Lake Tanganyika Biodiversity Project

Pollution Control and Other Measures to Protect Biodiversity in Lake Tanganyika (RAF/92/G32)

Socio-economic Special Studies - Tanzania

Martin Walsh

Social Sciences Department Natural Resources Institute

U.K.

Dar es Salaam

August 1996

SOCIO-ECONOMIC STUDIES IN TANZANIA

for the LAKE TANGANYIKA BIODIVERSITY PROJECT

A Practical Assessment and Draft Workplan

SOCIO-ECONOMIC STUDIES IN TANZANIA for the

LAKE TANGANYIKA BIODIVERSITY PROJECT

A Practical Assessment and Draft Workplan

Martin Walsh

Social Sciences Department Natural Resources Institute

U.K. Background 1. This report is based upon a three-week consultancy visit to Tanzania (21 July - 9 August 1996), undertaken as part of a mission designed to make a practical assessment to follow up the baseline reviews and draw up plans for detailed socio-economic studies to be initiated in the second phase of the Lake Tanganyika Biodiversity Project (LTBP). The LTBP Inception Workshop held in February 1996 endorsed proposals for in-depth participatory action research at selected sites in each lakeside country, to be undertaken jointly by the social science and ennvironmental education (EE) components of the project. Four thematic areas were identified for investigation on a national basis: (1) fisheries livelihoods and fishing practices; (2) agricultural land use and livestock; (3) deforestation and energy needs; and (4) population settlement and economic development. 2. The main part of the report considers how this process of action research might be implemented in Tanzania, and comprises, in effect, a draft workplan for future studies. This is subject to the comments and inputs of other project staff and participants, including other members of the mission. In particular it should be noted that this draft has been drawn up without reference to the detailed recommendations of the EE specialist who worked in Tanzania and Zambia or of the social scientist who worked in parallel in Zambia (neither of whose reports were available at the time of writing). Discussions in the field with the EE specialist, however, led to the conclusion that this work can and should be an integral component of the socio-economic studies, and this view is reflected in the workplan. 3. Following a mix-up over travel arrangements, most of the first week of the consultancy was spent in Dar es Salaam instead of Kigoma as originally planned. This left a relatively short time for joint work with other members of the mission (its team leader and the EE specialist), and only one week instead of the greater part of two weeks for meetings and field visits in Kigoma Region. The third week of the consultancy was spent in Dar es Salaam, where further meetings were held and this report prepared. The results of these meetings and of the field visits undertaken

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during the consultancy are described in detail in an annex to the report (this may be removed for the purposes of wider circulation). Strategy Pushing the process forward 4. Given the various delays in project implementation to date, there is a clear need to begin socio-economic action research as soon as possible. The field visits and meetings held during this consultancy comprised a first step in this process. Ideally, this work should now be continued at the same rate, extending the process to areas in Kigoma Region not yet covered in detail and also conducting the same kind of preparatory investigation and activity in Rukwa Region. 5. The early appointment of the project’s Regional Socio-economic Coordinator would be highly desirable, and facilitate the prosecution of this work with some energy. Unfortunately there seems to be little prospect that this appointment will be made in the near future (at present cvs are being collected, while a decision has yet to made about the terms and conditions which will be offered to the successful candidate). The proposed appointment of a Tanzanian national counterpart for socio-economic studies (to be available as and when needed on a consultancy basis) may help to fill this gap - if they can be set to work immediately. On the other hand it may do no more than add to the number of resource persons participating in the project at national level, and put an additional strain on the project budget (assuming that any work undertaken on the lakeshore would have to be paid for at going market rates). 6. As an interim strategy, TOR have been drafted for the project’s local counterpart in Kigoma, Beatrice Marwa (a Fisheries / WID officer who accompanied the current mission), asking her to continue collecting background information and making the relevant institutional and individual contacts in Kigoma Region (along the lines described in the annex to this report). Otherwise provisional plans have been made for the writer of this report to return to Kigoma circa mid-October, and to spend 2-3 months in the field supervising the work outlined below. It would be an obvious advantage if a Regional Socio-economic Coordinator was in post by this time and able to participate in this work (if nothing else this would reduce the need for external consultancy inputs, whether from Dar es Salaam or overseas). 7. As far as possible this work should be coordinated with parallel activities in Zambia, Zaire and Burundi (the security situation permitting). During the mission TOR were drafted for initial socio-economic investigations in Zaire, and it was agreed that I should visit Uvira for at least one week later in the year to follow up on this study and other actions to push forward a programme of action research in this area. It was also suggested that the lead investigator, Mambona wa Bazolana (of CRH, Uvira), might profitably be involved in some of the participatory research activities in Kigoma Region, as a prelude to adapting this experience to the Zairean situation.

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The objectives of action research 8. The proposed action research can and should have two main objectives. First, to provide information which is lacking in the existing literature (as summarised in the baseline studies) and in particular to identify the main socio-economic factors and trends in each of the thematic areas already specified (fisheries livelihoods and fishing practices; agricultural land use and livestock; deforestation and energy needs; population settlement and economic development). This should include consideration of linkages between these thematic areas (how does each impact upon the others?). It should also include description and assessment of the relevant institutional frameworks and development interventions already undertaken or proposed in each of these areas, as they relate to LTBP’s concerns. 9. The second objective is to encourage the development of institutional linkages and actions appropriate to LTBP’s own objectives. There is not only a pressing need, but also a clear opportunity to do this as part and parcel of an information-gathering and data-analysis exercise. Participatory research which involves individuals drawn from different institutions (government, NGOs and research institutes) can also be used to strengthen linkages between these institutions and to explore ways in which their activities might be better coordinated in future. This includes community-based organisations and formal institutions within the villages, and not just the NGOs and government agencies operating at District and wider levels. 10. Recent changes in policy at the national level in Tanzania have created a much improved enabling environment for the development of natural resource management at the local level. The overall trend is towards decentralisation of control over resources and the evolution of village-level mechanisms to ensure their more effective management in partnership with District authorities. The new policies, however, do not provide blueprints for implementation at local level; and in some cases they suggest different approaches to related problems. Natural resource management strategies are therefore evolving in piecemeal fashion by a process of trial and error (some of the more interesting experiments are those in community wildlife management on the fringes of various National Parks). Pilot activities on the ground are helping to give sharper definition to the new policies, showing how they might (and might not) be put into practice. LTBP’s work should clearly be part of this process. 11. In this context it is important to get the balance between research and action right. There is no need for the project to duplicate existing research, and where other agencies are already sponsoring actions relevant to the project’s objectives the more important task may be to assess their effectiveness and examine ways in which they might be strengthened and applied elsewhere. In the course of the consultancy it became evident that the baseline reviews had not picked up on all of the research previously undertaken nor many of the actions which NGOs and other agencies have begun (in some cases since the baseline reviews were prepared). We learned, for example, of a series of village PRAs conducted in Kigoma Region under the auspices of KIDEP, though we have not yet been able to obtain the reports of these. More recently the Belgian NGO COOPIBO has undertaken high quality participatory

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research in Kasulu District and begun pilot activities in conjunction with the Development Office of the Anglican Church on the basis of this research. There is clearly no point in repeating this research. In this case better use of project resources can be made by entering into dialogue with COOPIBO and its local partners, exploring ways in which their work can be built upon. This may or may not lead to proposals for further research, while other kinds of intervention may prove more appropriate. The selection of sites for action research 12. As the (draft) report on the Inception Workshop emphasises, the selection of sites for socio-economic research and pilot actions should be closely linked to the analyses and proposals produced by other project components. This includes analysis of the threats to the biodiversity of the lake as well as proposals for the conservation of its biodiversity (for example the suggestion that new aquatic reserves might be created). In this respect there is a clear need for continuing interaction between project components, especially as our understanding of the problems and issues changes and develops over time. The different threats to biodiversity - and the major thematic areas already outlined - should be further specified and prioritised, and as far as possible key locations or ‘hotspots’ identified. It would, for example, be useful to know which issues should be tackled as a matter of urgency and which require longer-term planning (where has the most damage been done, where is it occurring now, and where is it most likely to occur in the future?). This kind of information is essential for the selection of research and action sites, combined with the assessments which preliminary socio-economic investigation provides. 13. Our current approach is both pragmatic and processual. Given existing project resources, and what we already know (including our knowledge of gaps in this knowledge), it has been suggested that action research in Tanzania should begin on the lakeshore in Kigoma Region, and expand from there into the wider catchment area. The range of issues which can be addressed on the lakeshore, and the fact that project has begun by establishing its presence in Kigoma, make this a quite sensible course to follow. At the same time there is an obvious need for the project to extend its work into Rukwa Region, though the distances involved and the nature of communications south of Kigoma and down the lake make this difficult. Once sufficient background information has been collected on Kigoma Region, then the same process - including institutional networking - should be extended to Rukwa, and thereafter to the areas of Shinyanga and Tabora Regions which lie within the catchment area. Meanwhile, intensive participatory research can proceed in Kigoma Region; and the lessons learned from this will no doubt help in planning similar activities in other regions. 14. During the consultancy it was proposed that this intensive work should begin in the vicinity of Gombe National Park. In the first instance a participatory exercise in a single village adjacent to the park should suffice: each administrative village comprises a series of sub-villages, and a good study of one such set of sub-villages will probably yield results which are generalisable along this whole stretch of coast (a hypothesis which can be readily tested after the study). I would therefore suggest that

