1997).
4.4 Environmental Legislation
Tanzanian laws that pertain to environment may be grouped into four main categories: land
laws; natural resources and conservation areas laws; pollution-related legislations; and overall
environmental management legislations (LEAT, 2000). Legal reforms on these have been
carried out in Tanzania since the colonial period. Before the arrival of the Germans in 1885,
individual families or clans owned land in Tanganyika, and traditional chiefs had power over
land and natural resources. In 1895 when the powers of the Germans had firmly been
established in the country, they confiscated all the land and declared it public property. One of
the major conditions of this confiscation was that it did not allow the transfer or lease of land
by the native population without the approval of the German government (Stahl, 1965). Later
the British introduced the Land Act of 1923 which repeated the same process started by the
Germans of putting land ownership under the Government but with a slight modification of
recognizing land ownership by natives through customary law.
The post-independence government made some amendments, particularly the long-term land
lease system. For quite a long period, smallholders held the land almost entirely under
customary tenure or deemed right of occupancy. The first act immediately after independence
was the Free Titles (Conversion) Act of 1963. This was followed by the Government
Leaseholds (Conversion of Occupancy) Act of 1969. Nonetheless, land ownership is one of
the major causes of conflict in the past few decades in rural and urban areas despite the right
of occupancy of land.
The establishment of Ujamaa Villages in the 1970s is one of the most important land reforms
in the post independence period. The passing of the Village Act of 1975 led to the grouping of
villages into Ujamaa villages. The land use in these registered villages became a mixture of
individual tenure and communal plots or block farm. Since the land in these registered
villages was usually not allocated due to its agricultural potential, the result was often severe
land degradation and deforestation. Deforestation occurred because people settled in new
LUCID Working Paper 25 22
areas and required allot of building materials. In the Mount Kilimanjaro region, however, the
high population densities restricted development of the villagization programme to a very few
areas in the lowlands such as Kahe, Longoi and Mandaka.
In Western Kilimanjaro, the nationalisation of private land by the Land Acquisition Act, 1967
did, however have a large impact. By using this act, thousands of acres were acquired by the
government. Most of the land was given to national institutions such as the National Food
Corporation, and other land was distributed to communities living in the vicinity of these
plantations. Due to a lack of commitment and resources, however, the former cultivable land
was allowed to revert to grassland and bush. To a certain extent this allowed pastoralists to
graze freely in these plantations. Nonetheless, in some of the plantations it created severe
conflicts between the collapsing governmental institutions and the pastoralists, and some
cattle were impounded. The same type of conflict was observed between farmers who had
been owners of the land, and the plantations. After the trade liberalization policy was enacted,
the former owners returned and attempted to evicted squatter farmers; but they then learned
that the Ujamaa Land Act of 1975 gave the squatters this land.
As stated above, the 1982 Local Government Act consolidated the 1975 Village Act by giving
power to the Village Council in all land matters, including the allocation of land for
communal and individual use. However, the system had no written guarantee of rights over
land ownership and ownership could be terminated at the will of the government. Hence the
tenure system was not conducive to capital investment. However, as stated by Bagachwa et al.
(1995) this weakness was somewhat removed by the Agricultural Policy of 1983. This
attempted to reduce this insecurity by establishing a system under which villages were
allocated land under 999 year leases with the power to sub-lease any part of their land to
individuals, enterprises or institutions for shorter periods of 33 to 99 years. The problem with
this land lease was that the land could not be sold, and it ignored the traditional land use rights
of grazing and access to water, essential in semi-arid and arid areas. This omission led to the
expansion of cultivation into marginal land becoming a source of conflict between
agriculturalists and pastoralists.
In 1992 the Regulation of Land Tenure (Establishment Villages) Act No 22 virtually
extinguished all customary rights to village land incorporated between 1970 and 1977 (the
Ujamaa Villages). This registration also terminated legislation under which customary rights
were being claimed. The Land Act 1999 maintained the system of having all land be public
land with the President of the country the ultimate trustee. This Act moved one step further by
granting the right of occupancy of any person who has been granted land through either
customary tenure or other means. The transfer of land was placed under the jurisdiction of the
Village Council. The village land may be transferred to general land in accordance with the
provision of the Village Land Act of 1975. Furthermore, it defined what is reserved land by
including a number of ordinances that established forests, national parks, public recreation
grounds and conservation areas. Besides this, it included the declaration of hazardous lands,
which include mangrove swamps, and coral reefs, wetlands and offshore islands, land
designated as hazardous e.g. for dumping waste materials, land on slopes and other land
which is deemed as hazardous when it is being developed.
