Changing land tenure regimes in a matrilineal village 
of South Eastern Tanzania 
SlEPHANE DONDEYNE,1 ELS VANTHOURNOUT,2 JOHN 
A.R. WEMBAH-RASHID3 and JOZEF A. DECKERS4 
ABSTRACT 
Social and cultural factors governing access to land in a village of 
matrilineal peoples of South Eastern Tanzania were analysed 
through group interviews and the life stories of 13 women. Land has 
become scarce with increasing population density. Access to land is 
mainly obtained through family relations, where people from clans 
claiming first occupancy of the area have access to more and better 
land. When relatives cannot provide land, clan members or village 
government officials are approached. Although clan membership is 
still defined by maternal line of descent, inheritance happens 
according to a bilineal pattern and marriages tend to be patrilocal. 
Women and men have equal rights of ownership, but it is harder for 
women to keep control over their land when marriages are patrilocal. 
With the new land law, which recognizes customarily-obtained 
land as fully legal, jurisdiction over land is vested in the village 
government. This raises the concern that socio-economically 
weaker people may further lose control over land. However, the new 
land law could prove positive for sustainable land management by 
better securing land rights of better-off people. 
' Naliendele Agricultural Research Institute, Mtwara, Tanzania 
2 Centre for Africa Research, Catholic University of Louvain, Leuven 
3 Rural Integrated Project Support programme, Mtwara, Tanzania 
A Institute for Land and Water Management, Catholic University of 
Louvain, Leuven 
VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 7
Introduction 
In many African countries, statutory land tenure systems ignored 
customary law and have often proven inadequate (Kirk 1998). Secure 
access to land, particularly secure land rights, are of prime importance 
for sustainable land management. Farmers who have secure land rights 
are, for example, more likely to invest in soil and water conservation, as 
has been shown in numerous studies (e.g. Dondeyne et al. 1995; Shaka 
et al. 1996). Despite a century of purposeful penetration by noncustomary 
tenure ideology and legal provision, unregistered, customary 
land tenure is still by far the main form of tenure in eastern and southern 
Africa (Alden Wily 2000). 
Women and men are reported to be affected differently by land tenure 
regimes. In a case study in north eastern Tanzania, Lema (1995) found 
that, although both women and men have access to land, it is essentially 
controlled by men. According to Warioba (1997), women in Tanzania 
have only usufructuary land rights under customary land tenure regimes, 
while men have ownership and control over the land women operate 
on. Koda (1998) claims that the root causes of the gender imbalance are 
traditional cultural norms leading to discrimination against women. 
Swantz (1998), however, states that there is still much confusion about 
women's land rights and that more research needs to be done to clarify 
the present social system. 
This study was carried out in the framework of a project aimed at 
developing a village land-use plan for soil and water conservation in 
Chiwambo (Dondeyne et al. 1999). It was felt that a better understanding 
of social and cultural aspects which govern access to land would be 
important for the development of a land-use plan. Chiwambo, a village 
at the foot of the Makonde escarpment, plays an important role in the 
water supply of its surrounding villages. It was established during the 
villagization period and consists of the sub villages Namajani, Somanga 
and Chiwambo proper. With a population density5 of 140 persons per 
km2, the area is relatively densely populated. People are mostly Yao 
5 Authors' calculation based on the 1988 population census (Tanzania 
1991) 
8 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRIGA VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003
Dondeyne et aL/CHANGING LAND TENURE REGIMES IN TANZANIA 
with minorities who are Makua and Makonde. The aim of this paper is 
to document the actual, customary, land tenure regimes in rural 
communities of south eastern Tanzania and to analyse these against 
their cultural background as well as against the background of the 
current land reform. Particular attention is given to women, as they are 
reported to be the most disadvantaged. Finally, an assessment is made 
of the implications of the current trends in land tenure regimes for land 
management. 
Peoples of south eastern Tanzania 
The peoples of south eastern Tanzania are cultivators depending mainly 
on maize, cassava, sorghum, rice and various legumes. Poultry, goat, 
sheep and cattle play a secondary role in farming systems. The main 
cash crops are sesame and cashew nuts. Whereas sesame, an annual 
crop, has been an important export commodity since pre-colonial times 
(Koponen 1988), the widespread planting of cashew trees started only 
after 1945 (Topper et al. 1998). Most of the ethnic groups of south 
eastern Tanzania, in particular the Makonde, Yao, Makua, Mwera, 
Machinga and Matumbi, share many cultural traits and are part of a 
wider belt of matrilineal peoples extending from the coast of East Africa 
to Central and West Africa. Traditionally, marriage is matrilocal, that is, 
the husband comes to live in the village of his wife and inheritance of 
property follows maternal relationships (Wembah-Rashid 1975). Both 
women and men own property, but access to land is controlled by the 
clans. Individuals have usufructuary rights over the land they cultivate. 
