Water Governance, Land Tenure Formalization, and Rural Development in Tanzania’s Ruaha Basin

This project will examine how land and water policies jointly influence the capacities of rural institutions in Southern Tanzania to manage irrigation water. Across Africa, irrigated farming contributes to rural livelihoods, food security, and well-being. However, many farmers’ access to irrigation is threatened by insecure water and land rights and increasing competition for water. Although neglected by state policies, farmer-led irrigation associations play important roles in maintaining infrastructure, distributing water, and mediating disputes. However, most studies have neglected the influence of land rights on the management of water resources. Focusing on small-scale irrigation in Tanzania’s agricultural Iringa region, this project will investigate how state recognition and non-recognition of farmers' land and water rights jointly influences how local irrigation associations engage in coordinated management at the basin scale, and how they relate to vulnerable social groups. Drawing on literature on resource tenure dynamics in the Global South and on contextual drivers of local resource management capacity, we will conduct comparative, mixed method case studies of irrigation management under different sets of land and water policies in Tanzania. The findings will advance research on the policy conditions supporting accountable and effective resource management, and will contribute to more equitable policies and programs.