To summarize, a number of acts have been enacted to control land tenure in Tanzania. These
include the Freehold Titles of 1963, the Land Acquisition Act, 1967, the Government
Leaseholds (Conversion to Rights of Occupancy) Act of 1969, the Village and Ujamaa
Villages (Registration, Designation and Administration) Act of 1975, and the Local
Government (District Authorities) Act of 1982 and the Land Act of 1999. In one way or
another all these legalisations have had a major impact on land use/cover on the slopes of
Mount Kilimanjaro.
LUCID Working Paper 25 23
4.5 Social/cultural factors
The southern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro are among the most densely populated areas in the
country (300 people per Km2). This high population density has led to continued land
fragmentation. As defined by Kadigi and Mbiha (2000) land fragmentation is the process
whereby a larger holding is divided among several heirs leading into smaller units without
necessarily increasing field dispersion per household. Sometimes this process is equated to
farm fragmentation that refers to the possession by a farmer of many dispersed parcels of land
rather than one consolidated holding.
In general, land fragmentation is not an issue only of the population in Mount Kilimanjaro; it
was a common agrarian structure in many Western Europe before consolidation of farms in
the 19th century (McPherson, 1982). The determinants or root causes of land fragmentation
vary from one place to another. Nonetheless, in most agro-pastoralists communities the major
underlying cause is rapid population growth (Maro, 1975). In the case of Mount Kilimanjaro,
land fragmentation was accompanied by land intensification until it reached a stage of super-
population pressure (Boserup, 1965). When this super-population pressure was reached the
Chagga were forced to scatter their farms by establishing new farms in the lowlands where
annual crops like maize and beans were grown to supplement the food produced in the
highlands like bananas and cocoyams (Mbonile, 1999). Another driving force that led to land
fragmentation in Mount Kilimanjaro is the land tenure system. The traditional land
inheritance system intensified land fragmentation simply because every household has a
cardinal responsibility of distributing land to every male child. Furthermore, due to recent
changes in marriage dynamics it is also supposed to be distributed to daughters who are not
married. Also after the death of parents it is the last son who is supposed to inherit the land
close to the homestead.
In terms of land acquisition or access to land, the survey confirmed that land is essential for
the livelihood of rural households. Each household on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro has a
kihamba that includes the homestead and adjacent farmlands. However, some households
have other plots of land away from the homestead within and outside their villages. The
survey further reveals that the size of plots of homesteads and adjacent farmland ranged from
0.12 ha (0.3 acres) to 9 ha (22 acres), giving a mean of 0.7 ha (1.8 acres) per household. A
very small part of the land is used for the homestead and the rest is farmland, with the mean
size of cropland being 0.6 ha (1.7 acres). Also, as observed above, the majority of households
acquired their plots through inheritance from parents (82.6%) (Table 6 & Figure 8). Others
inherited the land through other means such as from clan (6.4%), or from the grandfather or
husband (1%). A small proportion acquired plots of land through a free offer from the village
government (2.7%) and about 7.3% of the households had acquired plots through buying and
renting. Moreover, according to Chagga traditions a kihamba, regarded as the heart of
livelihood of the homestead, is rarely sold.
LUCID Working Paper 25 24
Means of Acquiring Land
ZONE Village
Bought/Rented Inherited
from
parents
Other
means of
inheritance
by
Government TOTAL
Foo 1 34 5 1 41
Wari 2 22 0 0 24
Tema 0 40 1 0 41
HIGHLANDS
Korini Juu 0 28 0 0 28
Sub-Total 3 124 6 1 134
Uduru 1 16 1 0 18
Nshara 1 17 0 0 18
MIDDLE Korini
Kusini 2 12 0 1 15
Sub-Total 4 45 1 1 51
Kimashuku 4 16 0 0 20
Longoi 5 8 0 2 15
LOWLANDS Mandaka 4 8 0 2 14
Sub-Total 13 32 0 4 49
TOTAL 20 201 8 6 235
Table 6: Means of Acquiring the Plot of Land in the Homestead and Adjacent Farmlands
83%
7%
7%
3% Inherited from
Parents
Bought/Rented
Other
inheritance
Freely Given by
Government
Figure 8: Means of Acquiring Plots for Homesteads and Adjacent Farmlands
Nonetheless, a large proportion of plots acquired through market transaction were in the
lowlands. This is because the lowlands have been receiving migrants from both the upper
parts of Kilimanjaro and other areas of Tanzania. There is literally no indication of acquisition
of land through the market in the uplands of Kilimanjaro. As stated above this strongly
suggests that traditions and customs related to land tenure are still very strong and important
in land transactions. Generally, land is still considered to belong to the clan and so it is not
supposed to be sold—this is a major limitation to any future land consolidation or increase in
land purchasing. Since land is not transferable, it is also not accepted as collateral.