When a person dies, the immediate relatives take over both crops and 
the land. A mother was succeeded by her children, mainly female, as 
they would happen to be living in the village where the land was. A 
father would leave his land to his wife and children. Matrilineal systems 
have been under pressure to change through the influence of Islam 
and, from the second half of the nineteenth century, by the patrilineal 
Ngoni people who dominated the region. Later, the influence of the 
Christian missions and government policies have added to this pressure 
(Wembah-Rashid 1995, Koda 1998). 
VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 9
Land reforms in Tanzania 
The land tenure regime in independent Tanzania was taken over, virtually 
unaltered, from the Land Ordinance passed by the British in 1923. In 
essence, this was based on giving the state a free hand to control and 
alienate indigenous land. However, the colonial state had to legitimize 
its laws and actions as being in the interests of the native population, 
as required by the Trusteeship Agreement (Shivji, 1998). The Land 
Ordinance sought to do this by: 
• declaring and defining customary tenure regimes without securing 
and statutorily entrenching, customary titles and rights; 
• authorizing the Governor to make land grants in the form of rights of 
occupancy limited in time, which in practise meant alienating indig-' 
enous lands to settlers and foreign corporations and 
• preserving the overarching control of the state over land by vesting 
the radical title in the state. 
After Independence, all lands declared to be public lands were vested 
in the President in place of the Governor (Shivji 1998). 
Like many other countries of sub Sahara Africa Tanzania embarked 
on a major land reform with the publication of the Village Land Act, 1999 
and the Land Act, 1999. The process started in 1991 with the 
appointment of a Land Commission, which was mandated not only to 
review laws and policies concerning the allocation, tenure, use and 
development of land and to make recommendations for reform, but also 
to examine the nature of the disputes that had arisen and to propose 
measures for their solution. The report of the Land Commission (Shivji 
1994) contained some controversial proposals and spurred a wider debate 
on land matters (e.g. CokJham 1995, Manji 1998, Shivji 1998). One of the 
main factors which led to the establishment of the Land Commission 
were the many serious land disputes emanating from the villagization 
policy, which were likely to result in social, economic and political 
disruption (Coldham 1995). 
Villagization, as Coldham (1995) explains, dates from the Arusha 
declaration in 1967. The aim was to encourage people to live in villages 
and to farm the land collectively. This was expected not only to facilitate 
the provision of public services, but also to allow for the possibility of 
10 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003
Dondeyne et al./CHANGING LAND TENURE REGIMES IN TANZANIA 
large-scale fanning. It was also expected to prevent and reverse the 
emergence of inequalities and relations of exploitation in rural areas. 
Villagization was implemented more systematically in south eastern 
Tanzania than in other parts of the country. People who were used to 
live in scattered settlements now had to live in villages, with little regard 
paid to existing customary land tenure regimes (Shivji 1994). It can be 
seen that clan members, who had a traditional claim over the land the 
new village was established on, were in a stronger position than people 
who had been moved in from further away. 
Under the new land law, the Village Land Act 1999, customarilyobtained 
land is recognized as fully legally-tenured, in whichever form 
and with whatever characteristics they currently possess. The 
community itself may conduct the adjudication, recording and titling 
processes and in this way, Alden Wily (2000) argues, local tenure regimes 
are empowered.6 
Research procedure 
The field study was conducted in 1997. First, group interviews were 
held with separate groups of young men, young women and elderly 
women. They were asked to comment on the following hypothetical 
situations: 
• A young person from the village wants to start farming. How does 
he or she get a field? 
• A young person from another village, wants to settle in the village. 
How does he or she get land? 
• A young person comes back to his or her home village after having 
stayed for years in town. How does he or she get land? 
• What if a widow decides to reside in the village of her late husband? 
• What if a widow returns to her home village? 
• How are the belongings distributed in cases of inheritance? 
" When discussing in Aug. 2001. a draft of this paper with village leaders of 
Chiwambo, they were found lo be totally unaware of the existence of the 
new land law 
VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 11
To verify the extent to which the general portrait obtained from the 
group interviews correspond with, or deviate from real world "life cases", 
13 women were asked to narrate their life story and to relate major 
invents in their life to changes in access to land. The women were 
randomly selected while walking along a transect line through the village. 
Additionally, informal interviews were held with elderly men to crosscheck 
the information. 
Results 
Group interviews 
As there were no substantial differences between the answers provided 
by the different groups, a general synthesis is presented here. 
A person from the village wants to start farming.Land in Chiwambo 
can be obtained in four ways: as a gift, or by borrowing it, through 
inheritance or purchasing it. 
Gifts. In former times, anybody could get a piece of land, permanently 
and free of charge. Nowadays, one can only get land free as a gift 
from a relative. If you want to acquire land without involving relatives, 
you have to see the Village Secretary. You will get a document, 
so that if anybody else claims the field, you can prove that it is 
yours. 
Borrowing. You can borrow land to build on, or for growing vegetables 
or arable crops. In the latter case you have to give part of the harvest 
to the owner. Under this arrangement it is not difficult to get 
arable land. But, it is difficult to get land with cashew trees on. You 
can get this only from a relative. 
