Indigenous Institutions and Rangeland Sustainability in Northern Tanzania

Abstract

This study attempts to underscore the role of indigenous institutions on rangeland governance and sustainability among pastoral communities in northern Tanzania. Ostrom’s institutional approach to governance of common-property rangeland resources is used as a conceptual framework to analyse indigenous institutional arrangement in relation to rangeland sustainability. Qualitative methodology is employed to capture narratives from indigenous people. A sample of 54 interviews and life histories as well as four focus group discussions from four research sites were obtained using a purposive sampling technique. There is strong evidence to substantiate that indigenous institutions play key roles as custodians of rangeland governance and are responsible for instituting norms and rules governing access and withdrawal of common-property resources and solving rangeland disputes. Therefore, Indigenous institutions should be recognized as an integral component of local resource governance. Furthermore, indigenous rangeland cooperatives should be formed to help preserve indigenous traditional institutions, which are crucial for sustainable rangeland governance.