As an indication of how land acquisition is a dynamic process, households have been
acquiring land by various means since the colonial period and this is continuing during the
post independence period. Nonetheless, it appears most households acquired plots through
inheritance between 1981-2001 (46.4%). However, a further analysis by agro-ecological
zones shows that the lowlands had a greater proportion of households that acquired the land
more recently (Table 7).
LUCID Working Paper 25 25
Period when Land was Acquired ZONE Village <1950 1951-
60 1961-
70 1971-
80 1981-
90 1991-
2001 Total
Foo 53686 6 34
Wari 25544 5 25
Tema 48527 3 29
Korini Juu 10334 5 16
HIGH-
LANDS
Katangara 46675 3 31
Sub-Total 16 22 25 24 26 22 135
Uduru 04245 3 18
Nshara 04153 3 16
Korini Kusini 31141 2 12
MIDDLE
Kisale 44333 3 20
Sub-Total 7 13 7 16 12 11 66
Kimashuku 01036 8 18
Longoi 11214 5 14
Mandaka 11335 4 17
LOW-
LANDS
Msaranga/
Mahorosha 00221 0 5
Sub-Total 237916 17 54
TOTAL 25 38 39 49 54 50 255
Percent 9.8 14.9 15.3 19.2 21.2 19.6 100.0
Table 7: Period when Plots of Land were Acquired by Zone and Villages
The survey also revealed that most farmers in Mount Kilimanjaro do not have formal title
deeds for the land they own and use. The lack of title deeds in most households has important
implications for land management in Mount Kilimanjaro. In-depth discussions with the
people shows that the lack of title deeds makes farmers fail to show collateral when
borrowing money, which could have allowed them to improve their land. The response to the
question on who owns land indicated that more than in 90% of the households, the owners
were the husbands, only 6.5% of the plots were owned by wives (especially widows), and the
rest were owned by other persons.
A further investigation on land acquisition shows that the majority of the households acquired
the plots of land when they were already cropped (Table 8). This supports the view that on the
slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, cropped land is passed on by parents to their sons through
inheritance. In terms of biodiversity, a greater proportion of households in Mbokomu transect
acquired the land under forest, while in the lowlands a significant proportion of households
acquired open land.
The other socio-cultural factor which influences land use in Kilimanjaro is the protection of
shrine (sacred) land. All areas with shrines have been protected and this has allowed the
growth of natural vegetation and medicinal plants. Another positive move that indirectly
influences land use in Kilimanjaro is the pursuit of formal education. The Chagga have
invested allot in the education of their children and this has enabled them to penetrate the
informal sector and hold high positions in government and non-governmental organisations.
Others have managed to establish large business enterprises. Using their education and wealth
accumulated in various places, they have established environmental non-governmental
organisations whose main aim is to conserve the natural resources in the place of origin. They
have also managed to provide resources and advice to communities so they can practice
afforestation in order to control land degradation and preserve water resources.
LUCID Working Paper 25 2
6
Table 8: Use of Plots at the Time of Acquisition by Zone and Village
Transect Village Forest Grazing Bush Crops Open
land Trees Residence
& farm TOTAL
Foo 1 1 0 37 1 0 0 40
Wari 0 1 0 23 0 0 0 23
Uduru 0 0 0 18 0 0 0 18
Nshara 1 0 4 13 0 0 0 18
Kimashuku 0 0 3 9 6 0 0 18
MACHAME
Longoi 4 0 3 2 5 0 0 14
Tema 2 0 4 34 1 0 0 41
Korini Juu 3 0 2 23 0 0 0 28
Korini
Kusini 2 0 2 8 2 0 0 14
MBOKOMU
Mandaka 3 0 4 4 7 1 0 19
ROMBO Katangara 5 3 9 16 0 1 1 34
Kisale 1 0 2 18 0 0 0 21
Mahorosha/
Msaranga 0 0 1 6 0 0 0 7
TOTAL 22 5 34 211 22 2 1 296
4.6 Economic factors
4.6.1 International Economic Factors
In the mid-1980s, the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPS) were introduced which led
to the liberalisation of markets, removal of subsidies on inputs, price reforms, and
institutional reforms. These have had significant impact on land use and resource
management practices (Msambichaka et. al. 1995). As observed by Bagachwa and Limbu
(1995) the economic reforms under the auspices of SAPS may have variable environmental
impacts. Some of these impacts have been positive, while others have had negative
repercussions. In Kilimanjaro region, where much of the income depends on the international
trade of coffee, minerals and timber, the fluctuation of foreign currency exchange rates have
resulted in negative terms of trade and lower local commodity prices. As such it pushed small
farmers to the marginal lowlands to offset the effects of lower prices of highland
commodities.