Inheritance. When both parents die all the legal children get an equal 
share of the properties. Even fallow land can be inherited if many 
people know that the area belonged to the deceased. If the father 
dies with children outside the legal marriage, his properties are 
immediately divided into two equal parts; a part for his wife and a 
part for the children. The latter part is again equally divided between 
the legal children and the children outside the marriage. If the 
12 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003
Dondeyne et al./CHANGING LAND TENURE REGIMES IN TANZANIA 
marriage was childless, the properties are given to a family meniber. 
Either the couple themselves has chosen their heir before their death, 
or the person is chosen by an uncle or another family member. The 
latter case often leads to difficulties. 
Purchase. Land can be bought in three cases: 
• a land owner in need of money looks for a potential buyer or 
• a potential buyer has seen a place which they would like and comes 
to an agreement with the owner or 
• you want to build your house on a piece of land planted with 
perennial crops. So you buy the plot to avoid later conflicts. 
According to the origin of your clan it can be easy or difficult to acquire 
land. The "strong" clans have larger areas of better land. People from 
the "weak" clans have either very small plots, infertile land or even 
nothing. They can ask someone from a strong clan for a good field but 
this is usually refused. If, nevertheless, you were able to get a field, 
they will claim it back as soon as you have a good harvest. 
The young men mention the Akuchisanga as the strongest clan in 
the village. It is a large and rich clan which was the first to take possession 
of the land. They live mainly in Chiwambo sub village, but are welcomed 
in all other parts of the village. If a member of a strong clan comes to live 
in another part of the village, he will easily be chosen as chairman of 
that sub village or as a ten-house cell7 leader. 
If a young person from another village settles in Chiwambo. Both men 
and women have to contact the Village Chairman and the Village 
Secretary. If the latter agree, they will show the settler a place where 
he or she can live and establish a field. But normally, such a newcomer 
would already know some of the villagers and would have 
asked them for land. Once the Village Chairman gives permission, the 
settler will be lent a field. The villagers keep an eye on newcomers to 
make sure they do not have bad intentions. If the settler is a good 
villager and a good fanner, he or she can get land permanently. 
7 The smallest subdivision in villages of Tanzania, consisting of approximately 
ten houses 
VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 13
A young person who stayed for years in town returns to his home 
village. Such men or women will first contact their parents. If they 
have enough land, they will give their offspring a field and a plot to 
build a house on. If the parents do not have enough land, other 
family members are asked to contribute. 
A widow8 who lived in the village of her late husband. After the death of 
her husband, a woman has to stay for four months9 with her parents-
in-law. During this period she is not allowed to remarry and she 
is secluded from company. When this mourning period is over, her 
parents-in-law will bring her back to her own parents. A widow gets 
half the belongings, including land and livestock, of her deceased 
husband; the other half is for his family. After the mourning period, 
the woman can live in the village of her late husband only if she 
marries another man from the village. It often happens that a widow 
marries the brother of the deceased man and he will also look after 
her children. 
Life stories 
The life stories are presented in Annex. The names of the respondents 
have been altered in order to protect their identity. The 10 interviewees 
who revealed their age were between 21 and 75 years old. Of the 13 
women, four had rather insecure access to land (cases 1 -4). Three women 
identified themselves as Makua, seven as Yao; one belonged to the 
Akuchisanga clan, the "strong" clan. One stressed that she belonged 
to the clan of her father (Angelina, case 1), while five made it clear they 
belonged to the clan of their mother. One woman was unmarried, four 
were widows. All the others were married or cohabiting, of whom two 
had been divorced. Only two of the marriages were matrilocal (Adina, 
case 8; Mariam, case 10). Properties are inherited from both parents and 
divided among all the direct descendants and women and men get equal 
shares. 
* From the informal interviews it appeared that a similar procedure would 
apply to a widower 
"' Elderly men explained that this is in fact 40 days, according to their own 
tradition, to which three months are added, according to an Islamic rule 
14 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003
Dondeyne et al./CHANGING LAND TENURE REGIMES IN TANZANIA 
Table I: Access to land, at the time of interview, of 13 women in 
a village of matrilineal peoples of south eastern Tanzania 
Case Name Mode of access to land 
1 Angelina one field borrowed from the village government, 
one field owned by brother, one bought from 
grandmother, one field owned by mother 
2 Mwanahawa one field owned by husband, who inherited it from 
parents 
3 Dhalia one field borrowed from village government, one field 
borrowed from parents-in-law 
4 Rukia one field owned by maternal uncle 
5 Subira two fields borrowed from father-in-law, one field 
borrowed from village government, but with the 
intervention of father-in-law 
6 Fatu one field given by maternal uncle 
7 Rose cashew fields owned by husband, inherited from 
parents, one own field in Lulindi inherited from 
parents, other fields borrowed from family 
8 Adina one own field, one cashew field given by father, in 
common with brothers and sisters, one field borrowed 
from stepfather, one field bought together with husband 
9 Zainabu several cashew fields inherited from father, cashew 
fields from husband, inherited from his father, land 
bought by husband 
10 Mariam I field given by parents, land husband inherited from father 
11 Labia one field given by father, one field bought by husband 
12 Kasembe fields inherited from parents 
13 Mariam II inherited from deceased husband 
The modes of access to land of the interviewees at the moment of the 
interview are summarized in Table I. Of the women with rather insecure 
access to land, two had not established a firm family yet: Angelina 
(case 1) was not married yet, Rukia (case 4) had lost Saidi, with whom 
VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 15
she was living without being legally married. The role of the village 
government in reallocating land is illustrated by the stories of Angelina 
(case 1) and Dhalia (case 3). The story of Subira (case 5) is similar, but 
also illustrates the strong influence of the clan. 
