The Role of Informal Land Dispute Settlement Mechanisms on Family Land Ownership in Tanzania: A Case Study of Mbeya District, Mbeya Region

Abstract

Informal land disputes settlement mechanisms epitomize a classic example of valuable and useful indigenous knowledge, which Africans have acquired for ages but is not being recognized and sometimes not fully utilized in contemporary African societies. The study aimed to assess the role of informal land dispute settlement mechanisms on family land ownership in Tanzania: A case of Mbeya district. The specific objectives of the study were to identify nature and causes of informal land dispute settlement mechanisms on family land ownership in Mbeya district and to examine the effectiveness of informal land dispute settlement mechanisms on family land ownership in Mbeya district. The study adopted case study research design, target population of the study was 446 respondents, and sample size of the study was 128 respondents. This study employed both qualitative and quantitative research approach data collection tools used was questionnaires, interview and focus group discussion. The study findings indicated that causes of disputes on family land ownership and effectiveness of informal dispute settlement mechanism significantly lead to family land ownership conflicts in Mbeya district as well as in Tanzania. The study concluded that informal land dispute settlement mechanisms help people within the community to attain land ownership through chiefs and community elders  because this mechanism can strengthen  solidarity, ethnics discipline in the community and recommended that the government should formulate policy and law governing informal land dispute settlement mechanisms on family land ownership to be accommodated in the local system to facilitate quickly land matters rather than depending on western system.