Furthermore, in the Kilimanjaro region it led to crop substitution. The changes in local
agricultural prices resulting from the world market prices have been detrimental to perennial
tree crops like coffee. The tree crop of coffee was substituted by annual crops including
tomatoes, maize and beans that leave the soil susceptible to erosion (Msambichaka, et. al,
1995)
The other environmental impact of SAPs is related to the reduction in subsidies for farm
inputs (fertilisers, pesticides and farm equipment). In the case of Kilimanjaro the removal of
subsidies on fertilisers made the farmers resort to traditional system of extensive agriculture,
which led to high rates of deforestation (Bagachwa & Limbu, 1995). Also as observed by
Maddox et al. (1996) and Mbonile (2000) the removal of subsidies of veterinary inputs
reduced the ability of the local communities’ access to these inputs. This led to decimation or
a big decrease in livestock populations following out-breaks of diseases such as rinderpest. In
turn this has forced the pastoralists to diversify their livelihood systems by growing crops,
further squeezing the grazing towards more fragile land, and to migrating to other regions in
the country.
4.6.2 Local Economic Factors
The survey confirmed the fact that the main occupation of the people in Kilimanjaro is crop
farming (86.3%). Other occupations include business/trade, masonry, carpentry, mechanics
and in services such as health and education. On the other hand, livestock keeping was a
secondary occupation for 69.8% of the households. The primary occupation of wives was
crop farming (92.2%) and livestock keeping was their secondary occupation. However,
LUCID Working Paper 25 2
7
despite the growing literature on the de-agrarianization in Sub-Saharan Africa, the pace of this
process on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro is a bit slow simply because most young people
would like to establish business outside of the Kilimanjaro region. Besides business/trade,
very few households were engaged in masonry, carpentry and tailoring.
The major food and cash crops include coffee, bananas, maize, vegetables, rice and beans.
Whereas coffee, bananas and vegetables are dominant cash crops in the highlands, maize and
beans are the major cash crops in the lowlands. In areas where water is available for irrigation
such as Mandaka village the dominant cash crop is rice. The predominance of coffee as a cash
crop has declined in recent years simply because vegetables and other non-traditional cash
crops like maize, beans and rice have increased their economic role in the region. In fact only
44% households indicated that coffee was the first cash crop (Table 9). Those that indicated
that maize was their first cash crop was 23.2%, followed by 16.2% that indicated that bananas
was their first cash crop. Meanwhile, 8.9% indicated that vegetables were their first cash crop.
Only 3.9% indicated that rice was their first cash crop.
Table 9: Major Cash Crops of the Area
Cash Crop No of
Households Percent
Coffee 114 44.0
Maize 60 23.2
Bananas 42 16.2
Vegetables 23 8.9
Rice 10 3.9
Fruits 4 1.5
Groundnuts 4 1.5
Sorghum and millet 1 0.4
Beans 1 0.4
Total 259 100.0
The key food crops are bananas and maize. 61.1% of the households indicated that bananas
was their major food crop and 32.6% of the households indicated that maize was their main
cash crop. 74.3% of the households produced sufficient food in the normal year. However,
despite the fact that Mount Kilimanjaro is among the major food- producing region in the
country, food insecurity is very common in many households (25.6%). As indicated by Table
10, food insecurity is found in all agro-ecological zones. Nonetheless, food insecurity seems
to be more common in some of the highly degraded villages like Korini Kusini in the
Mbokomu transect and Foo in the Machame transect.
However, it is important to note that some of the current economic conditions being faced by
people on Mount Kilimanjaro are strongly linked to the economic history of the country and
region. Since the drought of 1974 and the inflation of prices linked to the rise in oil prices, the
Kilimanjaro region has been facing severe economic conditions. The slopes of Mount
Kilimanjaro were also highly affected by the break up of the East Africa Community in 1977
and the Iddi Amin War in 1978/1979. Since it borders Kenya and is on the route for goods
being transported to Uganda, the region was highly affected by these incidences. These
economic problems made the economy of the region and the country grow negatively or at an
extremely slow pace particularly between 1982 and 1984. The economic slump continued
with the removal of subsidies on agricultural inputs in 1982 that lead to some crops such as
maize facing stiff foreign competition from Kenya. The problem greatly affected the major
maize growing areas of Iringa, Mbeya, Rukwa and Ruvuma. The removal of subsidies on
agricultural inputs resulted in the cost of producing a kilogram of coffee being more than
what was fetched on the world market. This led to a change in the cropping systems of the
people.
