Social Identity as the determinant of land use conflicts between farmers and pastoralists in Tanzania: A Case of Tunduru District

Abstract

Land use conflicts between farmers and pastoralist are common phenomena taking place in different parts of Tanzania, Tunduru District being one of the affected places. One of the factors for the endless conflict between the respective groups was the willingness of the members of each group to protect their identities and interests which are directly linked with their key economic activities namely; crop farming and livestock rearing. The paper explores the relative influence of social identity on land use conflict between farmers and pastoralists. To this end, the paper used comparative case study design with farmers, pastoralists and Village Land Council members as respondents. Thus, semi-structured interviews, Focus Group Discussions and Key informants’ interview were used to collect data while NviVo software version 14 was used for data analysis. The study revealed that the competing social identities between farmers and pastoralists has developed over the years has become part of their culture. . These conflicts prevailed because none of them is ready to submit its identity for the public interests. This signifies the need for the responsible public authorities to undertake thorough investigation to identify the needs and interests of each group in order to come up with sustainable solutions for the common good.