Discussion 
With the increase in population density, land has become a scarce 
resource. Nowadays, land can only be obtained as a gift, a loan, or by 
inheritance and purchase, while one or two generations ago, it could 
have been obtained simply by clearing a part of the forest. This was 
explained during group interviews and is confirmed by the stories of 
Zainaby (case 9) and Kasembe (case 12). Wijffels (1997) reported this 
practice still to be common in the nearby district of Liwale, where the 
population density is very low (less than three persons per km2). Bennett 
et al. (1979) reported that there were no landless labourers in the area in 
the late 1970s but the group interviews suggest this is no longer the 
case. Working in a village of the neighbouring district of Lindi, Killian 
(1998) also reported that poor people were landless. 
Access to land is, in the first place, obtained from close relatives 
such as spouses, parents, parents-in-law, brothers or sisters and even 
stepfathers (see Table I for an overview; see the life stories in Annex for 
details). Alternatively, land can be obtained temporarily from the village 
government as appears from the stories of Angelina (case 1), Dhalia 
(case 3) and Subira (case 5). Obviously, families belonging to clans who 
have access to more and better land are in an advantageous position. 
The role of the clan can be seen from the stories of Rukia (case 4) and of 
Fatu (case 6) who obtained land from their maternal uncles. The story of 
Rose (case 7), who belongs to the "strong" clan and who has clearly 
access to ample land, is also revealing. 
Clans claim "ownership" of the land based on the right of first 
occupancy. However, during the group interviews, the elderly women 
remarked that "ownership" is not a proper term for land. "Land can only 
be called the property of God", they said. This is in line with the point 
made by Okoth-Ogendo (1998) that the term "ownership" is not a useful 
framework in which to analyse African land tenure regimes. The issue 
16 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY ?003
Dondeyne et al./CHANGING LAND TENURE REGIMES IN TANZANIA 
is, rather, who has access to and control over the land. Access is 
guaranteed by being a member of a clan, while control is an attribute of 
the sovereign status of the clan. One can, however, only speculate how 
this may evolve in the future now that land is becoming a tradable 
commodity. It may be feared that those who are better off, mostly from 
the "strong" clans, will buy even more land. The story of Mwanahawa 
(case 2) illustrates how one can lose access to land by selling it out of 
economic necessity. More research is required to establish whether, 
with the liberalization of the economy (Seppala 19%) and the recovery 
of the cashew industry (Seppala 1998; Topper et al. 1998), wealthy 
villagers are buying and acquiring more land from poorer people. 
The matrilineal system is clearly undergoing major transformations. 
Clan membership is normally still defined according to the maternal line 
of descent. This was explained by the elderly men as well as by Fatu 
(case 6). It can therefore be assumed that many women did not explicitly 
mention the clan to which they belong, as they felt this to be obvious 
once they had mentioned their mother's clan. Angelina (case 1), however, 
explicitly identifies herself with the clan of her father and justifies this 
by referring to the influence of the Arabs and the British. The elderly 
men also commented that the custom of matrilocal marriages was being 
abandoned as "this was putting men in too unfavourable a position, 
making them virtual slaves of their family-in-law". Indeed, whereas 
traditionally marriages have been matrilocal, all but two of the reported 
marriages are clearly patrilocal. Even the older women, Fatu (case 6), 
Zainabu (case 9), Kasembe (case 12) and Mariam (case 13), were living 
in the village of their husbands. The locality of the marriage seems to 
exist even in small-scale relocations. Some women moved from their 
home village to the village of their husband, as in the case of Dhalia, 
(case 3) and Rose (case 7); others, as in Zainabu's story (case 9), moved 
for some other reason to the village where they later got married. 
The locality of the marriage can also be significant within the same 
village, as illustrated by the story of Subira (case 5), who moved from 
the sub village of her parents to the sub village of her husband and the 
story of Mariam (case 13), who, although from the same sub village as 
her husband, still lives close to the homestead of her parents-in-law. 
VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 17
Adina's marriage (case 8), is matrilocal although Chiwambo is, strictly 
speaking, not her home village and the story of Mariam (case 10) shows 
that people may make opportunistic choices based on who has the 
most favourable access to land. As most of these marriages are patrilocal, 
this could indicate that men generally have better access to land. Another 
way to look at it is that, due to various social pressures, marriages 
became patrilocal, putting women in a less favourable position to keep 
control over their land. 