LUCID Working Paper 25 28
Table 10: Proportion of Households that Produce Insufficient Food in a Normal Year
ZONE Village No of
Households Households with
Food Insecurity Percent
Foo 40 11 27.5
Wari 24 2 8.3
Tema 41 4 9.7
Korini Juu 28 5 17.8
HIGHLANDS
Katangara 35 19 54.3
Uduru 18 2 12.5
Nshara 18 3 16.7
Korini Kusini 15 6 40.0
MIDDLE
Kisale 21 15 71.4
Kimashuku 0 0 0.0
Longoi 14 1 7.1
Mandaka 19 3 15.8
LOWLANDS Mahorosha /
Msaranga 7 5 71.4
As stated above, the importance of coffee for the income of the people in Kilimanjaro
declined. The failure of coffee to meet the needs of the people continued to the 21st century.
People in Kilimanjaro said during discussions that the production of coffee has declined due
to falling prices, but also because they fear cancer of the throat from agricultural chemicals
that most old people with coffee plantations have died from. Coffee as cash crop has fallen
out of favour by the young generations who have already converted to maize and vegetable
growing. The young generations are also very interested in non-farming activities like
business, which appears to improve the income and status of the people within a very short
period. Further discussions with people on the transects show that the young generations are
not interested in establishing their businesses in Moshi Municipal because they believe that
there is strong competition and that the circulation of money is very small, and that this has
led to strong out-migration from Mount Kilimanjaro. They would like to invest in the region
by using capital earned from other places.
4.7 Environmental Factors
Over the past few decades, environmental protection has emerged from the point of obscurity
to one of the most important issues of our time. Generally, at regional, national and
international forums the primary aim of environmental protection is to achieve sustainable
development. This theme is a follow up of the Rio Declaration on Development and
Environment, the Tanzania National Environment Action Plan (NEAP) and the Tanzania
National Conservation Strategy for Sustainable Development (LEAT, 2000).
As one of the major catchments and ecological zones of Tanzania, Mount Kilimanjaro faces
several environmental problems that need to be addressed before the biodiversity of the
region is adversely affected. As stated by Maddox et al. (1996) despite the fact that the slopes
of Mount Kilimanjaro have reliable rainfall ranging between 1,500 –2,500 mm per annum it
has experienced fluctuations of rainfall including droughts. As observed by Mbonile (2000)
these rainfall fluctuations have been occurring in well-established cycles of about every 10
years. Most households in the area remember the 1974 and 1983 droughts. The northern zone
of Tanzania suffered another drought in 1993/1994. These droughts were sometimes
interspersed with periods of heavy rainfall such as the El Nino of 1997. Both drought and
excessive rainfall have a great impact on land management. Drought has been the main cause
of the invasion of wetlands by both pastoralists and farmers. Since wetlands are the last to
dry, humans, livestock and wildlife concentrate in these small areas leading to overgrazing
and related effects such as land degradation. On the other hand, spells of heavy rainfall lead to
the flooding of river flood plains and lowland areas. As a result the population of animals and
people are compelled to migrate to the uplands, as was the case of Kifaru Village in the 1997
El Nino. The resultant concentration in the highlands leads to more land degradation.
LUCID Working Paper 25 29
Pests and diseases are other natural factors with a large influence on land management and
biodiversity. As in other highland areas such as Mount Meru, the slopes of Mount
Kilimanjaro have been suffering from armyworms, locusts, green grasshoppers, cutworms
and moles. People said during discussions that most pest disasters occur immediately after the
dry season. Coffee Berry Disease (CBD) has also greatly affected coffee production in the
region (Mbonile, 2000). The main repercussion of this disease on land management and
biodiversity is the reduction of coffee production and increase of annual crops like beans,
tomatoes and maize. A disease that attacks bananas, a staple food, has made people change to
eat food made out of maize which in the past was seen as food of foreigners (chasaka).
Another natural factor that is influencing the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro is global warming.
Recently a strong debate has emerged on the impact of global warming on the glaciers of
Mount Kilimanjaro. As stated by Mbogora (2002), the scientist Lonnie Thompson has found
that one third of the glaciers on the mountain have disappeared in the last two decades due to
global warming. They also predict that if the glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro continue to
retreat there will be serious repercussions on more than one million population residing on the
slopes of the mountain and on the tourist industry, which is one of the main sources of income
for the country. Currently the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro attracts more than 20,000 tourists
per year. It is also the main source of water of the River Pangani and inland lakes like Lake
Chala, and the main source of fuelwood and building materials for the people residing on the
slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro.
