Power Struggles In Suledo Village Land Forest Reserve, Kiteto District, Tanzania

ABSTRACT

SULEDO Village Land Forest Reserve is important in supporting livelihoods of the

adjacent local communities as well as for the economic development of the country at

large. However, there is inadequate information on power struggles underlying the

management and utilization of SULEDO VLFR. This study intended to assess power

struggles underlying resource use conflicts in SULEDO VLFR. The study was

conducted in three villages namely Sunya, Lengatei and Laiseri. Qualitative and

quantitative data were collected. Content analysis technique was used to analyze

qualitative data while descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were used to

analyze quantitative data. Moreover, SNA was used in the analysis of power

relations. A total of 25 stakeholders involved in the management and utilization of

SULEDO VLFR were identified along with their roles. Stakeholders identified were

categorized into three groups namely regulators, facilitators and users. Likewise three

categories of power were identified namely strategic, institutional and structural.

Strategic power was found to be dominant in the management and utilization of

SULEDO VLFR. The results showed different power struggles among stakeholders

whereby power struggle between ZEC and SULEDO villages was found to be

dominant which resulted into resource use conflicts in SULEDO VLFR. Socioeconomic

and institutional factors found to significantly (P