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this first participatory exercise is followed up by another in a very different location in Kigoma Region, where a different range of issues can be explored in detail. The timing of these exercises and the various inputs required are the subject of the draft workplan which follows. Draft Workplan 15. The following workplan is submitted for discussion. As noted above, the approach adopted is processual, and the workplan should be viewed as subject to revision depending upon the specific outcome of its different stages. August - October 1996 16. Beatrice Marwa to continue gathering background information and making institutional contacts in Kigoma Region. Keith Banister to visit Sumbawanga and make initial contacts in Rukwa Region. Andy Menz to advertise post of Regional Socio-economic Studies Coordinator and liaise with National Project Coordinator over the appointment of National EE Coordinator and National Socio-economic Studies Counterpart. Julian Quan to review consultancy reports (EE Zambia and Tanzania, socio-economics Zambia, socio-economics Tanzania) and address the question of their coherency. mid-October - mid-November 17. Martin Walsh (MW) to begin second stage consultancy (4 weeks). Main tasks: (1) to follow up on appointments in Dar es Salaam; (2) to continue making contacts / gathering background information in Dar as necessary; (3) to visit Uvira, Zaire, for one week to assess local capacity and progress of socio-economic research, and help plan further actions on this basis; (4) to visit Sumbawanga, Rukwa Region, to begin assessment process there; (5) to make arrangements for intensive studies in Kigoma Region, identifying participants, selecting locations (including field trips to identify second study area). [Maximum of 10 ‘researchers’, possibly fewer, including MW, Beatrice Marwa, TACARE representative, TANAPA representative, other District / Region officials, Zairean socio-economist (Mambona wa Bazolana) and Tanzania National Counterpart]. early-December - end-January 18. MW to finalise arrangements for participatory research in a village bordering Gombe National Park (possibly Mtanga). Initial meeting of study team in Kigoma to plan the research and in particular brainstorm checklists of research questions and methods to be employed (one week maximum). MW to devise training exercises as appropriate. 19. [The issues to be addressed fall under four main headings: (1) fisheries (seasonal patterns - trends in the fishing economy - overfishing? - the use of beach seines and other gear - processing and marketing - poverty, age and gender correlations -

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ethnoicythology - management of aquatic resources and conflicts - relation with immigrant fishermen - use of temporary fishing camps - impacts of credit and future options); (2) relations with Gombe National Park (perceptions of the park - boundary disputes - utilisation of park resources - grass-cutting, wood-cutting, burning - impacts of the SCIP programme - an aquatic extension?); (3) deforestation, forest conservation, agroforestry and agriculture (demographic trends - poverty, age and gender correlations - history of deforestation - use of indigenous and exotic species - local conservation initiatives - impacts of TACARE and other projects - agricultural conservatism and innovation - change in farming systems - opportunities and constraints - relation between fishing and farming and other sources of income); and (4) institutional issues (mechanisms for natural resource management at village and sub-village level - the role of individuals and different village institutions - linkages with other levels of government and administration - the role of CBOs and NGOs)]. 20. Fieldwork in village - one week - dividing research team into sub-teams, reporting back each night. Collective analysis and write-up to take one additional week in Kigoma (involving all or part of team). Further actions proposed on the basis of this (possible options include additional research, activities at village level, institutional interventions). 21. [Total time allocation for the Gombe exercise: 3 weeks, if possible to be completed before Christmas.] 22. New Year: similar exercise to be undertaken in another location in Kigoma Region (with shorter preparation period if the composition of the research team remains more or less constant). The list of possible locations includes: (1) Malagarasi River / swamp, to examine patterns of utilisation, assess resource degradation, impacts of pastoralist influx, management options on the fringes of the Moyowosi Game Reserve; (2) Nguruka, to examine a similar range of questions, in an area where dense human population has led to encroachment on local Forest Reserves; (3) highlands of Kibondo / Kasulu District, with special emphasis upon deforestation and soil erosion, associated with high population and the refugee influx from Burundi [existing studies, however, including that by COOPIBO in Kasulu District, may render an exercise in this area redundant]; (4) lakeshore south of Kigoma, possibly near Mahale National Park, to examine the same range of issues as the Gombe study; (5) peri-urban Kigoma - Ujiji, to examine various issues including urban growth, the potential for pollution, and land use in the Luiche River delta. 23. [Costs: it is difficult to estimate the cost of these exercises on the basis of information currently available. The participation and employment of a National Counterpart at going market rates would add significantly to the cost. Otherwise I would estimate a total cost of no more than Tshs 2 million for the two exercises (participants’ overnight and food allowances), which might be pushed down to Tshs 1.5 million or less].

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Annex: Chronological Summary of Meetings and Field Visits Sunday 21 July, Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam 24. Travelled late afternoon from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam. In Dar found that neither hotel nor flight bookings had been made (original arrangement had been to fly to Kigoma the next morning to join Julian Quan, Socio-economics Team Leader, and Malcolm Whitehead, EE consultant). Monday 22 July, Dar es Salaam 25. LTBP office, telephoned Keith Banister, Scientific Liaison Officer, and Julian Quan in Kigoma. Attempted, unsuccessfully, to find alternative means of travelling to Kigoma. Read project documents. 26. [Also called on David Salmon, ODA Natural Resources Adviser, for an update on the Ruaha Ecosystem Wildlife Management Project (REWMP) and its proposed successor, Matumizi Bora ya Malihai Idodi na Pawaga (MBOMIPA, Project for the Sustainable Use of Wildlife Resources in Idodi and Pawaga). David Salmon was preparing the appraisal sections of the MBOMIPA project submission, to be sent to Jim Harvey in BDDEA Nairobi at the start of next week, and asked for my advice on the social appraisal. We also discussed the possibility of my participation in a field evaluation of the interim project strategy, for 2-3 weeks in September this year, and I informed him of my likely inputs to LTBP and other NRI commitments over the next six months.] Tuesday, 23 July, Dar es Salaam 27. LTBP office, continued unsuccessful search for transport to Kigoma and continued background reading. Attempted to set up appointments with identified IRA resource persons (who turned out to be involved in a workshop opening on Wednesday). 28. In the evening informal meeting with Dr Dawn Hartley, former REWMP TCO anthropologist, and Dr Alan Rodgers, CTA, GEF/FAO East African Biodiversity Project. Invited by the latter to attend the next day’s workshop. Wednesday, 24 July, Dar es Salaam 29. National Environment Workshop. Attended workshop at Kilimanjaro Hotel entitled ‘Putting Environment on the National Agenda’, organised by the Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST), the IRA (UDSM), and AGENDA (a NGO initiative promoting environmentally friendly policies and practices within the business sector in Tanzania). In the morning keynote speeches by Professor Idris