Inheritance happens according to a bilineal pattern, which could be 
a consequence of the predominantly patrilocality of the marriages. Land 
and other belongings are divided equally amongst all direct descendants, 
including children born out of wedlock. A similar evolution from a 
matrilineal to a bilineal system has been reported for the Zaramo people 
living around Dar es Salaam (Swantz 1998). The rule that children of a 
widow may be looked after by their paternal uncle, whom the widow 
may remarry, is a characteristic of patrilineal systems. 
The claim that women are discriminated against under customary 
land tenure regimes cannot be immediately confirmed by this study. 
Women have the same rights as men of access to land and, more 
generally, ownership of property. Angelina (case 1), for example, shows 
that women can definitely own land when she reports that her brother 
bought land from her grandmother and that she works on a field owned 
by her mother. Some inequalities could be seen in the rule that properties 
are equally shared between widow and family-in-law, as reported during 
the group interviews. 
The stories of Fatu (case 6) and Labia (case 11) show that one should 
also take into account the fact that the family-in-law paid a dowry and 
often provides the couple with land and other assets. The story of 
Rukia (case 4) is somewhat disconcerting. She felt obliged to give part 
of the harvest of her own field to her "family-in-law", even though she 
was not yet legally married. This, however, may be a way of expressing 
her gratitude for having been accepted in the family and a way of ending 
a relationship in an amicable way. In cases of divorce, properties are, 
normally, equitably divided (see the story of Fatu, case 6; and the 
parents of Adina, case 8). 
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However, by moving to the home of their husband, women lose control 
over their land, especially when their home village is too far away to 
continue cultivating it. Such fields are left under the custody of a relative 
(as in the story of the sisters-in-law of Rose, case 7 and the mother of 
Zainabu, case 9) and women invest in fields owned by their husband or 
by his relatives in their new home, (as in the story of Dhalia, case 3 and 
Subira, case 5), or in fields they acquired together (such as during 
second marriage of Fatu, case 6 and the story of Adina, case 8). Although 
women receive compensation for these investments in cases of divorce 
or the death of their husbands, it implies that they have to start all over 
again in a new location. 
As the Village Land Act, 1999, gives legal status to the local tenure 
regimes, conflicts are likely to emerge where customary rights are in 
discordance with recently-obtained rights. Although provision is made 
for protecting land allocated by the village government, including the 
land allocated during villagization, it is hard to see how cases are going 
to be settled where different land users from different households and 
different clans operate on the same plot of land. The point is illustrated 
by Angelina (case 1) when she speculates that the field she has on the 
communal land will be reclaimed by the original owners as soon as "the 
government abandons the project". As, according to the new land law 
adjudication, registration, entitlement and land-dispute resolution fall 
under the jurisdiction of the village government, such cases will have 
to be settled within the village. By giving people in need access to 
communal land, the village government has been able to attenuate some 
of the existing inequalities. This emanated from a central government 
policy and is completely in line with the spirit of the villagization period. 
Now that some feel that this policy is being abandoned, it can be feared 
that members of "weaker" clans will be disadvantaged in land disputes, 
as members of "strong" clans have clearly more political power (as 
mentioned during the group interviews and confirmed by the stories of 
Subira, case 5 and Zainabu, case 9). 
The life stories revealed that different fanners may work on a same 
field, where one farmer grows annual crops between cashew trees owned 
and tended by another farmer. Sulphur is commonly used as a fungicide 
VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 19
in cashew, which has the potential of acidifying soils (Ngatunga et al. 
2001). This may have unforeseen repercussions as most of the intercrops 
are more sensitive to soil acidification than cashew. A cashew farmer 
may unwittingly affect the food production of fellow farmers. If, with 
the new land law, such a cashew fanner gained full control over the 
land, he might become more sensitive to the environmental consequence 
of using sulphur. 
Cashew, as a perennial crop, is grown only on land to which people 
have secure access. This seems to be a prerequisite for people to make 
long-term investments on land. Gully erosion is a major problem for 
Chiwambo (Dondeyne et al. 1999) and its control requires major 
investments. If the new land law results in people of the "strong clans" 
increasing their control over land, they may also be more willing to 
make such investments, which could be beneficial to sustainable land 
management. On the other hand, it could exacerbate existing disparities 
in access to land which could lead to bigger social tension. 
Conclusions 
Increasing population density has led to increasing land scarcity, 
resulting in some people becoming landless. Access to land is in the 
first place obtained from close relatives; when they fail to provide land, 
the intervention from village government officials or clan members is 
solicited. The matrilineal system is clearly changing: clan membership 
is still determined by matrilineal descent, but inheritance happens 
according to a bilineal pattern while marriages are now mostly patrilocal. 
Women have the same rights of access to land as men: however, as 
marriages tend to be patrilocal, they may find it more difficult to keep 
control of their land. 
Disparities in control over land between clans, partly enhanced by 
the villagization programme, is the major source of social inequality in 
access to land. Considering the social history of a village such as 
Chiwambo, the new Village Land Act bears the risk of exacerbating 
these inequalities. If the new land law results in more secure access to 
land this may result in the sustainable management of the land. 