The retreat of glaciers on Mount Kilimanjaro may be partly the result of local human
activities. Deforestation and farming activities in the area contribute to the building up of heat
trapping gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides, and the reduction of
humidity. The intensive use of chemical fertilisers, which break down into methane and
nitrous oxides, and the increase in the frequency of bush fires used by farmers to clear land
and beekeepers to chase bees are causes of warming.
Generally, the capacity of any government to cope up with environmental problems depends
not only on a sound environmental policy but also on the prevalence and efficient institutions
that can deal with environmental issues. In this case Tanzania is very fortunate because there
are more than 10 ministries, several parastatals and government scientific institutions, and
more than 100 non-governmental organisations which deal with environmental matters. The
sectoral ministries which deal with environment include the Vice President’s Office, Finance,
Education, Health, Land and Settlement Development, Agriculture, Water and Livestock
development, Power and Mining, Natural Resources and Tourism, Cooperatives and Crop
Marketing, Planning and Privatisations and others. The parastatal institutions involved in
environmental matters include those, which deal directly with Mount Kilimanjaro like
Kilimanjaro National Park (KINAPA) and Tanzania Wildlife Corporation (TAWICO),
National Food Corporation (NAFCO). In addition, in 1983 the National Environmental
Management Council (NEMC) was established and one of its major tasks was to advise the
government on matters concerning conservation and sustainable utilization of the
environment. Also it was to act as one of the leading organisations in the campaigns to
register for national utilization of resources and land reclamation in the most affected areas
(Bagachwa, et al, 1995).
The number of non-governmental organizations dealing with environmental issues is
increasing every year. Some of these internal NGOs include the Tanzania Wildlife
Conservation Society, the Malbhai Club of Tanzania (MCT), the Tanzania Environmental
Society (TES), the Hifadhi Ardhi Dodoma (HADO), the Soil Conservation in Arumeru
(SCAPA), the Tanzania Green Belt Movement. International NGOs include the Swedish Free
Mission PACT, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). All these non-governmental
organisations are mainly concerned with the mobilisation aspects and their campaigns have
LUCID Working Paper 25 30
managed to restore some of the most degraded areas both in the highlands and lowlands
(Bagachwa, et. al., 1995).
4.8 Peoples’ Perceptions of Environmental Change
The study of people’s perceptions on environmental change has been very important because
it gives a clear view of what the stakeholders perceive on the utilization of natural resources.
The results of the study revealed insights into land use/cover change on Mt. Kilimanjaro. As a
response to the current debate about a change in the ice cap of Mount Kilimanjaro, about 36
respondents said a change had occurred (90%) while only 4 said it had not (10%). Therefore,
it can be concluded that the people are aware that there is change in the ice cap without the
influence of other people or mass media. Obviously if there is change in the ice cape of
Mount Kilimanjaro it will have a widespread impact on the biodiversity of the mountain and
neighbouring regions.
When they were asked to state the reasons that might have led to these changes, a number of
reasons were given (Table 11). The majority of the respondents held the opinion that the ice
cap has decreased because there was a change in climatic conditions on the mountain. These
climatic changes included:
Rainfall was greater the past
Summer rains came earlier in the past
Rainfall is falling in showers (more intensely)
Cold has decreased
The ice used to cover a larger area.
Table 11: Reasons that Support that the Ice Cap is Decreasing
Reasons No of
Respondents Percent
Change in weather conditions 23 57.5
Decrease in trees/forest drying 8 20.0
Water sources drying 4 10.0
Pollution of rivers 1 0.3
Increase of fires 2 0.5
Land degradation on slopes 2 0.5
TOTAL 40 100.0
Other reasons for a change in the ice cap include the decrease in forest cover or drying of tress
(20%), drying of water sources (10%) and to a lesser extent the pollution of rivers by eroded
soils, land degradation on the upper-most slopes and an increase of forest fires. Besides this,
the elderly and some of the middle aged population castigated the new generations as
responsible for this change in climatic conditions simply because they are more motivated
with getting money and so they rampantly cut trees and leave the land bare.
In response to the question of whether there was a change in soil fertility, 32 (80%) agreed
that there was a big change and only 8 (20%) did not perceive that there was a big change.
Most (30 out of 40) indicated there was a decline in food crop productivity, especially
bananas and coffee, and only 10 out of 40 indicated thought there was an increase because of
the application of fertilisers, particularly chemical. The elderly population felt that when they
were young, only irrigation was required for someone to have a bumper harvest but nowadays
you have to use a lot of fertilisers. They also complained that the removal of subsidies has
made some farmers buy no or small quantities of fertiliser which has had an impact
particularly on big farms and on crops like coffee which need fertilisers.
