Changing understandings of land? Negotiating land grabbing in two regions of Tanzania.

Land grabbing refers to the acquisition of large-scale tracks of land in opaque circumstances, usually in developing countries and by (trans)national capital with the purpose of food or agrofuel production and speculation. The phenomenon increased dramatically after the Global Food Crisis in 2007-2008. This investigation analyses the phenomenon in the regions of Morogoro and Pwani in Tanzania and the impact that it has on land dispossession for rural villagers and their land rights. The overall aim is to assess what processes of dispossession are in place in these regions, the conflicts they trigger, and which groups are more excluded and marginalised in decisions about land. The research explored four villages in two districts of the two regions in the East of Tanzania during a period of four and a half months of fieldwork. 74 interviews were conducted with villagers, and 132 were carried out with leaders, practitioners and investors. A total of five focus groups were also carried out during the fieldwork. A number of different debates have been explored, including different understandings of land, dispossession, processes of negotiation and the role of different stakeholders in regard to their influence and power.