Review of Common Pool Resources in Semi-arid Tanzania
Claire Quinn (2001)

This project is a review of common pool resources (CPR) in semi-arid Tanzania and is funded by DFID through their Natural Resources Systems Programme (NRSP). It involves researchers from the University of York, UK; the Institute of Resource Assessment, UDSM and Norconsult (Tanzania) Ltd. The aim is to identify researchable constraints that will provide the basis for further projects in the NRSP SAPS (Semi-Arid Production Systems) programme.

Background

The map above shows the location of the villages studied in this project. Click on the village for more infomation.

Tanzania has the largest land area in East Africa and as much as 80% of the country falls in the 400 - 1200 mm rainfall semi-arid zone. 11% of the population has an income below the US$1 per capita per day poverty marker. Population density remains relatively low and much of the land area is still under open access or some form of common property tenure. It has more than four times as much territory within its nationally protected areas than Kenya does. Despite the low population density, the 20th century has seen a continuing process of migration from the high-potential uplands into the drier lowlands and the pattern of land management is also changing as more open areas are settled and different forms of use develop. These changes affect all of the major classes of open access/common pool resources: rangeland and forests, water resources and wildlife.