Also asked was whether the volume of the water in rivers and springs was changing. The
results indicate that all 40 respondents agreed that there was a decline in water volume of big
rivers like Lukaranga in Mandaka village, Longoi in Longoi village, Mlusunga and Mbori in
LUCID Working Paper 25 31
Korini Juu village and Semira and Kikafu in Foo village. The respondents predicted that if
these rivers continue to dry, there is strong possibility that there will be less irrigation on the
slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and that this would completely change the farming and cropping
system of the area.
Respondents were also asked to suggest possible solutions to this problem. Respondents
thought that the most feasible solution to this problem was afforestation (55%), to stop
deforestation (10%) or protect water sources (30%) (Table12). Only a few gave no solution to
the problem (5%). In focus group discussions, the elderly suggested a revival of the traditional
furrow management system, which they say has declined because young people are more
interested in getting money rather than protecting water sources. Current users of traditional
furrows are supposed to pay for water, and this has led to favouritism for those who are able
to pay more. Also in more recent years the traditional furrow controllers have turned corrupt
because of the absence of the old mangi system, which used to mediate when there was an
injustice in water utilization.
Table 12: The solutions to the drying of water sources
Solutions No of
Respondents Percent
Afforestation 22 55.0
Stop deforestation 4 10.0
Protect water sources 12 30.0
No solution 2 5.0
TOTAL 40 100.0
When respondents and focus groups were asked to state whether there were changes in
rainfall during the past twenty years, most of them agreed that there was big change (39 out of
40 respondents) and only 1 out of 40 indicated that he did note these changes simply because
he had not been in Kilimanjaro for a long period. They suggested that the main factors which
have led to these changes include the recent increased cutting trees and burning of forests.
Others just thought that it was the will of God.
The respondents were also asked to state whether there were any changes in the natural
vegetation cover, wild animals, birds or insects in their area. In the case of forest and other
vegetation cover, all 40 respondents and focus groups agreed that it was decreasing and the
root causes for the change of forest cover was clearing forests for farming (45%), clearing
land for settlement (25%), fires (20%) and drought (10%) (Table 13).
Regarding animals, 37 out of 40 stated that the number of wild animals has decreased. The
major types of animals that were highly affected cover a wide range such as livestock (cattle,
goats, etc.) and wild animals such as monkeys, warthogs, antelopes, impala, giraffes, hare,
black and white colobus, banana bats, leopards and moles. On the other hand, some of the
most popular insects among farmers have decreased or disappeared. These include butterflies,
grasshoppers and bees. Since these pollinate flowers, their decrease has a serious repercussion
on crop and honey production. In the case of birds, a large number of types have decreased or
disappeared and including woodpeckers, sunbirds, parrots and robins.
When the respondents and focus groups were asked to state whether the main crops were
increasing or decreasing, all 40 respondents and focus groups indicated that only rice has
increased in the lowlands due the establishment of Lower Moshi Irrigation scheme. They also
indicated that nearly all major crops in the area were decreasing (Table 14). Some differences
existed between the lowlands and the highlands in which crops were decreasing. People in the
lowlands felt that their staple food maize was decreasing at a fast rate when compared to other
crops like beans that have a relatively higher price. They categorically stated that cotton,
which had been a major cash crop in the lowlands, has totally disappeared. The other crops
LUCID Working Paper 25 32
whose production has decreased in the lowlands include sorghum and sunflower. In the
highlands, the main crops whose production has declined include coffee, bananas, yams,
potatoes and fruit.
