This article addresses one of the most contentious development and political issue facing Tanzania and many Southern African countries. The focus is on privatization of land as a result of neo-liberal economic reforms, evictions and conflicts generated. The study was conducted along Morogoro highway, in Dar es Salaam and Pwani regions. The study employed qualitative approaches where archival information, interview observations and focus group discussions were used to collect data. Key findings indicate that there is a gap between laws and policies of land, which are designed to protect customary land rights of indigenous communities and individuals, and the actual practices regarding land on the ground. Despite the multi-party system democratic reforms, ordinary people have not turned their elected representatives at the local, regional levels or NGOs as allies in the efforts to resist land evictions. To understand development as a concept and its outcome when translated into action, to see what is happening on the ground, I draw part of my arguments from Social Movements theories to understand local people's reactions toward development programs that result into their evictions. The study also explored the relationship among key land stakeholders in Tanzania and analyzed how uncoordinated relationships and the state officials lead to conflict. The study revealed that there is gender inequality in land access and ownership and how women used their position as women to frame resistance and attract not only media but also government and international community. A central argument in this study is that for land development program to benefit the targeted population, all land actors from grassroots to top should be involved in the process.

Sustainability of Community Based Water Projects (CBWP) in Central Tanzania was examined. Actors' power was hypothesized to influence sustainability of the CBWP. Power was analyzed from two aspects; power structures and power relations. A cross-sectional design was adopted, which allowed data to be collected once at a point. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to get the study sample. Stratified random sampling was employed to get 30 CBWP for the study and simple random sampling was used for obtaining 390 households. Purposive sampling was also employed to obtain the key informants for in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions Quantitative data obtained were processed and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 16v.) while qualitative data were transcribed and content analysis was employed in analyzing them. In examining the power structure the study shows that institutions and empowerment have significant correlation with sustainability status of the CBWP. The study also shows that global and national actors have high influence/power in effecting the CBWP critical activities. The local actors are perceived to be powerless; however, the study indicates importance of recognizing them because their position as powerless actors may limit their participation in the CBWP and thus jeopardizing the chances of yielding sustainable CBWP.

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Land is one of the contentious development and political issue facing Tanzania and many Sub Saharan African countries. Most of these issues focus on the privatization of land as a result of neo-liberal economic reforms, evictions and conflicts generated. To understand development as a concept and its outcome, arguments in this paper are drawn from the study that explored socio-cultural impacts of the construction of Morogoro highway in Tanzania. Further, the paper makes an analysis of the land patterns and the meanings people attach to the land. Finally, we make an analysis of the social movements established by people in response to evictions along the highway. The study was conducted along Morogoro highway in Dar es Salaam and Pwani regions. It employed mainly qualitative approach, where archival information from NBS, Our World Data, indepth interviews, focus group discussions and observations were used. Key findings indicate that there is a gap between the meanings assigned to development projects and the socio-cultural configurations attached to land. This has resulted into myriad conflicts and evictions. A central argument in this paper is that for the land development program to be meaningful, there is a need to involve all land actors in the process.