2019 Update on the Hadza
Over the past two decades, you have followed our efforts to support the Hadza in their attempt to secure land. In this newsletter, we are sharing an update on where things stand with the Hadza as of now and how you can continue to stay involved.
Dorobo Fund’s position from the beginning has been that we are not trying to keep the Hadza as they are, but rather give them options and dignity as they interact with and confront a changing world. And the foundation for that is and always has been land – if they have land, those who wish have the option to continue traditional foraging and all of them have land as a fallback option for survival no matter what pursuit they have followed.
Together, we have made significant gains on the land rights front, which have only been possible because of your support. Today, we are at a critical point in the process where the pressures on Hadza land are mounting. There are still important opportunities to secure vital buffer zones and link existing Hadza land with greater conservation efforts in northern Tanzania.
If you’ve had the privilege to “walk with the Hadza”, you would probably agree that it’s a special experience. Why is that? First and foremost must be their welcoming, open and joyful nature – it can be a profound yet easy “person to person” connection. Secondly would be the thrill of watching and at least pretending to participate as they get what they need from a seemingly harsh environment in which we see nothing or very little to be had. Their bush skills and intimate knowledge of their environment is beyond impressive.
Beyond what we as outsiders can appreciate of Hadza during a face to face interaction is what we can garner from appreciating the basic tenets that govern Hadza society as first described to the outside world by researcher James Woodburn in the early 1960’s.
In short, we have here a society that fulfills modern societal aspirations and ideals and a people who very likely provide a window into the greater part of our evolutionary history as humans.
Following is a summary of where things stand today:
The Dorobo Fund supported the land work from the beginning starting in 1999. The initial work by UCRT resulted in Land Use Planning Zones for all three main villages in the Valley that were legally ratified by the District in 2003. These zones included what was called traditional economy zones for the Hadza along with separate grazing, agricultural, and residential zones. By 2008, the political landscape had changed at the village level. The Government had split the Hadza village into two, diluting Hadza representation, which along with immigration, meant that the Hadza no longer controlled the village governments. There were only 8 Hadza elected in the village government of Mongo wa Mono and two in Domanga out of a village council of 25. We were alarmed by this as the land use zones were under the control of the village governments and not the Hadza.
So we began to look at an alternative way for the Hadza to regain full control of these zones. This led to UCRT lawyer, Lekaita scrutinizing land law and policy, and he and some Hadza representatives meeting with the Commissioner of Lands with a proposal to issue a communal title. The late Richard Baalow was a critical Hadza voice advocating to the Commissioner for land rights. She, the Commissioner agreed which then necessitated agreement by local villages, Ward and District, a re-survey of the areas and eventual issuance of communal title in October 2011. This provided the foundation for the Carbon Tanzania Project - revenue linked to forest/woodland protection & a critical component for Hadza land title sustainability.
We (DF/UCRT) have facilitated additional grazing titles for the Datoga pastoralists, which serve as buffer zones to Hadza land and in which Hadza have access to foraging. Management of grazing areas (by restricting access and creating seasonal use areas) by the Datoga themselves is an ongoing process. This entails the formation of local grazing committees that enact and implement rules leading to more sustainable land use. Adding additional buffer grazing areas along with management of these and control of access to Hadza lands is an ongoing process.
On the question of enforcement, this is primarily the responsibility of the Village Government to enforce by-laws for the different areas and usually will entail a fine being levied. In the Hadza case, they have community scouts patrolling their land who are paid by the Hadza communities themselves through funds generated by the Carbon Tanzania offset project (The Nature Conservancy provided essential technical support towards the establishment of the Carbon Project). These scouts report infringements to the village government who take action. This chain of intended events is only partially working at present and in an ongoing process of implementation and refinement.
For the last several years the grand goal has been to link indigenous land rights to a conservation agenda and create a corridor of combined Hadza and grazing land titles from the Yaeda valley north to the Ngorongoro Conservation area.
Referring to the map below, we are getting very close. We, fortunately, received significant funding for 22 months from Dfid (British Aid) through the Legend project administered by Veterinarians without Borders. This ended in June 2019 but facilitated a lot of the expensive pieces of the puzzle.
Our 2020 goals are this:
Complete the Participatory Land Use Planning process, obtain village land certificates, and issue communal titles for the villages of Dumbechand, Endanyawishi, Matala and for the Kipamba Hadza (Munguli south of the map).
Facilitate the formation and function of grazing committees for all of the grazing CCROs
Continue to work with local stakeholders to achieve a more transparent and equitable division of tourism revenue from the heavily trafficked Mangola area in the northeast and to enable the local Tourism steering committee to use financial benefits as leverage for adherence to land use plans.
All of this work, previous and planned, has been spearheaded by a very capable team of seven from UCRT led by Dismas Partalala.
Once again, we (the Hadza) need your help. The budget for this work for 2020 is $98,370 (Budget available on request.)
Now a glimpse at the larger landscape from the Pangani River to Lake Natron and the Kenya border, the subject of a future update.
Progress towards NTRI goal of securing range land for livestock and free movement of wildlife in the larger landscape
There are still gaps and plenty of work to do but the progress is impressive thanks to UCRT’s very capable and committed field staff. Thank you again to everyone that has continued to stay engaged in the work we do and support the positive changes being implemented on the ground by communities across Tanzania.
Wishing you and yours a happy holiday season,
The Dorobo Fund