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Kikula (IRA), Dr Alan Rodgers (representing WCST), Professor R. Mwalyosi (IRA), Ms Tina Kaiza-Boshe (AGENDA), G. L. Kamukala (Director General, NEMC), R. Lugembe (PS, Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources), and H. E. The President, Benjamin Mkapa, plus responses to the latter’s speech by local representatives of the World Bank, UNDP, and the Informal Donor Group on Environment. Introduced myself briefly to Professor Kikula and discussed changing national institutional roles and the place of EE with Dawn Hartley. In the afternoon participated in a working group on the theme ‘Ensuring Community Participation’ (to be continued the following day), focusing on natural resource management at the local level and institutional developments and proposals linked to this. Collected available copies of speeches and relevant literature from the exhibition connected to the workshop. Thursday, 25 July, Dar es Salaam 30. LTBP office, briefing with Dr Andy Menz, Project Coordinator (back from leave). Continued reading project documents. 31. [Also drafted suggested key points for social appraisal of proposed ODA MBOMIPA project for David Salmon]. Friday, 26 July, Dar es Salaam to Kigoma, visit to Gombe National Park 32. Gombe National Park and Research Centre. Shortly after arrival in Kigoma travelled to Gombe National Park with Keith Banister and Beatrice Marwa, Fisheries / WID Officer, to meet up with Julian Quan and Malcolm Whitehead. Introduction to Gombe Stream Research Centre and briefed on some of the activities there and relations between the Park and surrounding communities. Evening returned to Kigoma via Mtanga village. Ongoing discussions with Keith Banister and fellow consultants. Saturday, 27 July, Kigoma 33. TANAPA officials. At breakfast in hotel fortuitous meeting with a team, including the Chief Ecologist, from TANAPA headquarters, Arusha, which was visiting National Parks in the region. Brief discussion on the question of marine / aquatic parks. The only marine park in Tanzania is at Mafia, begun 2-3 years ago. TANAPA wanted the responsibility for this but it was taken by the Fisheries Department. Whereas TANAPA policy is to forbid utilisation in its parks (and also usually within 1 km of their boundaries), the Fisheries Department permits utilisation within Mafia marine park outside of a core conservation area. This raises the question of who might manage an aquatic park in Lake Tanganyika (if one were created independently of the existing National Parks) and what kind of utilisation, if any, might be permitted. Closer consideration of the Mafia model, as well as the Zambian experience in this regard, might be worthwhile.

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34. LTBP office. Briefed by Julian Quan on progress in Burundi (see his visit report) and Zaire and issues to discuss with visiting Zaireans. Followed by round table discussion with visitors from Zaire: Nshombo Mugerwa (Director, CRH), Mambona wa Bazolana (Fisheries statistician / soico-economist, CRH), and Swedi Elongo (CADIC). The main outcomes of this discussion have already been described in Julian Quan’s Tanzania visit report. 35. TACARE. In the afternoon the consultancy team visited the TACARE office in Kigoma, where we were briefed on TACARE’s programme by George Strunden, Project Manager, and Emanuel Mtiti, Education Coordinator. TACARE (Lake Tanganyika Catchment Reforestation and Education) is a project established by JGI (The Jane Goodall Institute, which also operates the Gombe Research Centre and a wider EE programme, ROOTS and SHOOTS). The objective of the TACARE project is “to support villagers in arresting the rapid degradation of their land and to show ways of sustainable land used. To produce fruit- and tree-seedlings in the villages, to train villagers in tree planting, contour farming and the benefits of conserving natural forests” (TACARE 1995). The project began in November 1994 and in its first year worked with 12 villages along the lakeshore in Kigoma District. Earlier in 1996, following a violent armed attack by pirates and the theft of project equipment, TACARE suspended its work in the Kungwe Bay area (for more details on the security situation see below). The project now targets a total of 22 villages, as follows (all of the villages accessible by road are recent additions to the programme):

Lakeshore north of Kigoma town: Kagunga, Zashe, Kiziba, Bugamba, Mwamgongo, Mtanga, Kigalye, Kibirizi. Lakeshore south of Kigoma town: Bangwe, Kagera, Kaseke, Mwakizega, Ilagala (these first 5 villages are also accessible by road), Karago, Sunuka, Kirando A, Kirando B. Road access from Kigoma town: Mwandiga, Msimba, Simbo, Kasuku, Nyamoli.

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

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37. TACARE has plans to develop different components of a soil conservation programme, including (1) agroforestry (promoting contour farming, green manuring and crop rotation through seminars and demonstration plots); (2) land use planning (defining village boundaries, providing water catchment services in conjunction with the Water Department, promoting private and village woodlots - to which end the World Food Programme have offered to provide Food-for-Work in 1997); (3) horticulture (providing vegetable and fruit tree seedlings and educating farmers via seminars and leaflets); and (4) forest assessment (through field trips and aerial observation). TACARE already has an active education and information programme, using different media, including Swahili language videos provided by ICRAF and SIDA and local films made by themselves (until the theft of their video equipment). This work links up with that of the separately-funded ROOTS and SHOOTS in local schools. TACARE is also planning to establish a primary health care programme to complement its existing efforts. Meanwhile, it has participated in UNDP / NORAD-initiated efforts to establish an umbrella organisation of NGOs in Kigoma which can more effectively coordinate requests to donors (to date a committee has been formed). 38. Given the existence of some intact patches of forest inland of the lakeshore, TACARE next plans to extend its work to communities along the Kigoma-Manyovu road (5-6 hours on foot to the shore). This is a high potential agricultural area, as is another proposed area of work, around Mgambo, north of Mahale. TACARE has no other immediate expansion plans (for example for Rukwa Region), though it receives requests to work in Kasulu District. EU funding is assured until the end of 1997 (via a special budgt line direct from Brussels), and the EU have expressed interest in supporting a further phase. At present the lack of a second vehicle and faster water transport are constraining the physical expansion of activities. A speedboat would enable TACARE to travel to and from the Mahale area without risking attack by pirates en route (there is a police post at Mgambo). At present they have one boat with a 20 hp engine and one whose 45 hp engine was stolen in the pirate attack referred to above. 39. Pirate activity, though evident for some years, has become much worse over the past year. The pirates are said to come from Kalemie in Zaire, though many of them are Bembe with relatives on the Tanzanian lakeshore. They generally attack at night, not in the daytime. Whereas they formerly confined their attacks to fishing boats on the lake, they have recently begun to raid villages on the shore. In and around Sigunga village 30-40 fishing gears have been lost, there are no outboard motors left in the area, and the residents have begun to move elsewhere. The pirates typically raid in groups of 10-20, armed with modern automatic rifles and with large quantities of ammunition. There are thought to be more than 100 such groups of pirates operating on the lake. Boat engines are their main target, and although government leaders have promised to intervene, no actions have been taken yet to tackle the problem. 40. Despite this setback to its work on parts of the coastline south of Kigoma, TACARE has made an enterprising start in tackling the environmental problems of the lakeshore villages. Local demand for fruit trees is said to be very high, and farmers are keen to purchase seedlings. There is also a good demand for some other

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exotic species, including Eucalyptus poles, which are used by fishermen. In general villagers have shown considerable interest in the nursery programme, although they have little practical experience of tree planting and some remain to be convinced of its value. As noted above, TACARE’s agroforestry programme has yet to be fully implemented: to date the organisation has some experience of contour farming near Kigoma town (planting Grevillea and Artocarpus trees, with strips of Vetiver and self-seeding indigenous grass species) and has identified contact farmers in the lakeshore villages. 41. The experience of agroforestry programmes elsewhere in East Africa suggests that the programme might benefit from a deeper understanding of villagers’ existing knowledge and practice, including their use of indigenous tree species, with a view to incorporating these in the proposed agroforestry systems if and where possible. 42. While visiting TACARE we also took the opportunity to discuss the history and causes of deforestation along the lakeshore. When Jane Goodall first worked in Gombe in the early 1960s, the coastline outside of Gombe (which was then a Game Reserve) was much more forested than it is now. The subsequent speed of destruction, associated with growing population, is quite striking, and has caught many villagers themselves unawares. The traditional farming system - shifting cultivation on the slopes and more intensive cultivation in the narrow valleys leading down to the lake - was reasonably sustainable when population densities were low and settlement more scattered than it is now. The villagisation programme of the mid-1970s saw all of the good valleys being exploited to the full, and placed increasing pressure on the slopes in the vicinity of the enlarged village settlements. Clear-cutting on the slopes (including some very steep slopes) and cultivation with declining periods of fallow has taken a heavy toll, and there is now very little topsoil left in some areas, which are becoming unproductive even for cassava. 43. There is a long tradition of burning miombo woodland as part of the shifting cultivation system. Miombo is, in fact, adapted to periodic burning, which increases the growth rate. Introduced species, however, are readily destroyed by fires. In the past there were fewer fires, some of them accidental. Now the same areas are being burned every year, and suffering accordingly (the increased frequency of burning is presumably another consequence of higher human population density). Fires are started for a variety of reasons, especially in the late dry season. One reason is to stimulate new growth in the absence of rain, thereby providing fresh grazing for either domestic stock (especially goats) or wild herbivores (hunters may set controlled fires so that they can hunt in the area three weeks or so later). Woodland is also burned to make it easier and safer for women and others to travel through the bush. Otherwise some fires are started accidentally, for example by honey collectors. The early dry season fires are mainly ones which have begun by accident. (This set of reasons for burning provided a more satisfactory explanation than that offered earlier in the week by some government officials, who had said that miombo was often burned in the belief that the individual or group whose fires burned longest would thereby prosper and live longer - a belief which is ascribed to the Sukuma and related peoples).

