The triplicate failures of the Village Land Use collectivism in Tanzania

Context and background Collectivisms or rather active participations are increasingly appreciated as vehicles for effective land use planning and formalization of rural lands. Nevertheless, implementations and evaluation of Village Land Use Plans (VLUPs) are undermined. VLUPs are partially implemented and not evaluated to track changes and amend the necessaries. These failures in VLUPs treat evaluation and implementations as “golden reserves” Goal and Objectives: The paper generally aims to assess factors affecting the implementation and evaluation of Village Land Use Planning (VLUP) in formalized land in Tanzania. To achieve this, we firstly identify the contextual factors (ie land use challenges/problems, opportunities) necessitating for and significance of VLUP in ensuring effective land formalization. Secondly, we examine the extent of community participation (collectivism) in the village land use planning processes in two selected projects in Iringa and Babati Districts. Lastly, we examine the implementation and evaluation failures of collective Village Land Use Planning for selected villages. Methodology: The article is based on a cross-case study design of the community- collective VLUP for land formalization projects in Tanzania. VLUP projects for Mamire and Mwada villages (Babati region) and Ndiwili and Ilalasimba villages (Iringa region) were studied. We used documentary review method, interviewed 341 heads of households and conducted 8 group discussions to collect data in selected villages and districts.  Results: The results show that VLUP in Tanzania is a collective process and involves numerous actors with varying influences and roles. However, local communities are partially involved symbolizing a weak collectivism. While various land use and ownership challenges drive the need for VLUP, implementation and evaluation are affected by resource inadequacy, weak involvement of some stakeholders like the pastoralists. Also, VLUPs are shortsighted envisioning villages as agricultural settlements ignoring plans for commercial, industrial and open spaces. Failures of VLUP emanate not only from poor planning but also poor or inadequate implementation and evaluation. Implementation and evaluations should be rejuvenated for effective land formalization.