This paper explores the impact of large-scale agricultural investment on household livelihood outcomes among smallholder farmers in Kilombero Valley, Tanzania. The study used qualitative and quantitative data from a sample of 376 households. Quantitative data analysis employed independent samples t-test and multiple linear regressions. There were associations in livelihood outcomes and household headship (p < 0.05).

Artisanal and small-scale mining affects the quality and components of the environment in the Batouri area in different ways. Activities interfere with air, soil, water, fauna and forest resources. This study seeks to assess the impacts of mining on the environment using a combination of spatial analysis, questionnaires administration and Leopold’s grid of impact assessment. The impacts of mining on physical environment include air pollution by emission of dusts and fumes from engines, soil and subsoil degradation by earthworks and release of wastewater containing chemicals from companies.

Context and backgroundIn common with other African countries, colonization had an important impact on land relations in Uganda. Land is an important asset for people’s livelihoods and for economic development in Uganda, where the majority of people live in rural areas. Uganda’s land reform was introduced with the 1998 Land Act, which aims at enhancing tenure security by recognising existing rights to land. Furthermore, the evidence of any links between the formalisation of land rights, investment and productivity under different tenure systems is inconclusive.

National Land Coalitions (NLCs) work towards the recognition, defence, protection and redistribution of land rights at national level. They build upon frameworks on land tenure developed and agreed by different regional and intergovernmental institutions. Platforms are at the heart of protecting and preserving community and customary lands which constitute the major category of landholding in Africa.

context and backgroundDespite the robustness of various land instruments and legal and institutional regulations on various sectors, Tanzania’s land distribution-related policy implementation and practice is facing numerous challenges. Tanzania is not only experiencing poor land conditions, but also poor land management and ineffective policy implementation. Areas of concern includes public policy actions on land conflicts; settlements and housing problems; and conflicting demand for land for mining, large scale agriculture, conservation, tourism, ranching and pastoral nomadism.

BackgroundStudies which have been conducted so far have focused on the processes of land use/cover changes in different areas at regional and global scale. Little is known about factors that influence land use/ cover dynamics at finer scales such as Melela ward in Mvomero district, Morogoro, Tanzania. Goals and ObjectivesThe overall objective of the study therefore was to evaluate the land use land cover dynamics and their impacts on pastoralism in Melela.