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Sunday, 28 July, Kigoma, visit to Luiche River 44. Luiche River. Morning field trip with colleagues, led by Vissa Magige, Regional Land Use Planner. Visited Mungonya (and a northern tributary of the Luiche), Mahembe Hill area, the Kaseke River, the Luiche River, Simbo, and Luiche Railway Station. Returned to Kigoma via Ujiji. Observed deforestation and the impacts of burning near Mahembe Hill (where controlled fires may be set as a preventative measure, to guard against accidental burning which may damage houses and crops), erosion on the banks of the Luiche, and the extent of human settlement in the former Forest Reserve at Simbo. Also discussed the history of attempts to channel the Luiche and reclaim land for farming in its delta (efforts which have had only limited success). 45. LTBP office. Afternoon continued briefing from Julian Quan on meetings held in Kigoma before my arrival, including the results of a discussion with fishermen and others in Mwamgongo. Discussed the possibility of beginning participatory research and pilot actions in the Gombe area. Met briefly with the Kigoma Rural District Fisheries Officer (also District Natural Resources Officer), Dominic Kweka. Also discussed workplan and TOR for further socio-economic investigations in Zaire. Monday, 29 July, Kigoma 46. LTBP office. Public holiday. Departure of Julian Quan and Malcolm Whitehead to Dar. Reading papers and reports, including Zairean material; ongoing discussions with Keith Banister. Tuesday, 30 July, Kigoma 47. Wildlife Department. Morning meeting with the Regional Game Officer, David Sommy (accompanied by Beatrice Marwa). Kigoma used to be a District within Tabora Region, and was the last but one Region to be created in the country, in the mid-1970s. This is one reason why up-to-date maps are not available. Overall Kigoma Region has a low population, and this is advantageous for conservation. An outdated map shows large parts of the Region, especially to the east, set aside as Game Controlled Areas (GCAs). Some of these, however, have never been gazetted, but function as ‘open areas’ for hunting; at least one has been all but transformed by human utilisation; and two have been upgraded to form a Game Reserve (GR). 48. Njingiwe and Moyowosi GCAs were combined to form Moyowosi GR, which covers an area of 6,000 km2 on the western side of the Malagarasi River and swamps. The eastern side falls within Kigosi GR, in Kahama District (Shinyanga Region): this GR is about 7,000 km2. Settlement is not permitted in Moyowosi GR, which is managed by the Wildlife Department. The ‘project manager’ for Moyowosi used to be based in Kifura: now there is a ‘sector manager’ there and the ‘project manager’ for the combined Moyowosi-Kigosi GR is based in Kahama. There are three hunting blocks in Moyowosi, currently assigned to different tourist hunting companies (one based in Dar and two in Arusha). Hunting licence fees are paid in US$. A buffalo,

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for example, sells for $600, of which $450 goes to the treasury and $150 into the Wildlife Protection Fund managed by the Director of Wildlife. 25% of the latter is given to the nearby Districts, while 75% remains in Dar and is the source of the regional retention fund from which game patrols outside of the GR are paid. 49. There is no HAT (Hunting Association of Tanzania) branch in Kigoma, although a Kigoma resident is HAT’s Assistant Chairman at national level. This man, an Indian, owns a company which uses one of the hunting blocks in Moyowosi GR - and also a luxury hotel which has been built on the headland south of Kigoma town. 50. Makere North and South (to the west of Moyowosi) is an ungazetted open area which has been allocated for tourist hunting this year. It has been allocated to a company in Dar whose owners live in Kibondo District. They also hunt in the Uvinza open area to the south of Makere. A company based in Arusha also hunts over into Rukwa Region. 51. In the far north, at Nyamroa in Kibondo District, another ungazetted GCA / open area has come under pressure from refugees and a lot of the wildlife in it has been hunted out. Two ungazetted GCAs to the south of Moyowosi GR and east of Uvinza, Gombe and Luganzo, are now heavily settled. 52. The Wildlife Department plays no role in managing Gombe and Mahale National Parks (which come under TANAPA), only in providing advice. 53. The Malagarasi swamps are very important and the Wildlife Department would like to see these and other areas more fully protected and their (eco)tourist potential developed. The Malagarasi wetlands are threatened by an influx of cattle-herders, including Tutsi. There are now more than 7,000 cattle along the Moyowosi River. Sukuma agropastoralists are also coming into the area via the Malagarasi bridge. The Tutsi in the Ilunde area came in the 1960s from Burundi. They have no farms but just herd cattle, which are more resistant than the local Ha cattle to tsetse fly. Because they are living within the Moyowosi GR the Wildlife Department tried to move them out. A commission involving other ministries was established in January 1995 and its report (written in Swahili) recommended the removal of the Tutsi. However, the regional administration blocked this move, on the grounds that the Tutsi had already been moved once - to their present location - in 1975. It is felt that there was a political element in this decision, and the Wildlife Department would still like to see the commission’s recommendations put into practice. 54. A lot of timber is being cut by outsiders. The forest laws are not really applied in Kigoma Region: elsewhere, for example in Arusha, it is difficult to cut trees without a permit. There is no traditional protection of forests and there was none during the colonial period (because of the remoteness of Kigoma and lack of officers posted to the area). Local people do not know where the Forest Reserves (FRs) are, and their boundaries are not marked. There is therefore some need for EE and awareness-raising, to inform people which areas they can utilise. The FRs in Rukwa Region suffer from the same problem, with the exception of the well-protected Katavi area.

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55. The Wildlife Department only has 3-4 staff at regional level, most work at the District level. Each District has an Assistant Game Officer (AGO) and Game Assistants (GAs) of different grades working under them. In the open areas there is a game post near each village with GAs posted there. Hunting quotas are prepared in the Districts and sent to the Region to forward to the Director of Wildlife in Dar for approval. Typically a lot of the quota is not consumed. There is a shortage of ammunition, which has not been imported by the government for the past two years. The distance of hunting grounds from the villages is also a disincentive to hunters - motorised transport is a must. Most town-based hunters no longer hunt. There is, however, some poaching using old-fashioned muzzle loaders, for which shot can be manufactured locally. In some areas it is estimated that there are two muzzle loaders for every five houses. Gun owners pay Tshs 1,000 per annum for their licences. Permits to shoot from the quota expire after 14 days, and it is usually difficult to shoot the animals listed on the permit in the time allowed. 56. Nonetheless, wildlife numbers are falling, especially big game and buffalo in particular. Game meat is traded Burundi and the refugee camps. Game meat also provides an important source of protein for many villagers in the interior. Insufficient quantities of fish are harvested and sold from Lake Tanganyika: the main markets for these fish are the District headquarters. The Malagarasi system supplies few fish - because the rivers are fast flowing, also the swamps shrink in the dry season and many fish die. There are not many cattle in the area because of tsetse fly: most goats are found along the Kigoma-Kibondo road. 57. We also discussed the new (draft) Wildlife Policy and the implications of this for developing mechanisms for natural resource management at the village level. The RGO is well aware of the policy and some of the pilot attempts to put it into practice, and we agreed that there is considerable potential for this kind of work in Kigoma Region. 58. Land Use Planning Office. Second meeting with the Regional Land Use Planner, Vissa Magige (accompanied by Beatrice Marwa). Following Sunday’s field trip we discussed further the question of flooding and agricultural development (which is constrained by uncontrolled flooding) in the Luiche River delta. This has already been the subject of various interventions and proposals, and I was shown the report of one of these (see references). 59. In 1992-94 Mr Magige took part in a series of PRAs in Kigoma Region, undertaken under KIDEP and under the authority of the Regional Development Director. These PRAs were coordinated by Professor Mascarenhas of UDSM. In 1992 three villages were studied as part of a training exercise, which also involved students from Norway. The villages were Nyanganga and Mkongoro in Kigoma Rural District and Rusesa in Kasulu District. In 1993-94 he recalls PRAs in six villages (the total number was higher than this): Kumsenga, Kibuye and Kagezi in Kibondo District and Mgombe, Shunga and Mwali in Kasulu District. The training exercise was well organised and funded, and included one week in the field and one week in class. The subsequent PRAs were undertaken by three separate teams each with four