20 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003
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Acknowledgements 
The authors would like to thank Laurence B. Emmanuel, Musa Mapua, 
Dicky Unga and Hawana Njowelefor their assistance and contribution 
during thefieldwork, as well as Professor Renaat Devisch for his helpful 
comments and suggestions. Sincere thanks are due to the numerous 
villagers for their kind co-operation. This study was funded by the 
Belgian Directorate for International Co-operation and supported 
by the Tanzanian Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. 
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Annex: Life stories 
1) Angelina 
I was born in 1973 in Lilongo. My mother is a Yao of the Mnamba clan, 
my father a Makua from the Mkuele clan. I am myself a Makua and 
belong to my father's clan. The matrilineal system of the old days has 
changed since the time of the Arabs and the British. 
I came to live in Somanga with my older sister. I am not married yet 
and do the housekeeping for my sister. I farm three fields. One is an 
ONJ AMA field,10 on which I have cassava and pigeon peas. I also farm 
a cashew field intercropped with cassava and pigeon peas, which is 
owned by my brother. He bought it from our grandmother. I can cultivate 
it as he is not living in the village and I share the harvest with my 
mother. When my brother established the field, he demarcated it together 
with the neighbours. I also farm a field owned by my mother. When my 
mother dies, the field will be divided amongst her children. 
The ONJAMA fields in Chiwambo actually belong to a few rich 
villagers. The village government claimed these fields for the ONJAMA 
project. If the government abandons this project, the fields will be 
returned to the original owners. I have only the usufructuary right; I 
can keep the harvest of annual crops, while the harvest of the cashew 
trees is for the previous owner. 
2) Mwanahawa 
I was born in 1960 in Luagala. I am the fifth child out of eight. My mother 
is a Makua of the Chisanga clan, my father is a Makua from the Mrope 
10 ONJAMA fields, from "Ondoa NJAa Masasi" or "remove hunger from 
Masasi", are collective fields established by the government in the early 
1980s after a famine due to drought 
24 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003
4) Rukia 
Dondeyne et alVCHANGING LAND TENURE REGIMES IN TANZANIA 
clan. I belong to the clan and tribe of my mother. In 19731 married a man 
from Chiwambo. This man chose me: it was not an arranged marriage 
and we have four children together. 
I own no fields. Before, my father used to have a big area of land. But 
one of his sons went to secondary school and he sold many fields to 
pay the school fees. There is only one field left now. My mother is still 
working on it. My father has died. When my mother stops working or 
dies, her children will decide on the use of this field. 
My husband has fields in the village which he inherited from his 
parents. I work on these fields with him. If he dies, all our children— 
male and female—will inherit an equal plot. If I am still alive, the children 
normally wait before dividing of the land. They will all work together on 
the inherited fields. A piece of land is inherited, together with its annual 
and perennial crops. 
3) Dhalia 
I was born in 1974 and I come from Chinolo, along the road to Mkululu. 
Both my parents are Yao of the Milasi clan. I came to live in Namajani 
when I got married. My husband is a Milasi as well; his father is a 
Makonde of the Mnang' unda clan. We farm on two fields: an ONJAM A 
field and a field given to us by my parents-in-law. On this last one we 
grow pigeon peas, maize and some other crops as intercrops of the 
cashew trees owned by my parents-in-law. If we want more land, we 
could ask the parents of my husband or my own parents, even though 
I do*not live in my home village. 
I was born in 1976 in Lulindi where I grew up with my parents. I am a Yao 
of the Milasi clan. I went to school from 1987 to 1993 in Lulindi. In 19% 
I came to live here with Saidi, whose first wife was Labia (case II). We 
were all living together until he died last September. We were not married 
yet. After finishing school I borrowed a piece of land in Lulindi. It is 
owned by my maternal uncle. I kept working on it while living in 
Chiwambo. This year's harvest has to be divided among myself and my 
VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 25
"farnily-in-law". After four months of mourning, I will return to my own 
family. 
5) Subira 
I was born in 1967. My farther is a Makonde and my mother a Yao of the 
Katambo clan. I grew up in Somanga, but did not go to school. At 171 
went to Mtwara to work as a house-girl. One year later I married a man 
from Kitangari. He is a Makonde from the Mnambunga clan. We lived in 
Kitangari where we built a house and where we cultivated cassava and 
sorghum on a field of my parents-in-law. But we separated because of 
my husband's bad behaviour. 
1 was really fed up with the situation and decided to leave my husband 
and everything with him. I was one month pregnant when I returned to 
my parents in Somanga. I borrowed a field from my maternal grandfather, 
on which I farmed alone. Two years later, I left that field when I remarried, 
this time a man of Namajani. He is a Yao of the Milasi clan. We live in 
Namajani and now we have three fields. These consist of two fields my 
father-in-law inherited and which he lends to his son, together with an 
ONJAMA field. Many of the ONJAMA fields in Chiwambo belong to 
my father-in-law and he took care that we were given one of them. 
