Dynamics of land use systems and environmental management in the Matengo highlands, Tanzania

Abstract

Historically, indigenous African options and changes in agricultural land use systems have gone almost completely unnoticed, partly because they were not widely researched and written down or published. Ever since colonial times, most agricultural officials have viewed the agricultural systems and the people in Africa as backward, traditional and without motivation to improve their own subsistence technology. This was perhaps because, although farmers in a few areas accepted innovations, many local farmers rejected the agricultural officers’ suggestions (Maack, 1996). And when most capital input to agricultural development failed, local farmers were again accused of being too conservative and their agricultural systems were assumed to be static and unchanging (Meertens et al., 1995).