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‘experts’ from the ministries / departments of agriculture, lands, community development and natural resources. They spent four days working in each village, up to one week per village including transport to and from and preliminary organisation of the PRA. The available budget was limited and they tried to economise on field allowances. He estimates that it cost c.Tshs 60,000 per person for two months’ work, possibly as much as Tshs 100,000. The purchase of cooking utensils (and food) was the most expensive outlay. Accomodation was usually provided by the villagers, although each team also had a tent which they could use if necessary. 60. The work itself included collection of existing data together with local government officers (for example information on populations of people and livestock, local resources and the work of existing projects), mapping exercises (transects and boundary demarcation), soil sampling and land use recording, administration of household questionnaires, and group discussions and village meetings to elicit project proposals and prioritise these in order to produce short-term and long-term plans. There was, however, minimal follow-up of these plans because the whole excercise was only conceived as a trial and not as an integral part of KIDEP. Reports were written on each of the villages (12 in all?): these are probably filed in the Regional Development Director’s (now Regional Administrative Secretary’s) office, while copies of these and other relevant reports should be obtainable from Professor Mascarenhas in UDSM. The report on Mkongoro village should be especially relevant to work in the vicinity of Gombe National Park. (Action: Mr Magige agreed to continue to search for copies of these reports and Beatrice Marwa will follow up on this). 61. TACARE. Follow-up meeting with Emanuel Mtiti, Education Coordinator (accompanied by Beatrice Marwa). TACARE did not undertake participatory research prior to (or after) beginning its work in the lakeshore villages, but gathered baseline information from government sources and casual observation. TACARE is now planning to undertake surveys to assess awareness of the project: this will be done through self-administered questionnaires and interviews. 62. In the earlier FAO-sponsored seedling distribution programme, seedling were simply raised in town and sent to the lakeshore villages by boat. The TACARE project planning process was initially top-down, but led into more partcipatory discussion with villagers. Local leaders, the VEOs, village chairmen and religious leaders helped TACARE a lot. Efforts to promote collective village nurseries failed, hence the shift to central project nurseries with paid Village Nursery Attendants (ViNAs). Communal nurseries did not work because cooperative labour was not performed. Now some individuals are competing with the ViNAs. The following are the ViNAs working in the Gombe area:

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

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63. Bubango village has no ViNA but is in TACARE’s future plans. It takes four hours to walk to Bubango from the lakeshore, but only half an hour by road from Kigoma town. 64. Seedlings are sold to villagers at Tshs 200 each (both fruit and timber tree species): higher prices are charged in Kigoma town. The demand for seedlings is the product of a number of factors. Fishing incomes are low, and therefore people are looking for alternatives. Farmers have to walk for up to two hours to reach areas where they can open up new farms: close to the villages soil fertility has declined and cassava is less productive than it once was. Farmers are therefore switching from seasonal to permanent crops (most of the agricultural labour is performed by women: fishing is a male activity). Both FAO and now TACARE have had some impact in sensitising people to new agricultural opportunities. Hitherto vegetable production has not been common along the lake - the consumption of green vegetables has been interpreted as an indication of poverty. TACARE is now trying to promote vegetable growing, particularly because anaemia is a local health problem. 65. In the 1960s and early 1970s the fish catch was so good that it was possible to obtain fish for free from fishermen if you asked (E. Mtiti is from Mwamgongo and remembers doing this). Since then, however, payment has been necessary. Fishing is seasonal and sometimes the catch is insufficient. Fishermen can sometimes obtain higher prices by selling their catch in town or elsewhere, rather than by remaining with the fish in the village. Fish-smoking is mainly done in the fishing villages, because they are unable to transport the fish immediately to town. Fuelwood is therefore a problem - in Mwamgongo firewood is sold in the village. Some villagers buy charcoal in Kigoma town - for cooking rather than fish-smoking - the ultimate sources of this being villages along the roads to Kasulu (in the uplands) and Uvinza (in the lowlands). There is some interest in (improved) charcoal stoves. Palm oil residues are also used for fuel now in the villages. 66. Some villages now have their own ‘forest reserves’. Both Zashi and Bugamba villages, to the north of Gombe NP, have reserved tree-covered hills on their land. Otherwise many of the people living around Gombe are still unhappy with the fact and do not understand why Gombe has taken their land. There is therefore some tree-cutting within the park, though offenders are punished if caught. 67. Timber for boat-building is brought by rail from Nguruka and surrounding villages, an area well-known for its timber. Some timber also comes from the south (from Rukwa? Mahale?). There are more trees in the south than in the north. The southern stretch of the lakeshore is less densely settled than the north: there are greater distances between villages, the villages themselves are smaller, and they have more land (cultivation does not, therefore, extend right up the hills). Some of the southern villages are relatively young, and were created by refugees from Zaire in c.1965. Fishing is a traditional activity among the Ha in the north: fishermen used to go fishing with torches of burning grass, and would keep several bundles of grass in the boat waiting to be lit. Some nets were used at this time. When kerosene lamps were first introduced there was only one per boat.

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Wednesday, 31 July, Kigoma to Gombe National Park 68. Ministry of Lands. Morning meeting with F. T. Matalisi, Regional Land Development Officer (accompanied by Beatrice Marwa). The Ministry is charged with applying the land policy of 1983, and has to prepare Certificates of Occupancy for each village. However, they have no money to survey and prepare titles: c.50 of 220 villages in Kigoma Region have been surveyed. There was a joint programme with the Ministry of Natural Resources, and further finance has been promised by USAID, but they only have Tshs 100,000 in their account and they cannot withdraw this. Under the new land tenure arrangements villages will get title for 999 years and individual villagers for 33 years. 69. After a brief meeting (Mr Matalisi had been called to another meeting) we then met with Mutta Dio, the Regional Town Planner, also responsible for environmental issues. There are no funds to survey villages and he is mostly concerned with urban planning. If there is not a lot of bush it is possible to survey village boundaries in one week - this is the minimum - and it is even possible to survey five villages at once. However, since he took up his post in Kigoma four years ago they have not surveyed any village boundaries. At the time of villagisation (in the mid-1970s) village boundaries were marked by natural features. In each village the Kamati ya Ujenzi [Building Committee] was the one most directly involved: no records of village boundaries were sent to town at this time 70. His junior, the Town Planner, Mr Tarimo, participated in the PRAs mentioned earlier. He is still working here. 71. The plans for Kigoma town are held in this office and we examined some, briefly. Different areas are set aside for different uses, for example residential plots, industrial plots, social services and public open spaces. There are only small-scale industries in Kigoma: the TANESCO power plant is the largest enterprise. The diesel-powered generators do not supply enough power for the town and its economic resources are therefore not exploited fully. In March 1996 an entrepreneur came from Dar (he was originally from Ujiji) to build a fish-drying plant. The Ministry was ready to find and allocate him a plot, but when he saw that there was insufficient power he returned to Dar and has started building at Kunduchi instead. A European once tried the same enterprise and caught a lot of fish for this purpose but could not find a market for all of them. There is no cold storage in Kigoma. 72. The Ministry plans protected areas in the town. These are allocated to the town council and it is their job to plant trees and make firebreaks. The Ministry has been unable to undertake any environmental planning outside of the town, and has only managed to conduct a reconnaisance along the coast, c.1992-93. 73. Travel to Gombe National Park. In the afternoon Beatrice Marwa and I travelled to Gombe in the TACARE boat, piloted by Mwiga Hamis and Felix Mgenda (they received overnight allowances of Tshs 7,000 each, while Tshs 7,800 was spent on food, Tshs 1,200 on oil and Tshs 26,600 on 70 litres of petrol for the trip (we used