6) Fata 
I was born in 1943 in Chiwambo. My mother was a Yao of the Milasi 
clan, my father was a Mwera of the Nakang'omba clan. I am a Yao of the 
Milasi clan as well. Traditionally, you follow your mother's tribe and 
clan because of the strong uncle, the brother of your mother. 
I started school in Ndwika in 1953 and completed Standard 4 in 1959. 
The same year, 1 married for the first time. My husband came from 
Lulindi. He was the younger brother of my maternal grandfather. He 
worked in Lindi, where we went to live. He was really a bad husband 
and used to beat me every day. After one year, my parents allowed me 
to divorce him. I returned to my parents and they gave back the dowry. 
In 1962,1 married for a second time. That was a good marriage. Those 
days I was working in the youth section of the party in Masasi. He was 
working for the party as well; that is how we met. We married and lived 
26 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003
Dondeyne et aL/CHANGING LAND TENURE REGIMES IN TANZANIA 
in Nachingwea for many years. We had three children. We had a lot of 
fields together: two big cashew fields with many trees, two maize fields 
and one rice field of about eight acres. There was plenty of land in 
Nachingwea. We just took over the fields, without paying and started 
cultivating them. This practise was encouraged by the government. We 
also built a six-room house in Liwale. 
After many years of marriage, my husband wanted to take a second, 
younger wife. I did not agree to this and we separated. He built a house 
forme in Chiwambo and in 19831 came back to my home village with the 
children. I got one of our cashew fields, one of the maize fields and half 
of the rice field and sold them all. Back in Chiwambo my clan gave me a 
plot of land. It was my maternal uncle who showed me the plot. I hired 
people to clear the field and started cultivating. 
In 1990,1 married a man of Mkululu and went to live in Mkululu, until 
my mother got very old and needed help. I came back to Chi wambo to 
take care of her but she died in 1995.1 stayed here, while my husband is 
still living in Mkululu, as I want to spend time with my four grandchildren. 
My husband has a cashew field in Mkululu which he intercrops with 
cassava and maize. When I was living in Mkululu, I used to work on 
that field. When I returned to Chiwambo, I got part of the cassava and 
maize harvest. If my husband dies, I will not inherit any of that land, as 
he started cultivating it with another wife. When I die, all my belongings 
will be equally distributed among my three children. 
7) Rose 
I was born in 1954 in Lusonje. I am a Yao of the Akuchisanga' 'clan. My 
father is a Yao of the Mpande clan. I am married to Sirili, a Yao of the 
Milasi clan. We lived first in Lulindi before moving to Somanga. the 
home village of my husband. We have four children: two boys and two 
girls. 
We live on the land of my husband which he inherited from his 
parents. He also inherited cashew trees; all the children got 16 trees 
II This is the "strong" clan, who claims to be descendants of the rounders of 
the village. 
VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVFLOPMEN1 IN AFRICA ;'.'
each after the death of their parents. We grow cashew trees which we 
intercrop with pigeon peas and cassava. 
My two sisters-in-law live with their husbands outside Chiwambo. 
Their fields in Chiwambo can be cultivated by anybody from the family. 
There are also cashew trees on these fields. Relatives weed these fields 
to protect the trees from bush fires. One of my sisters-in-law lives nearby 
in Lulindi and comes to do the harvesting. The other one lives in Masasi 
and, as she does not come to harvest the crop, it is divided among the 
relatives. 
I also have a field of my own in Lulindi, which I got from my parents, 
where I grow cassava, bananas and cashew. All the revenue from this 
field, as well as from other fields I cultivate without owning, is spent on 
the household. 
My parents are still alive. When they die, I shall inherit another field. 
Their belongings will be equally distributed among my three sisters, six 
brothers and myself. When my husband and I die, our land will be 
equally divided among our children. The children will inherent even the 
usufructuary right of the fields we borrow from our family. If one of our 
chi Idren decides to leave the village and comes back only after a couple 
of years, he or she will easily be given a plot of land when he or she 
returns. 
8) Adina 
I was born in Mpono in 1977 and came to live in Namajani because of 
my mother's second marriage. My father was a Yao of the Milasi clan. 
My parents separated when 1 was nine. The belongings were equally 
divided between my mother and my father. I have one brother and one 
sister. After the divorce, we first lived in Mpopo. My father lived there 
as well, but in a separate house. We farmed my mother's land. When we 
came to live here, we left the field in Mpopo to my brother and my sister. 
1 also have my own field in Mpopo. In the end, my father's fields will 
also be given to us, the children. Our father has already given us one 
cashew field and we divide the harvest equally among the three of us. 
The family of my stepfather lent me some land, with no cashew trees 
on, in Namajani. Last year I married a man from Newala. His parents are 
28 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003
Dondeyne et aL/CHANGING LAND TENURE REGIMES IN TANZANIA 
separated as well. His father still lives in Newala, his mother lives in 
Chiwambo. We live with my mother and stepfather. My husband and I 
bought a field near the Makonde escarpment where we grow 
groundnuts, maize, cassava and pigeon peas. 
