From protective lions to angry spirits: environmental degradation and the authority of elders in the Kilombero Valley, Tanzania

Abstract

Along the route of the TAZARA railway in southern Tanzania, the increased circulation of people, goods and ideas has led to changes in the utilization of environmental resources. The settlement of newcomers in the Kilombero Valley, who not only plant crops but also fish in the Kilombero river floodplain, has led to concern among those who consider themselves to be “local” that outsiders have simultaneously brought both development and degradation. Changes in landscape use are framed not only in terms of demography, ethnicity and locality but also as a threat to the authority of ritual elders. Declining respect for ritual authority is blamed for specific environmental problems, for example the changes in rainfall and flooding patterns known as El Niño.