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little more than a half of this petrol)). On the way we called in briefly at Kalalangabo, a sub-village of Kigalye. Nearby there is a patch of gallery forest in a gulley and lower slope leading to the sea. Fish are smoked here with wood from oil palms. Beatrice Marwa mentioned that a total of around 600 loans were given by the former project, including c.300 to women (51 of these to women’s groups). We also called in at Mtanga, to make an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. 74. Gombe Stream Research Centre. Afternoon and evening discussion with Dr Anthony Collins, Director of (Baboon) Research, and William Wallauer, researcher (filming chimpanzee behaviour). The Research Centre has a collection (not complete) of offprints and other publications relating to research undertaken there and on related themes elsewhere. I went through these, taking notes on some (Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives n.d.; Thomas 1961; Kano 1971; Clutton-Brock and Gillett 1979; Murray 1992; Shirakihara et al. 1992; Kamenya 1995; Whittier et al. n.d.). Research at Gombe itself has focused primarily upon primates, chimpanzees and baboons in particular: there has been comparatively little research on other aspects of the park’s flora and fauna. Thursday, 1 August, Gombe National Park, visits to Mwamgongo and Mtanga, return to Kigoma 75. Gombe National Park. Morning meeting with Peter Msuya, Park Warden in Charge. The park has fewer visitors at present than it usually has because of the closure of the route from Burundi. The TANAPA SCIP programme is operative in the villages around Gombe. They began by providing school desks. In Mwamgongo, Mtanga and Chankele they are building classrooms (two in the latter place); in Mgaraganza they have installed windows and made other improvements to the school; and in Bubango they are building a dispensary. The SCIP officer also undertakes conservation education in the surrounding villages. One of the problems for villagers is lack of resources. In Mwamgongo, for example, there is no fuelwood and villagers therefore look to the park to cut firewood, including wood for smoking fish. The park authorities have to prevent them from cutting in the park and it is quite hard to persuade villagers to perceive the park otherwise. 76. The aquatic extension of Gombe should be a priority. In Mahale National Park the boundary extends 1.5 km into the lake. In Gombe the boundary is 100 m inland of the shoreline. The fishing camps along the shore were originally allowed as compensation to local residents who were moved from the park. At that time there were very few fishermen, but now the fish catch is very large. This is an important breeding area and he would like to see the park boundary extended into the lake by 1.5 km or even only 1 km. He has seen an impressive film on the fish at Mahale, where TANAPA patrols the lake to prevent incursions by fishermen, and he would like to develop Gombe in the same way. 77. Kuhe (Boulengerochromis microlepis) used to be abundant, but fishermen now fight over them. One problem is the use of kokoro, seine nets. In Mwamgongo there are 6-7 lift nets and 12 beach seines. Villagers convert lift nets into beach seines:

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they say that fish are migrating to the lakeshore and that they cannot afford the engines and other gear which would enable them to fish in deeper waters. In theory there is a 1 km buffer zone where fishing is not allowed all around the lake. The fishermen in the camps outside Gombe come from all over: some past wardens may have allowed more of them in. There is some uncertainty over the boundaries of the park: people were once moved away from the southern boundary at Kizinga (in line with TANAPA’s usual policy of excluding settlement within 1 km of park boundaries). Following the reduction in fish stocks some boat owners have begun to move elsewhere to farm. Some have begun running shops. Mwamgongo and Mtanga have the greatest problems because of the lack of land to cultivate. In Bubango and other villages oil palms can be planted. 78. TANAPA has no contact at the park level with the Wildlife Department, only at higher levels. There are 16 park rangers and three outposts in the park. There is not a lot of poaching, only cutting of grass and wood for building and fuel. There is no anti-poaching unit in Kigoma town. On some places along the escarpment people (specifically Rundi) live right on the park boundary. The original inhabitants of the park were Ha. There are also Bembe in the area - and he has heard that they eat baboons. However, someone who did research on the park’s vegetation in the past returned in 1992-93 and said that he was very happy with its development. Firewood is not used in processing dagaa, which are sun-dried: he does not know how much wood is cut for smoking relative to ordinary domestic uses. Someone has already proposed introducing improved stoves: rural electrification would be an ideal, but will take a long time. 79. Mwamgongo village. Visit with Beatrice Marwa to the TACARE nursery followed by meeting with the Village Executive Officer, Abubakari Rugumamu, also attended by the Ward Education Officer, the Chairman of the Kamati ya Ustawi wa Jamii (the committee which deals in particular with environmental issues), and another village elder. Mwamgongo is a large village (population 6,738 according to a census conducted this year), which is also the ward headquarters. 80. The TACARE-sponsored nursery is now in its second year. A lot of seedlings have already been distributed free of charge, especially indigenous (?) tree species. Some are now sold and the ViNA has started to raise oranges. People have begun planting seedlings on the hillsides. The nursery plot was donated by the owner of the farm (with oil palms) on which it is located, close to the river which runs through the village. 81. The boundary with Gombe National Park is at the top of the hillside immediately to the south of the main settlement. Over the past three years there has been some conflict with the park authorities. The village has set aside this slope for tree planting and reafforestation, but every year the vegetation along the boundary is burned by park rangers (presumably as a preventative measure) and the seedlings planted by villagers have been destroyed. The villagers have complained (for example to TACARE) and have been advised to pursue their case against the park through the District offices; however, nothing has been done about it to date. Villagers complain that when they burn forest within the park they are arrested and charged, but when the park burns

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their own seedlings no action is taken. (Apart from the SCIP programme it is evident that there is no regular forum for villagers and park officials to meet and discuss issues such as this). 82. There is a lot of competition now on the lake and many more boats than there used to be in the past. Beach seines, which catch immature dagaa, are popular because lift nets and engines are too expensive. In some seasons fish are found closer to the surface of the lake, in other seasons they go deeper. Most of the non-local fishermen in the village are from neighbouring villages. (No attempt was made to discuss these issues in greater detail, given that villagers had recently been interviewed by Julian Quan and Malcolm Whitehead and that intensive participatory research is scheduled for later in the year). 83. From Mwamgongo we sailed north to view the lakeshore at Bugamba and Kiziba. There is extensive cultivation in the hills behind Bugamba. Refugees from Burundi are said to be ‘hiding’ in these hills, and producing a lot of charcoal there. At the southern end of Bugamba we were shown a hamlet that had only recently been settled by villagers moving down to the lakeshore. Two or three years ago the surrounding area was all forested, but now there is a lot of cultivation, albeit with some miombo patches. A group of young men (vijana) in the village had been adamant that there should be no firewood cutting in these patches, and they enforced this decision by beating offenders (with sticks) themselves (as a more effective alternative to reporting them to the local balozi, ten-cell leader). Recently, however, the youths who led this action have moved to Kigoma town, and it is not clear whether the strictures they imposed will remain in force. 84. After viewing Kiziba, we turned south to return to Kigoma via Mtanga. 85. Mtanga village. Meeting with the Assistant VEO (the VEO had been removed from office) and Primary School Headmaster, Mwalimu Mwanyesha (originally from Sumbawanga); followed by visit to the TACARE-sponsored nursery (run by his wife), where we were joined by the Village Chairman, Mzee Poroto, and others. Mtanga comprises six sub-villages (vitongoji): we were in Mtanga A. The nursery is in the shade of some exotics planted under the FAO project: we were told that people remember this earlier tree planting programme and remain grateful for it. The nursery is now in its second year. In the first year around 2,000 seedlings were given away to villagers, mostly exotics. Now they are raising some indigenous species (for example mbambakofi) and fruit trees, which they are sure people will buy. Villagers have already planted a lot of trees around their homes, including on the hillsides, as a result of the earlier programme mentioned above. Some hillsides near the village have been set aside for preserving miombo. 86. We had a brief discussion about the relationship between the village and Gombe National Park (there has been some friction along the boundary, but this was not mentioned, perhaps because we were not in the sub-village concerned). Our interviewees felt quite positive about the park, and made it clear that the fact that fishermen were allowed to camp on the lakeshore was an important element in maintaining good relations. Although we did not raise the issue of an aquatic

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extension of the park, this suggested that such a proposal would not be well received, especially if it seemed that villagers were being further excluded from access to resources which were once unequivocally theirs. 87. After leaving Mtanga, we looked more closely at the landscape between there and Kigoma, and especially at the patches of miombo and other forest on the slopes. Our boatmen recounted various examples of local efforts to conserve forest and / or encourage its regeneration. In one area the Village Chairman had forbidden further deforestation at particular sites; in another one family had decided to preserve the gallery forest on its land. These and other cases of local conservation measures reported during our trip indicate that a fair degreee of enviromental awareness has already developed, and that the need to take some action has been recognised, at least by some villagers. This is a trend which should obviously be encouraged, not only in the ways which TACARE is doing, but also by seeking ways to strengthen the local institutional framework and linkages which can support conservation efforts. Friday, 2 August, Kigoma to Dar es Salaam 88. Kigoma Airport. Drafted workplan for Beatrice Marwa, asking her to continue to gathering background information and making individual and institutional contacts of the kind pursued over the past week. This will require looking at other areas and institutions working within Kigoma Region, as well as following up on particular tasks identified during the mission (for example location of existing PRA reports and participating, if possible in the PRAs said to be planned for August / September by CARITAS in Kasulu (?) District. 89. Return by air to Dar and brief contact with Andy Menz and, subsequently, Malcom Whitehead (prior to his departure for U.K.). Saturday, 3 August, Dar es Salaam 90. LTBP office. Informal discussion with Andy Menz, gathered reports in office. 91. Embassy Hotel. Report reading and note-taking. Sunday, 4 August, Dar es Salaam 92. Embassy Hotel. Report reading and note-taking. Monday, 5 August, Dar es Salaam 93. Department of Sociology, UDSM. Morning meeting with Professor C. S. L. Chachage (suggested by Professor Kikula of IRA as possible national lead counterpart for socio-economic studies - see Julian Quan’s report). After briefing him on LTBP,

