CGIAR innovation joint village land use planning making policy gains

Policy enactment in the Tanzania land sector with endorsement and uptake of CGIAR innovation joint village land-use planning by Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development and incorporation into national land use planning guidelines.  

Joint village land use planning responds to the need for cross-border planning and sharing of collective land uses such as rangelands, forests and conservation areas that do not conveniently fall within administrative boundaries. In Tanzania, this is recognized by enabling policy and legislation that states, that a village planning authority ”…in respect of resources shared with other villages, prepare jointly with other villages planning authorities a village resource management sector plan,”  (Land Use Planning Act 2007, Section 33 (1)). 

ILRI and local partners KINNAPA Development Association, Tanzania Natural Resources Forum and the National Land Use Planning Commission have been developing and piloting a joint village land use planning approach over the last eight years, at first working through a project of the International Land Coalition and IFAD (the Sustainable Rangeland Management Project) and then through the CGIAR CRPs. Current support is provided through the CGIAR Research Initiative on Livestock and Climate, which focuses on strengthening the approach through gender and social equity initiatives, making it more cost-effective and influencing the policy environment and building capacities for scaling. 

Today, joint village land use planning is being implemented across more than 200,000 hectares of grazing land and benefiting hundreds of thousands more hectares under other land uses incorporated into the broader land use planning process. It has also triggered the issuing of collectively held Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy provided to livestock keeper associations. This has provided them with vital tenure security and the legal backing to prevent or evict farmer and other encroachments into their lands, whilst strengthening incentives for improving and restoring the land. 

To move to scaling, more visible support from the national government was needed. In response, ILRI and partners have been working with the National Land Use Planning Commission to develop national guidelines on joint village land use planning and incorporating a summary of the approach into the main participatory village land use planning guidelines. A series of validation workshops were held in early 2024.  

In April 2024, a 200-person national workshop on land use planning was held to validate the guidelines. This was officiated by the Deputy Minister of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, the Honourable Geoffrey Pinda, and attended by the Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Agriculture, the Honourable David Silinde and the Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, the Honourable Dunstan Kitandula. Additionally, ILRI supported the participation of representatives from the National Land Commission Kenya and the Rural Land Administration and Use Directorate, Ministry of Agriculture, Ethiopia so they could share their experiences on land use planning with the Tanzanian stakeholders.  An exhibition on the joint village land use planning approach provided an opportunity for the ministers to mix with the Livestock and Climate Initiative team and learn more about the approach.  

The Honourable Geoffrey Pinda endorsed the joint village land use planning approach in his meeting address, saying: 

“Population growth and economic activities lead to rapid unplanned construction of settlements within the village, eventually the haphazard growth of the village occurs and causes difficulty in delivering the social services they deserve and increases the encroachment of areas with other uses. With that logic, the need for land-use planning of these areas up to the point of issuing Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy using ICT and preparation of joint village land-use plans is necessary to secure agricultural areas, pastures, community services, social services infrastructure, roads and recreational areas.” 

 In presenting the Joint Village Land Use Planning Guidelines, the Assistant Director, Land Use Management, Mr. Dioscory Kanuth, emphasized the need for guidelines, saying: 

 “A Joint village land use plan as a concept in planning recognizes the need for joint or shared land-based resources management. In this context, it is highly beneficial that two or more villages, or village councils of the respective villages, enter into joint village land –use agreements on the use and management of land resources not limited to grazing land, forest and farmland.” 

 Dr. Joseph Paul, Director of Research, Compliance and Land Use Information, thanked ILRI for their support, saying: 

“The preparation of the Participatory Joint Village Land Use Planning Guidelines is a result of the combined efforts of stakeholders within and outside the country. The government is grateful to the International Livestock Research Institute for being the champion that facilitated the completion of the guidelines and the stakeholders meeting for guideline validation.” 

 Influencing policy through the technical development of an innovation that serves the interests of multiple stakeholders across a nation is challenging, takes time and needs a strong cross-sectoral partnership. It took almost a decade from the initial joint village land-use planning innovation idea to piloting, then validation, and finally incorporation into the national guidelines. The challenge we now face and the biggest one to date, is implementing the approach at scale. 

This project is supported by the CGIAR Research Initiative on Livestock and Climate, by focusing on scaling joint village land use planning through the promotion gender equity, cost-effectiveness, and policy advocacy. It strengthens local capacities, ensuring more inclusive, sustainable management of natural resources and helping communities adapt to climate change while securing their livelihoods. 

Banner photo: Delegates at the Land Use Planning Workshop, April 2024 in Dodoma, Tanzania. Photo by KINAPPA. 

Story by Fiona Flintan, ILRI.