Context:
The agro-pastoralist communities in Simanjiro District live in arid and semi-arid lands in which climate, ecology, rainfall and vegetation are all variable. However, this natural resource base is shrinking as shifting crop production is increasing and encroaching on pasture lands whose ecology is not suitable for agriculture. This intrusion constrains rotational grazing and mobility, which have been central to the indigenous strategy of pastoralism protecting the environment, while allowing soil and vegetation to re-generate.
For the last 4 decades, people from other districts have encroached upon tracts of land in Simanjiro District for small and large scale farming. This migration of peoples has created fierce competition for land, intensifying resource-based conflicts between farmers and pastoralists. Although the major economic activity of traditional residents in the district is livestock keeping, some pastoralists have recently adopted crop farming as a coping strategy so that they can provision their households. Grazing lands are scarce now, constraining mobility of livestock, forcing people and livestock to concentrate in smaller areas.
A case in point is the ronga area that borders the 4 target villages. Ronga is a fertile plain that is flooded by Nyumba ya Mungu (House of God) dam in the rainy season; this flooding produces vegetation for livestock, and the pastoralists from Kiruani, Londoto, Magadini, Olchoronyori move their livestock to ronga from November to June for rich grasses and water. Overtime, farmers from a neighboring district recognized the fertility of the plain and moved into ronga to cultivate crops. This situation ?jump started? land conflicts leading to the killing of livestock by farmers, and crop destruction by the pastoralists
Traditionally the arid and semi-arid lands of Simanjiro provided a sustainable livelihood and had an economic, social, cultural and ecological value. Presently however, productivity and sustainabily is being reduced, and in some areas the ecosystem is broken into small patches that are not ecologically sustainable. Vegetation cover, resource niches, land, water, salt licks and nutrients were historically interconnected, and now have been broken up in parts, disturbing these natural resources, and in some cases rendering them unproductive.
Climate change added to a range of socio-economic and ecological challenges, resulting in reduced indigenous coping strategies; land degradation, deforestation, desertification and environmental degradation are alarming. External climatic disasters such as drought have recently increased in frequency and intensity causing frequent loss of livestock; pastoral communities are falling into deeper levels of poverty and vulnerability.
Due to recurrent change of climate, disease and near famine situations, the ability of local people to ?bounce back? is significantly reduced. Some indigenous management strategies of pastoralists have been rendered inefficient in recent years. Lack of grazing areas, frequent exposure to livestock diseases and inability to diversify livelihood all reduced the ability of pastoralists to cope with consistent change, ecological uncertainty and conflict.
In principle the Maasai pastoral system is a rotational grazing system based on the rainy and dry seasons. Access to water during these periods determines settlement patterns and grazing rules, which the community agrees upon at the beginning of each season. In Simanjiro, Maasai pastoralists live in areas where pastures and water are accessible for their livestock, however this accessibility has been consistently disrupted by climate change and migration of small and large-scale agriculture into the district.
To meet this challenge, district government and communities have made efforts towards establishing land use plans and allocating lands for grazing and cultivation. The government prepared Tanzania?s first National Land Policy in 1995, which led to the enactment of the Village Land Act and the Land Act in 1999. The Policy argued that procedures for obtaining title to land should be simplified, that land administration should be transparent; further, it recognized that secure land tenure plays a large role in promoting peace and national unity. The Acts provide the legal framework for land rights, recognize customary tenure, and empower local governments to manage Village Land. This framework creates two main processes for securing land rights: in rural areas, village lands may be demarcated and land use plans created to provide for Certificates of Village Land (CVL). Once a village has a CVL, people living within the village may apply for Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCROs).
However due to limited government resources, the process of land surveillance and titling has been slow. In rural areas, people may apply for Certificates of Rights of Occupancy (CROs), and in order to acquire both CCROs and CROs, parcel holders must have the boundaries of their lands mapped and their rights recorded and registered. This legal framework also retained the rights of women to own land. Despite the progressive provisions of customary land rights and decentralization under the Village Land Act of 1999, and due to limited government resources, land laws have not yet been effectively integrated into the land governance framework. Village authorities often lack the financial and human resources to effectively perform their duties. These challenges of implementing existing policies and laws is now contributing to conflicts among land users and impacting management of natural resources. It is these resources that more than 75% of the pastoralists in Simanjiro depend upon for their livelihood.

About the Proponent:

The Pilot Light Development Organization (PILIDO) is Non Goverenemnatl Organzation formed in 2017 registred on 2018, PILIDO Number 00NGO/OOO9538. PILIDO has emerged out of a participatory process and consolidation of pastoralist development initiatives; it is operating in Arumeru, Kiteto, Longido, Monduli and Simanjiro Districts in Arusha and Manyara Regions. It has hundred (700) members at the grass roots were involved and participated in focused group discussions, and this process helped to re-focus PILIDO's vision, mission, values and principles guiding the different working areas, gathering data . and setting development priorities for the Five Year (2020 ? 2024) Development Plan. The vision of PILIDO is a transformed society in which all are aware of their social economic rights and empowered to participate in and enjoy inclusive sustainable development, and the mission is to facilitate empowerment of men, women and children for effective and meaningful development for all. PILIDO has been implementing similar projects in Longido and Kiteto Districts pertaining to land and pasture management and livestock improvement. The PILIDO practioners, who will implement this proposal, have decades of experience using diverse rangeland management and teaching skills, and in collaboration with government and civil society stakeholders. PILIDO has the capacity to implement a wide range of integrated community based projects. It has qualified, experienced, committed and hardworking staff who are gender sensitive. It has clear policies, systems and procedures to facilitate and support smooth implementation of programme activities that transform lives of the target communities, while enhancing resilience and adaptation to climate change.

Project?s Primary Objective:
To Secure Land Tenure and Build Capacity for Pastoral Communites? Land Rights and Climate Change Resilience in Three Grazing Land Clusters of Ilturot la Njangit, Ewas-oltuala, Ewas- oloirero in Simanjiro District, Manyara Region.