No abstract

Since international awareness of a global rush for land has grown from 2008 onward, various databases and reports have attempted to provide an overview of the situation by compiling information on individual land deals. While providing such an overview is challenging owing to the dynamic and untransparent nature of the investments, flawed methods of using and citing data are aggravating that challenge and allowing dissemination of inaccurate information. The consequences are an unnecessarily blurred picture of the land deal situation and thus an inadequate basis for related political decisions or social actions and a misleading starting point for new research projects. In this article we demonstrate some of the flaws in the use of data and their consequences, with examples from fieldwork and literature on Tanzania. The paper illustrates and contributes to the evolving debate on appropriate research methodologies for studying the global land rush. Since international awareness of a global rush for land has grown from 2008 onward, various databases and reports have attempted to provide an overview of the situation by compiling information on individual land deals. While providing such an overview is challenging owing to the dynamic and untransparent nature of the investments, flawed methods of using and citing data are aggravating that challenge and allowing dissemination of inaccurate information. The consequences are an unnecessarily blurred picture of the land deal situation and thus an inadequate basis for related political decisions or social actions and a misleading starting point for new research projects. In this article we demonstrate some of the flaws in the use of data and their consequences with examples from fieldwork and literature on Tanzania. The paper illustrates and contributes to the evolving debate on appropriate research methodologies for studying the global land rush.

This paper examines community-based tourism among Maasai communities in Tanzania in the context of national policies that have increasingly devolved control over natural resources to local communities. It focuses on economic revenues generated from tourism growth, their distribution to village communities and the constraints and conflicts resulting from attempts to control or access resources. Specific cases illustrate the political and economic complexity of devolved resource management and increased income generation at the community level. Ecotourism and community-based tourism are frequently claimed to be possible remedies for wildlife and natural resources conservation, but research indicates that implementation and revenue-sharing are far from straightforward. The paper uses case studies from communities in northern Tanzania, in Ngorongoro District (Loliondo and Lake Natron), Simanjiro District and Longido District (West Kilimanjaro) to explore issues between pastoralism, cultivation, hunting tourism, photographic tourism, conservation and governance systems. It discusses the implementation of the 1998 National Forestry and Wildlife Policies, the creation of Wildlife Management Areas and the 1999 Land Act and Village Land Act. Data and experiences were gathered over a three-year period working with the Sand County Foundation - Tanzania from 2006 to 2008. The paper contributes to the assessment and discussion of pro-poor tourism and poverty alleviation concepts

Since the triple crises of food, fuel and finance of 2007/8, investments in agricultural growth corridors have taken centrestage in government, donor and private sector initiatives. This article examines the politics of the multi-billion dollar development of the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT). The corridor's proponents aim to create an environment in which agribusiness will operate alongside smallholders to improve food security and environmental sustainability, while reducing rural poverty. Based on three case studies, comprising one of a small-scale dairy company and two large-scale sugar companies, all operating with smallholders, this paper interrogates the political dynamics that shape the implementation of SAGCOT on the ground; in particular, the multiple contestations among bureaucrats, investors and smallholders over access to land and other resources, and contending visions for agricultural commercialisation. Despite the widespread support it received from government, donors and investors, the paper argues that SAGCOT's grand modernist vision of the corridor, centred on the promotion of large-scale estates, has unravelled through contestations and negotiations on the ground.