Assessment of the factors influencing women’s access, ownership and use of land for agriculture in the Kilombero wetland, Tanzania

This study was conducted in three villages, namely Kisegese, Mbingu and Njagiin the Kilombero wetland, Tanzania. It aimed at understanding the factors responsible for the unequal access, ownership and use of land for agricultural activities between men and women.The null hypotheses that were tested and rejected were (i) social, cultural and economic factors do not limit women's access and ownership of land compared to men in Kilombero wetland and (ii) increasing women's access, ownership and use of land for agriculture does not increase agricultural production. The total sample was 183 respondents, 50%of which were women although they were not heads of households. Data were collected through questionnaire interviews, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observations and review of secondary information. Quantitative data were analyzed by using SPSS version 20 and qualitative data were subjected to content analysis. The findings proved that there were unequal patterns of access, ownership and use of land between men and women. While about 82.8% of men owned land, women constituted only 7.2%. Majority of the men (95.2%) acquired land through inheritance while most of the women (4.8%) acquired it through inheritance. The findings also revealed that 17.2% of men and 92.8% of women who did not own land accessed it through family land and renting. Married women accessed family land and about 46.4% of women were able to rent land compared to 53.6% of men. The findings further revealed that, the unequal patterns were influenced by customs and traditions, lack of money to purchase or rent land, ignorance of procedures to follow in land registration and bureaucracy in procedures for acquiring land. For example, about 90.2% of women were strongly affected by the lack of money to purchase or rent land compared to 27.5% of men. Because of these factors women had limited access to land and cash as well as unsecured land rights. They also experienced low agricultural production. The study concluded that if women were to be given equal opportunity to access, own and use land in the wetland then crop production would increase and ultimately there would be improvements of household well-being. Therefore, the government should ensure that laws, policies and strategies that promote women to have more access and ownership of land are well enforced and implemented.