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Tanzania is a developing country that needs its resources to be fully utilized by its people
including the effective use and production of land. But access to land has been a problem to
certain populations due to unfair practices and outdated customary laws. This study consequently
aims at investigating women‘s access to land through customary land tenure especially in the
Tarime district in Tanzania where women have been discriminated in inheritance of clan land.
A case study strategy was adopted to address the research problem, whereby interviews, focus
group discussions and documentary reviews were the main data collection methods. The findings
indicate that the majority of women within villages are illiterate and unaware of any existing
entitlements, lacking in sufficient means to fight for their rights, and that their involvement in
land administration institutions is limited. At the family level, daughters and women are deprived
of any right to possess land through inheritance because relatives believe that they will be
married to other families from which the clan land may pass to marrying clan.
However, in order for Tanzania to move forward and achieve developments, it needs to eliminate
and abolish these discriminatory customs and practices that violate rights of women to use land
for production. These challenges can be tackled through education and awareness campaigns that
are designed to build the capacity of citizens as to the necessity of equity in access to property
rights (land) using various legal tools at varying levels.
Other measures include amending and repealing outdated laws, including provisions
discriminating against women‘s property rights and contradicting constitutional provisions.
Other avenues are advocacy and working for behavioral changes can also be invoked by
empowering individuals at all stages of life, supporting their involvement in productive activities
and creating group networks, and facilitating the formation of community-based organizations as
well as building capacity by mainstreaming land administration institutions |
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