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we discussed his extensive research and consultancy experience, including his experience of PRA-type methods. Of particular interest was his previous work in the Lake Tanganyika area. In 1990 he had participated in a survey on the use of different media in Kigoma. In 1991 he had worked as a consultant for Cowiconsult (?), together with others, in drawing up socio-economic profiles of a series of lakeshore villages between Kigoma and Mpulungu. These profiles were based on focused discussions within the villages concerned, and designed to gain an understanding of local factors relevant to the main objective of the consultancy, which was concerned with the improvement of landing sites. Unfortunately I was not able to see any of these profiles, because the two-volume report had been lent out (all of the socio-economic profiles are in one volume). Professor Chachage, however, showed me similar profiles from another piece of work, narrative descriptions of each village and the main features of the local community and its economy. He has also supervised and/or is aware of the work of a number of research students in Kigoma and Rukwa Regions, and has himself worked on the problem of dynamite fishing in the Dar es Salaam area. 94. We went on to discuss some of the problems of natural resource management at village level. He pointed out that many villages do not have a good record in this respect, and that financial embezzlement by village leaders has been rife in the post-villagisation period. The lack of effective village government democracy and accountability poses an obvious threat to resource management, especially where these resources are valued and money is involved. We also discussed the new land tenure policy and the Titling Individualisation and Registration bill (not yet passed into law). He feels that this has some serious shortcomings, in particular the provision that public lands are still owned by the state, and effectively in the dispensation of the President. He notes that Professor I. Shivji made a very worthy contribution to the Land Commission which preceded the preparation of this bill, but considers that the process was subsequently flawed under the influence of World Bank sponsorship and by the employment of American and British lawyers to complete the legal work. 95. Professor Chachage is evidently a very busy man, and in high demand as a consultant. He is currently coordinating a long-term study of Aids and supervising the work of research students (MA and PhD candidates) to this end. He is involved in starting a new journal of sociology in Dar and, following a trip to Senegal, will repair to the Universities of Hull and Cambridge in the U.K. to complete a book on natural resource planning (including sections on wildlife management, forestry, and mining - which he has already written extensively about). He expects to finish this book in October or so, and will not be available for other work before then. (Action: I asked Professor Chachage to send a copy of his cv to the LTBP office, together with the two volume report which includes the profiles of lakeshore villages. LTBP Dar to photocopy this report - in particular the socio-economic profiles - and send the copy to LTBP Kigoma, returning the original to Professor Chachage). 96. NB: the other suggested national lead counterpart for socio-economic studies, Dr Claude Mung’ongo, of IRA / UDSM, was out of town for the week and therefore not available for a meeting. His current involvement in interdisciplinary research on deforestation, habitat destruction, biodiversity, and resource use in miombo areas of

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Kasulu District - see Julian Quan’s December 1995 report - would appear to make him a more obvious choice for the counterpart position, assuming that such an appointment is agreed. (Action: can Andy Menz follow up on this in our absence?). 97. Library, UDSM. Attempted to contact Professor Ophelia Mascarenhas to follow up on the PRAs which she had supervised in Kigoma Region (see above). I was informed that Professor Mascarenhas is on sabbatical leave, though I might search for the PRA reports under her name in the catalogue of the East Africana collection. Access to the catalogue and collection, however, could only be granted if I came with an official letter of request from LTBP. (Action: LTBP to prepare such a letter and / or seek permission to use the library via the IRA / other UDSM contacts prior to my return later this year. There are many documents, including unpublished theses, of potential value in the library which I would like to consult if and when opportunity arises). 98. COOPIBO. Afternoon meeting with Paul Bottelberge, Country Coordinator (together with Andy Menz). COOPIBO is a Belgian NGO which is currently working in eight countries (including Zaire) and receives most of its funding from the Belgian government. In Tanzania it is active in agricultural development and the rural housing sector, and directly engaged in the implementation of six projects in both the north and south-west of the country. In 1995 it began work on two more projects, a housing programme in Kahama District (Shinyanga Region) and an agricultural development programme in Kasulu District (Kigoma Region). The latter is of particular relevance to LTBP. In April 1995 a multidisciplinary team of six consultants undertook a survey in Kasulu to assess the potential for COOPIBO to contribute to sustainable agricultural development in that District and to find potential partners for this work. The resulting report (Coopibo Tanzania 1995) provides a wealth of information on farming systems and trends in that area, as well as on the activities and capacity of different local NGOs. As a result of this survey COOPIBO decided to work through the Development Office of the Anglican Church, and is on the point of signing a memorandum of understanding to this effect with the Anglican Bishop. In 1997 it is anticipated that intensive work will begin in four villages in two different wards (Muganza and Mnyegera in Heru Juu, Murufiti and Titye in Heru Chini). COOPIBO will begin its work by providing further training to the staff of the Development Office (who already have experience in zero-grazing and agroforestry), and by developing small rural infrastructures (the potential for small-scale irrigation and some bridge-building have already been identified). It is expected that in June 1997 a planning seminar for all the local stakeholders will be held, in which a five-year plan of action will be outlined. Meanwhile, later this year (8-10 October 1996), COOPIBO will hold a seminar on environment and food security in Kigoma town (which Keith Banister is expected to attend). 99. In addition to COOPIBO’s plans for Kasulu District, we discussed their experience of undertaking participatory research. COOPIBO make extensive use of OOPP (Objective Oriented Project Planning) with farmers, and Paul Bottelberge extolled the virtues of the ‘problem analysis’ component of this. COOPIBO charges other organisations a maximum of US$ 150 per day for the use of its well-qualified and experienced consultants, and pays them a corresponding maximum of Tshs

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40,000. Those with less experience are given half this amount. ‘Trainees’, which might include government officers at District level, are paid a fee of Tshs 5,000 per day, though they could well be paid as little as Tshs 1,000. In the field all of these categories are also given an allowance of Tshs 1,000 per day for food (Tshs 5,000 in Dar). COOPIBO would be quite happy to hire out its staff as consultants to LTBP for PRA activities at rates negotiated on this basis. Equally, they would be prepared to act as subcontractors to undertake PRA-type work. 100. COOPIBO normally gets 75% of its project funding from the Belgian government, and has to make up the remaining 25% from other (for example NGO) sources. Their participation in LTBP activities (an EE campaign was suggested) could therefore be funded simply by topping-up Belgian government funds. 101. In Zaire COOPIBO is supporting local NGOs in Kasai and Kivu. These programmes are managed directly from Belgium, and do not involve the Tanzanian office. Tuesday, 6 August, Dar es Salaam 102. Royal Netherlands Embassy. Morning meeting with Byarugaba Kamara, Programme Officer - Environment (Bob Hensen, Second Secretary - Development, was out of town). We discussed the possibility of (renewed) Dutch funding for fisheries credit linked to LTBP activities: this would require a worked-up proposal to be considered locally or in The Hague according to the level of funding proposed. At present Dutch aid is focused on District Rural Development Programmes in three Regions: Kagera, Arusha and Shinyanga (including Kahama District). Assistance outside of these three Regions would require special arrangements. The Dutch government is, however, interested in LTBP and favours projects which relate to environmental protection. For further information on the defunct Lake Tanganyika credit line and the ongoing Lake Victoria scheme, Mr Kamara recommended that I speak to James Yonazi at FAO (see below). 103. Department of Environment. Afternoon meeting with Rawson Yonazi, LTBP National Coordinator for Tanzania. After briefing him on the purpose and progress of the consultancy, he raised a series of issues, as follows. 104. (1) Host institution. The LTBP project document does not make it clear which the host institution(s) should be. The local academic institutions are appropriate for this role, for example UDSM and Sokoine University. The IRA / UDSM has socio-economists and studies such as those proposed should be undertaken in close collaboration with them. 105. (2) Local institutions. Local government institutions from the village to higher levels are important for resource management. It is important to review what has already been done on related projects, for example the community wildlife management work at Manyara and Selous National Parks, and to build upon this.

