Tourism and the politics of the global land grab in Tanzania: markets, appropriation and recognition

Abstract

This paper examines how tourism as a form of land use and economic development is a critical site of struggle over the meaning of neoliberalism, landscape and land rights in northern Tanzania. I examine two tourism arrangements in Loliondo: joint ventures between expatriate-owned ecotourism companies and predominately Maasai villages; and the leasing of a hunting concession on village lands by the central government to a powerful foreign investor from the United Arab Emirates. Despite the fundamental role of foreign investors in appropriating resources and surplus value from regional landscapes in each of these cases, I argue that the Maasai in Loliondo see contemporary land grabbing as firmly situated in state claims to property and territory. The Maasai in Loliondo have come to think of the market, expressed through their direct relationships with ecotourism investors, as the most promising space to legitimize and secure land rights and access to resources. Loliondo, an area in northern Tanzania bordering the Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, has become one of the most important sites for tourism development in Tanzania. This region is home to the iconic Maasai people, who practice pastoralism and are part of what attracts tourists to Tanzania. These Maasai face increased pressure to assert their local vision of a landscape and their ability to commoditize it. I situate current land struggles within the political economy of tourism in Loliondo and show how different articulations of market–state–community become both materially and symbolically meaningful. Ultimately, I argue that the Maasai retain faith in market-based relationships in spite of increasingly limited room to maneuver.

Keywords:

• territorialization
• ecotourism
• pastoralism
• Tanzania
• neoliberal conservation

Notes

¹Loliondo, an area in northern Tanzania bordering the Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, has become one of the most important sites for tourism development in Tanzania. This region is home to the iconic Maasai people, who practice pastoralism and are part of what attracts tourists to Tanzania.

²One argument used against the eco-tourism operators was that hunting tourism and walking tourism were incompatible. However, the hunting season lasts only half the year – from 1 July through 31 December annually. While this time coincides with the busiest season for photographic and walking safaris, eco-tourism operators are able to use the area at other times as well as work around the hunting activities.

³It is important to note that the ecotourism investors were unable to use central state channels to access resources open to larger and more influential companies such as the OBC.

⁴For a variety of reasons, including the scale of ecotourism activities, the ecotourism operators recognized the importance of securing local support if they were going to carry out tourism activities in the area.

⁵At the time of the lease agreement, there was another group from Dubai interested in using the hunting block. After the OBC was granted the block, the Dubai based group tried to make arrangements to share the use of the block. The state officials advised the OBC to do what it could to gain the support of the local communities to prevent potential opposition.

⁶Letter from C. Mlay, Director of Wildlife, to the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources and Tourism. Reference no. PA/GWC/177.

⁷Based on personal interviews, 2003 and 2004.

⁸Based on personal interviews, 2003 and 2004.

⁹Interview, 15 December 2003.

¹⁰Interview, 1 August 2010.

¹¹Interview, 18 May 2004.

¹²Interview, 18 May 2004.

¹³Based on participant observation at three community meetings in Loliondo in 2003 and 2004.

¹⁴Based on meeting minutes, 18 December 2007, and interviews in July 2010.

¹⁵Based on meeting minutes, 18 December 2007, and interviews in July 2010.

¹⁶Interview, 20 July 2010.

¹⁷Pastoralist NGOs sent out three separate reports documenting the abuses.

¹⁸ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqP2MRuJ4Ac and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-FP2gRvziw [Accessed 27 February 2012].

¹⁹These included the six original villages and three additional villages that had access to or claims over the area used for hunting.

²⁰Working Group 3 consisted of, among others, D.S. Babu, Director of TANAPA; Dr M. Borner, Representative of the Frankfurt Zoological Society; F.M.R. Lwezaula, Director of the Wildlife Division; B. Maregesi, Chief Park Warden for the Serengeti National Park; and M.A. Ndolanga, General Manager of the Tanzania Wildlife Corporation.

²¹Recorded by author at meeting, 11 August 2010, Karatu, Tanzania.

²²Recorded by author at meeting, 11 August 2010, Karatu, Tanzania.

²³This reference is to Ngorongoro District in which Loliondo is one of three political divisions.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Benjamin Gardner

A special thanks to Melissa Leach, Ian Scoones and James Fairhead, as well as two anonymous reviewers who commented on earlier versions of this manuscript. Research support came from the Fulbright Foundation and from the University of Washington Bothell. Thanks also to Laurence Gardner for comments and suggestions and to Wendy Wolford for organizing the sessions that led to this article. I am especially grateful to the individuals and community members, who allowed me to participate in meetings, observe their daily lives and interview them. I am responsible for all translations. Any remaining errors are my own