Assessing the challanges of women's land rights in Tanznia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges of women on land rights, in Tanzania customary practices often required woman to access land through their fathers, brothers, husbands or other men who control the land, so this makes women vulnerable and decreases agricultural productivity. When women loses their connection to this male relative, either through death, divorce or migration, they can lose their land, home and means of supporting themselves and their families. The methodology adopted in this study involved a review of secondary sources such as land act, Village Land Act (both passed in 1999) ,National Land policy 1995 of Tanzania, interview and analysis that explain on the rights human have on land in both rural and urban areas ,and finaly the paper concludes on the way forward to eradicate women's challenges on land rights. Strengthening women's land rights there is need to promote efficiency and effectively policies and framework which will favour women rights on land because the majority of the people in Tanzania today rely on land for their livelihood. Secure land rights confer direct economic benefits because land is a key input into agriculture production and enterprise development: can be used as a source of income from rental or sale; and can provide collateral for credit where strong, well-regulated land markets and credit infrastructure exist. Tanzania has an ambitious agenda for land and natural resource policy and legal reform. Since 1999 it has been transitioning to a legal framework that integrates aspects of customary tenure, supports the rights of women, recognizes private property rights, and permits individualized control of resources in farming areas. Despite positive developments, the agenda of policy and legal reform is not yet complete. Some claim that the current legal framework fails to effectively provide the foundation for an effective land governance system. While the legal framework generally upholds women’s rights to land, in rural areas practices predominate whereby men are heads of households and have greater rights to land than women. The law is still weak in regard to women’s inheritance rights to land, and inheritance practices discriminate severely against women.