Integrating traditional pastoralism to specific property rights and a market led economy in Tanzania: experiences from the pastoralists’ village model.

Guided by institutional theory and the property rights school and in the aegis of a case study research design, through a combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques this study investigated whether in the context of neoliberal market reforms the pastoralists village model create conditions for attainment of individualised rangelands rights and establish conditions for growth of a market led economy in the traditional pastoral economy. Findings show that commercial oriented herd composition is being adopted but individualised rangelands rights have not emerged in the pastoralists villages. On one hand the village land act makes it virtually impossible to attain concretely individualised land rights and on the other pastoralists seem content with secure common rangelands rights but apathetic towards individualised rangelands rights. The study also found that mechanisms for sustainable rangelands utilisation have not emerged. Furthermore efforts to transform the traditional pastoral economy predominantly focuses on ‘things’ and therefore they are palpably detached from pastoral people. The study concludes that the traditional pastoral economy is changing but not explicitly through the policy vision designed by the government. These changes seem to be societal transformation attributable to many variables. However, market inclined regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive institutional elements are underdeveloped and therefore pastoralists’ villages offer little in terms of coordinated, strategic and comprehensive market reforms. To achieve the policy vision of pastoral economy market reforms it is recommended that the government develop and pilot a custom-designed strategy.