Dissertation (Master in International Relations)
This study sought to investigate Agriculture and Wildlife conservation was carried out in Mkula Ward-Kilombero District. It involved four villages namely, Katurukila, Mkula, Sole and Sonjo. The study comprised of one hundred (100) respondents were simple random and purposive sampling techniques were used those respondents from a total population of 408,880 in the study area. The study used interviews and questionnaires for data collection exercise where this data were using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis.
Findings the study revealed that agriculture contributes to loss of biodiversity and furnishing of protected areas in Udzungwa-Selous corridor since the majority of villagers of Mkula ward were paddy, sugarcane and maize growers were using the land for other activities apart from agriculture such as construction, settlement and investment. However, some of these activities were of significance for income generation, food generation to sustain their livelihood. Law and by-laws and policies were established to control human-wildlife conflict. However, there were some challenges since these laws were less implemented. Also, the policies were conflicting and also there were no corridor regulations pertaining to Wildlife Conservation Act (WCA) No. 12, 2009. This situation contributed to the destruction of nature reserves due to misuse and over-exploitation hence rapidly diminishing and furnishing of the protected area.
The study recommends that in order to create a mutual relationship between agriculture and solve the human-wildlife conflict in Udzungwa-Selous corridor; there should be focused and well-designed strategies to fight against human-wildlife conflict as well as the destruction of natural resources to enhance the relationship between agriculture and wildlife conservation in the study area for sustainable development. This should be achieved through by increasing security, community participation and environmental education to all parties concerned.