Table 13 Decrease of Forest Cover, Animals, Insects and Birds
Reasons for decrease of forests Responses
Decrease of Forest No of Respondents Percent
Clearing of forest for farming 18 45.0
Clearing of forest for settlement 10 25.0
Burning of trees 8 20.0
Drought 4 10.0
TOTAL 40 100.0
Type of Animals Decreasing Response Frequency Percent
Livestock 10 15.2
Monkeys 12 18.2
Warthogs 4 6.1
Hare 2 3.0
Impala 4 6.1
Antelopes 20 30.2
Giraffes 4 6.1
Colobus 6 9.1
Leopards 2 3.0
Moles 2 3.0
TOTAL 66 100.0
Type Insects Increased Response Frequency Percent
Green grasshoppers 24 40.7
Army worms 35 59.3
TOTAL 59 100.0
Type of Insects Decreased Response Frequency Percent
Butterflies 21 30.0
Brown Grasshoppers 24 34.3
Bees 25 35.7
TOTAL 70 100.0
Type of birds Decreased Response Frequency Percent
Banana Bats 12 18.5
Woodpeckers 16 24.6
Parrots 8 12.3
Robins 14 21.5
Sunbirds 15 23.1
TOTAL 65 100.0
Table 14: Types of Crops whose Production is Decreasing
Crops Response Frequency Percent
Coffee 22 24.5
Bananas 16 17.8
Yams 4 4.4
Potatoes 2 2.2
Cotton 8 8.9
Beans 10 11.1
Maize 22 24.5
Sunflower 2 2.2
Sorghum 2 2.2
Fruits 2 2.2
TOTAL 90 100.0
Generally, the main causes of this decline in agricultural production include declines in soil
fertility, and low prices on the world market for cash crops like coffee. Also they indicated
LUCID Working Paper 25 33
that some farms are over-cultivated and overcrowded with crops because farmers want to use
every bit of space on the farm. Others indicated that the out-migration of the young
population has left the elderly population behind who cannot cope up with heavy labour
required to maintain crops like coffee. Finally, diseases such as Coffee Berry Disease and
pests such as the coffee borer have reduced the yield of coffee by almost a quarter.
5.0 CONCLUSION
Mount Kilimanjaro is an important ecosystem because its socio-economic activities and
cultural values influence a wide area in the country. However, recently it has undergone major
land use/cover changes leading to a loss of biodiversity. The main land use change has been
the replacement of natural vegetation by cultivation. Indeed, the lowlands and the highlands
are now both intensively cultivated, there has been encroachment into forest reserves, and
exotic trees have replaced natural vegetation in some areas. Agriculture has expanded into
some areas formerly used for grazing and wildlife conservation.
The study revealed several determinants or root causes of land use changes on the slopes of
Mount Kilimanjaro. Firstly, the rapid population growth in the region has doubled the
population size every twenty years that has caused major land use and management changes.
Secondly, land use and land cover have been influenced by policies introduced by the
Government, such as the alienation of land for national parks, forest reserves and large-scale
plantations, that have reduced the land available for cultivation and grazing. The lack of an
effective energy policy to develop alternative energy sources from firewood has made
common firewood species such as mijohoro be depleted at an alarming rate. Other policies
such as Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPS) have had a strong impact on land use and
resource management. For example, the decline of commodity prices led people in Mount
Kilimanjaro to substitute traditional cash crops like coffee with annual crops like tomatoes,
beans and maize. The abolishment of local institutions such as like chiefdoms and
cooperatives had a strong impact on land management. Some legal reforms also had a
negative impact on the biodiversity of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Socio-cultural factors such as land inheritance structures have led to land fragmentation
leading to some plots losing productivity and becoming highly degraded. Land degradation is
also caused by the strong dependence on farming and the lack of agricultural inputs making
over-cultivation inevitable.
Last but not least, environmental factors such as rainfall variability, floods and drought have
adversely affected land management on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. This observation is
supported by people’s perception that global warming is reducing the snow cover of Mount
Kilimanjaro.
LUCID Working Paper 25 34
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LUCID Working Paper 25 38
APPENDIX
LEGISLATIONS
Land Act of 1923
Native Authority Ordinance Cap 72 of 1926
Government Ordinance Cap 333 of 1953
Free Titles (Conversion) Act of 1963
Land Acquisition Act of 1967
Government Leaseholds (Conversion of Occupancy) Act of 1969
Decentralization Government Administration Interim Provision act of 1972
Ujamaa Land Act of 1975
Local Government (District Authorities) Act) No 7 of 1982.
.
Local Government (Urban Authorities) Act No 8 of 1982.
Local Government Services Act No 9 of 1982.
Local Government Services Act No 10 of 1982.
Local Government Negotiating Machinery Act No 11 of 1982.
Decentralization of Government Administration (Interim Provision)(Amendment) Act No 12
of 1982.
Natural Resources Act No 15 of 1984.
Regulations of Land Tenure (Establishment Village) Act No 2 of 1992.
Regional Administration Act of 1997.
Land Act No 6 of 1999
LUCID Working Paper 25 39
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... Traditionally, in the Chagga society, children were regarded as potential and reliable sources of family labour for domestic and income earning activities in the family and, though everyone wanted to have many children, the option was limited to few: those with sufficient land. There was a close relationship between land ownership and fertility rates in Kilimanjaro since the pre-colonial period where families with large access to land had more children than those without big land (Meckary, 1997;Mbonile et al., 2003;Mbonile, 2006;). ...
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