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106. (3) NGOs and CBOs. Care should be taken in working with NGOs. Most Tanzanian NGOs are very new and were created in the early 1990s. In Dar es Salaam there are some ‘briefcase’ (i.e. paper) NGOs, and many are not known at the village level. It is important not to give NGOs too much responsibility and to raise hopes falsely at the village level. The project should see how NGOs might be strengthened. CBOs are much more important at the local level. 107. (4) Regional socio-economist. The terms and conditions of the appointment should be clarified. An appointee from one of the universities would have to take a leave of absence: being stationed in Kigoma would make it a less attractive (and therefore necessarily a more remunerative) post. A monthly salary of US$ 1,000 or less would only attract recent graduates who were unemployed and looking for their first job (I had conveyed Andy Menz’s starting suggestion of US$ 700-900 per month). Well-qualified candidates with a masters or doctorate would only consider the position if the salary offered was US$ 2,000 or more per month. This is the sort of income they might expect from consultancy work, and most of the people in this category are involved in numerous consultancies. LTBP should fix the salary at the going market rate. 108. (5) Lead national counterpart for socio-economic studies. Such a person should be employed on a part-time consultancy basis, and preferably should be someone attached to UDSM, for example in the IRA. This will ensure some continuity in the work and will mean that the results of the studies will be deposited in an appropriate institution. It is best to appoint a single individual rather than working through a team of resource persons who can be drawn upon for consultancy as needed. Contracting with a whole institution would entail the project paying a large overhead. The TOR for a counterpart should be drawn up and sent officially to him so that he can clear them with his Director. 109. (6) The project budget should be broken down into separate regional and national budgets. Wednesday, 7 August, Dar es Salaam 110. FAO. Morning meeting with James Yonazi, National Programme Officer (and brother of the above), to discuss the question of credit for fisheries. He noted that one problem with the now-defunct credit scheme for Lake Tanganyika fishermen was that the CRDB, the bank which managed it, was not really interested because the credit line was very small (although interest rates were very high). The bank did not follow up on debtors very effectively. Credit for fishermen has to be tailored to an understanding of their livelihoods and in particular an appreciation of the difficulties they may have in repaying when fishing incomes are irregular and often inadequate (as is the case on Lake Tanganyika). He recommended the FAO publication by U. Tietze, Credit for Fishermen on Lake Tanganyika (Rome, 1989), for a detailed account and analysis of the past scheme. He also suggested making contact with Mr Moreni, a fisheries economist with the Fisheries Department (based in Ardhi House in the Ministry of Lands), who backstopped the Kigoma project in Dar.

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111. We also discussed the ongoing FAO credit line for fishermen in Kagera, on Lake Victoria. This is now in its second phase, supported by the Dutch government as part of an integrated rural development programme (the first phase was UNDP funded). The programme recognises that fishermen are also engaged in other activities, and support has been provided for the establishment of woodlots and school nurseries (funded from other sources). Proposals are being considered to initiate a similar programme in Mwanza. Loan repayments are easier to collect on Lake Victoria than Lake Tanganyika because of the larger catch and ready market for Nile Perch (many of Lake Tanganyika’s fishermen also live in relatively remote locations by comparison). Nonetheless the programme is still experiencing a lot of problems over repayment. To a large extent the recovery rate on this and other fisheries credit schemes depends on the aggressiveness of the CTA concerned, and whether or not he/she is prepared to be seen as a ‘tax collector’. 112. These problems are likely to be exacerbated on Lake Tanganyika, where the fisheries are comparatively light and involve more risk (including the risk from piracy). Where boat engines cost Tshs 2-3 million, most fishermen cannot even afford a 25% down-payment. I asked if he knew of any attempt to apply the minimalist group-lending model to fisheries credit in Tanzania: he did not, though he was aware of its application in the agricultural sector. On the question of environmental impacts, he surmised that fish processing around Lake Tanganyika had less adverse impact than in the Lake Victoria case because of the prevalence of sun-drying in the dagaa fisheries. In general he felt that fisheries were declining as a source of livelihood around the lake. 113. LTBP office. Afternoon report reading and writing. Thursday, 8 August, Dar es Salaam 114. Embassy Hotel. Public holiday. Report writing. Evening met with incoming MRAG biodiversity consultants, Dr Philippe Petìt (ENSAT, Toulouse) and Dr Edward Allison (ODG, University of East Anglia). Briefed them on my work and conclusions and discussed a number of issues, including (1) the siting of acquatic parks (there was general agreement that an aquatic extension at Gombe might not be the most viable option, given probable low biodiversity in the area and the need to retain good relations with local fishing communities); (2) overfishing in the northern part of the lake, leading to the southward migration of fishermen (which seems evident from Phillipe Petìt’s PhD work on the Burundian and Zairean fisheries); (3) the need for careful assessment of any credit scheme for fishermen and its likely impacts (if credit is offered at all then it should be linked to the promotion of larger net mesh sizes); (4) the possibility of involving local fishermen in monitoring biodiversity (favoured by all: Phillipe Petìt’s experience in Burundi is again relevant to this, and he provided an interesting perspective on the wide extent of fishermen’s ethnoicythyological knowledge); (5) the need for ongoing communication between the natural and social scientists to determine the best sites for research and other activities; and (6) the need to initiate these activities as soon as possible, adopting a

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trial and error approach, with increasing refinement as more information becomes available. Philippe Petìt’s earlier experience on the lake should prove invaluable, and I asked him to ensure that a copy of his 1995 thesis was deposited in the LTBP Kigoma office. The close link between the MRAG briefs, especially fishing practices, and the NRI work on socio-economics was evident from our discussion, and should be fostered. Friday, 9 August, Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar 115. LTBP office. Morning discussion with Andy Menz on the appointment of a Regional Socio-economics Coordinator, the possible roles of an Information Officer, and the project budget. The informal call for cvs of potential candidates for the regional post has met with little response and we agreed that the next step should be to advertise. 116. Late afternoon return to Zanzibar, en route to Mombasa and U.K.

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References Clutton-Brock, T. H. and J. B. Gillett 1979. ‘A Survey of Forest Composition in

the Gombe National Park, Tanzania’, African Journal of Ecology, 17, 131-158. Coopibo Tanzania 1995. Survey of Agricultural Systems and Potential Partners,

Kasulu District. Dar es Salaam: Coopibo Tanzania. Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania [United Republic of Tanzania] [no date]. Sera

ya Taifa ya Ardhi [National Land Policy]. Dar es Salaam: Wizara ya Ardhi, Nyumba na Maendeleo Mijini [Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development].

Kamenya, S. M. 1995. ‘An Assessment of Deforestation Patterns in the Western

Kalinzi Division’, unpublished paper. Kano, Takayoshi 1971. ‘Distribution of the Primates on the Eastern Shore of Lake

Tanganyika’, Primates, 12 (3-4), 281-304. Kauzeni, A. S., I. S. Kikula, S. A. Mohamed, J. G. Lyimo and D. B. Dalal-Clayton

1993. Land Use Planning and Resource Assessment in Tanzania: A Case Study (IIED Environmental Planning Issues No.3 / IRA Research Paper No.35). London and Dar es Salaam: International Institute for Environment and Development and Institute of Resource Assessment, University of Dar es Salaam.

Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives [no date]. ‘List of Lake Tanganyika

Fishes’, typescript at Gombe Stream Research Centre. Murray, James 1992. ‘A Survey Report Detailing Conservation and Development

Issues around Gombe National Park, Tanzania’, unpublished report. Shirakihara, Kunio, Kazuhiro Use, Shigeru Kamikawa and Mambona wa Bazolana

1992 . [title missing], African Study Monographs, 13 (1), 57-67. TACARE 1995. Lake Tanganyika Catchment Reforestation and Education -

TACARE - Report 1994/95 from The Jane Goodall Institute to The European Union (ed. George Strunden). Kigoma: TACARE.

The Lake Tanganyika Fishermen Association 1988. Memorandum of Association.

Dar es Salaam: The Tanzania Legal Corporation. The United Republic of Tanzania, Regional Development Director - Kigoma 1986.

Luiche River Flood Control Project Feasibility Study: Feasibility Report (Volume 1: Report and Drawings). Carl Bro Tanzania Ltd. Consulting Engineers and Tanzania Industrial Studies and Consultancy Organisation.

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The United Republic of Tanzania, Office of the Prime Minister and Vice President 1995. The Impact of Refugees in Kigoma: A Pre Evaluation Report. Kigoma: Office of the Regional Commissioner.

The United Republic of Tanzania, Office of the Prime Minister 1996.

Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) for Refugees Affected Areas in Kigoma: Short Term Action Plan and Project Profiles. Kigoma: Office of the Regional Commissioner.

Thomas, D. K. 1961. ‘The Gombe Stream Game Reserve’, Tanganyika Notes and

Records, 56, 34-39. Whittier, Christopher A., Felicia B. Nutter, Chip Stern, Jane Goodall, Anthony

Collins and Cost Mlay [no date]. ‘Interspecies Disease Transmission among Fishermen and Non-human Primates at Gombe National Park, Tanzania’, unpublished paper.