9) Zainabu 
My parents moved from Kachulu to Namajani, because 1 was very sick 
when I was young. They believed that the neighbours in Kachulu, with 
whom they had a lot of trouble, had bewitched me. They came to 
Namajani because my father's mother lived here. My parents still own 
fields in Kachulu. My parents are both Yao, my mother is a Milasi, my 
father a Achinankuto. 
After a couple of years living in Namajani, my parents separated. My 
mother returned to Kachulu, her home village. She took the two 
youngest children with her. My elder sister was already married to 
someone from Namajani and I wanted to stay with her. When my mother 
was living in Namajani, her sister (my aunt) cultivated my mother's 
fields in Kachulu. When my mother came back, the fields were given 
back to her. She grew rice along the river and also had cashew fields. 
My father was given land by his parents and he himself established 
fields. This was easy in those days as there was plenty of land. He also 
bought a cashew field in Lisimalyoa. After the divorce, the fields in 
Namajani were his property, the ones in Kachulu were my mother's. We 
children could inherit from both sides. 
I got married a long time ago to a man from Namajani. He is a Yao, of 
the Akumataja12 clan on his father's side and the son of the brother of 
the present village chairman. We have two sons and two daughters. We 
have cashew fields with intercrops, which I inherited from my father. 
My husband has cashew fields in Chiwambo which he inherited from 
his father and land he bought in Chisinde. In Namajani we have cashew 
trees we planted ourselves. 
12 TTiis is a subclan of the Akuchisanga clan, the "strong" clan 
VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 29
10) Mariaml 
My parents were both from Somanga. My father is a Makua from the 
Mkulia clan, my mother is a Yao from the Amalika clan. I married an 
electrician from Lindi. My husband came to live in Somanga because he 
did not have any land-in his home village. He left employment and 
became a farmer. We were given land by my parents. We grow maize, 
pigeon peas, cassava and a few cashew trees. My husband recently 
inherited a piece of land from his father. His brothers are well-off and 
have a lot of fields; so he was the only heir. He mainly grows bananas 
on these fields, intercropped with maize and sesame. I frequently travel 
with him to his home village to farm. 
11) LaMa 
I was born in 1975 in Mbuyuni. My father has two wives and eight 
children. I am a Yao of the Achinamembe clan. I was my mother's first 
child and my father's second. In 1983 I started primary school in 
Mbuyuni, which I finished in 1990.1 lived in the village of my parents 
until 1994 when I met Saidi, a man from Chiwambo. He was a Makua of 
the Amirashi clan. As he was not able to pay the agreed dowry, I came 
to live with him and his family in Namajani. After one year he had earned 
enough money to pay the dowry and we got married in 1995. 
We worked on a field in Mbuyuni which we got from my father. We 
grew sesame on it for cash and maize and cassava as food crops. My 
husband had his own field which he bought in Chiwambo and on which 
we grew maize, cassava, cowpeas and buffalo beans. The cashew 
seedlings on it were eaten by ants. In 1995 my husband and I started a 
small shop in Chiwambo which was like a joint venture. 
Last September my husband died of cancer. My brother-in-law and 
the maternal uncle of my late husband advised me to stay here for 
another four months. Afterwards I will return to my own family. I can 
either marry again, or live with my parents. As for the fields, my familyin-
law will value both plots of land. I would choose, if possible, to have 
the field in my home village. If that field is valued higher than the one in 
t'hiwambo, I will have to bring part of my harvest at the end of this 
season to my famiiy-in-law. If the field in Chiwambo is valued higher, I 
30 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003
Dondeyne et al./CHANGING LAND TENURE REGIMES IN TANZANIA 
shall get a part of that harvest. As for the cashew trees, they are also 
divided into two equal shares. I can either decide to keep them or I can 
sell my share. As for the shop, the joint venture continues with my 
brother-in-law. When I will leave Chiwambo, the value of the shop will 
be divided equally. 
12) Kasembe 
I was born in 1922 in Mwitika, Masasi district. I am a Makua from the 
Wamarate clan; my father was a Makua from the Katambo clan. I have 
one brother and one sister. I got married in Chiwambo to Musa, a Yao of 
the Akuchisanga clan. We did not have any children. I am a widow now 
but continue to live in the village of my late husband. This was possible 
as I was already living in Chiwambo before my marriage. My 
grandparents and parents moved to this village. I have my own fields 
here, which I inherited from my parents. They got them from my 
grandfather, who came to live in Chiwambo when there was still plenty 
of land. Most of my land is bush, some of it with cashew trees on. When 
I will die the land will be distributed to the children of my brother. I still 
cultivate the fields myself together, with the son of my brother. 
13) Mariamn 
I was born a very long time ago. I am a Yao of the Achichungu clan and 
the mother of the present chairman of Somanga. My husband was also 
born in Somanga and we are living close to the homestead of his parents. 
When my husband died, I inherited the cashew fields. The belongings 
of my husband were divided between my children, the children of his 
second wife and myself. The second wife did not inherent any land, as 
my husband had established the fields with me. I am still fanning, but 
when I stop, or when I die, the fields will be divided among my children. 
VOL 18 NO 1 JANUARY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 31