Operation Vijiji

Last updated

Operation Vijiji (Operation Villagisation) was an exercise in social engineering carried out in post-colonial Tanzania in 1973. The operation involved the relocation, sometimes forced, of many thousands of rural Tanzanians to Ujamaa villages in order to facilitate communal farming and common services. [1] The intention was that the whole rural population would move by 1976. [2] The project was, and still is, controversial and was abandoned in the 1980s. Many people then attempted to return to their former homes, leading to widespread land disputes.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maasai people</span> Ethnic group located in Kenya and Tanzania

The Maasai are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, near the African Great Lakes region. The Maasai speak the Maa language, a member of the Nilotic language family that is related to the Dinka, Kalenjin and Nuer languages. Except for some elders living in rural areas, most Maasai people speak the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania, Swahili and English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanzania</span> Country in East Africa

Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to the south; Zambia to the southwest; and Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain, is in northeastern Tanzania. According to the 2022 national census, Tanzania has a population of around 62 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poaching</span> Illegal hunting of wildlife

Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the hunting privileges of nobility and territorial rulers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius Nyerere</span> President of Tanzania from 1964 to 1985

Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, after which he led its successor state, Tanzania, as president from 1964 to 1985. He was a founding member and chair of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) party, and of its successor, Chama Cha Mapinduzi, from 1954 to 1990. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he promoted a political philosophy known as Ujamaa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African socialism</span> Form of socialism in Africa after the 1950s

African socialism or Afrosocialism is a belief in sharing economic resources in a traditional African way, as distinct from classical socialism. Many African politicians of the 1950s and 1960s professed their support for African socialism, although definitions and interpretations of this term varied considerably. These politicians include Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, and Modibo Keita of Mali, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iringa Region</span> Region of Tanzania

Iringa Region is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of 35,503 km2 (13,708 sq mi). The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Guinea Bissau. Iringa Region is bordered to the east by Morogoro Region and south by Njombe Region. On the west the region is bordered by Mbeya Region. Dodoma Region and Singida Region border Iringa on the north. The regional capital is the city Iringa for which the city is named after. According to the 2022 census, the region has a total population of 1,192,728. Iringa Region is home to Ruaha National Park, Tanzania's second national largest park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smallholding</span> Small farm, often for a single family

A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology, involvement of family in labor and economic impact. There are an estimated 500 million smallholder farms in developing countries of the world alone, supporting almost two billion people. Smallholdings are usually farms supporting a single family with a mixture of cash crops and subsistence farming. As a country becomes more affluent, smallholdings may not be self-sufficient, but may be valued for providing supplemental sustenance, recreation, and general rural lifestyle appreciation. As the sustainable food and local food movements grow in affluent countries, some of these smallholdings are gaining increased economic viability in the developed world as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kasulu District</span> District of Kigoma Region, Tanzania

Kasulu District is one of the 8 districts of Kigoma Region, Tanzania. The Kasulu District is the rural district council to the Kasulu Town Council which separated from the Kasulu District Council in 2011. It is bordered to the north by Burundi, to the east by Kibondo District, to the south by Uvinza District, to the west by Kigoma District and to the northwest by Buhigwe District. The district consists of lowland forest, and highland grasslands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mkomazi National Park</span> National Park in Tanzania

Mkomazi National Park is located in northeastern Tanzania on the Kenyan border, in Same District of Kilimanjaro Region and Lushoto District, with a slither of the park in Mkinga District both of Tanga Region. It was established as a game reserve in 1951 and upgraded to a national park in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uganda–Tanzania War</span> 1978–1979 armed conflict in East Africa

The Uganda–Tanzania War, known in Tanzania as the Kagera War and in Uganda as the 1979 Liberation War, was fought between Uganda and Tanzania from October 1978 until June 1979 and led to the overthrow of Ugandan President Idi Amin. The war was preceded by a deterioration of relations between Uganda and Tanzania following Amin's 1971 overthrow of President Milton Obote, who was close to the President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere. Over the following years, Amin's regime was destabilised by violent purges, economic problems, and dissatisfaction in the Uganda Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Tanzania</span>

Education in Tanzania is provided by both the public and private sectors, starting with pre-primary education, followed by primary, secondary ordinary, secondary advanced, and ideally, university level education. Free and accessible education is a human right in Tanzania. The Tanzanian government began to emphasize the importance of education shortly after its independence in 1961. Curriculum is standardized by level, and it is the basis for the national examinations. Achievement levels are important, yet there are various causes of children not receiving the education that they need, including the need to help families with work, poor accessibility, and a variety of learning disabilities. While there is a lack of resources for special needs education, Tanzania has committed to inclusive education and attention on disadvantaged learners, as pointed out in the 2006 Education Sector Review AIDE-MEMORE. The government's National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty in 2005 heavily emphasized on education and literacy.

<i>Ujamaa</i> Socialist system in 1960s Tanzania

Ujamaa was a socialist ideology that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic development policies in Tanzania after it gained independence from Britain in 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barabaig people</span> Ethnic group from Dodoma Region of Tanzania

The Barabaig(Wabarabaig, in Swahili) are a nomadic tribe of the Datooga people based in the northern volcanic highlands near Mount Hanang in Manyara Region, Tanzania, speaking the eponymous dialect of the Datooga language. Their population is about 50,000.

Widow inheritance is a cultural and social practice whereby a widow is required to marry a male relative of her late husband, often his brother. The practice is more commonly referred as a levirate marriage, examples of which can be found in ancient and biblical times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of Tanzania</span> Overview of and topical guide to Tanzania

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Tanzania:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanzania Posts Corporation</span>

Tanzania Posts Corporation is the company responsible for postal service in Tanzania and was established in 1994. It is headquartered in Kivukoni ward of Ilala MC in Dar es Salaam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water supply and sanitation in Tanzania</span>

Water supply and sanitation in Tanzania is characterised by: decreasing access to at least basic water sources in the 2000s, steady access to some form of sanitation, intermittent water supply and generally low quality of service. Many utilities are barely able to cover their operation and maintenance costs through revenues due to low tariffs and poor efficiency. There are significant regional differences and the best performing utilities are Arusha and Tanga.

The main natural resources in Tanzania are land, rivers, lakes the ocean, and forests/woodlands. Natural resources are used for crops cultivation, grazing, wildlife, wood, fishing and minerals' mining.

Tanzania has a current population of 55.57 million people. Current statistics form the World Bank show that in 2011, 49.1% of Tanzanians lived below US$1.90 per day. This figure is an improvement over 2007's report indicating a poverty rate of 55.1%. Tanzania has seen annual GDP gains of 7% since 2010 and this economic growth is attributed to this positive trends for poverty alleviation in Tanzania. The 2019 World Bank report showed that in the last 10 years, poverty has reduced by 8 percent, from 34.4% in 2007 to 26.4% in 2018.

The issue of human rights in Tanzania, a nation with a 2012 population of 44,928,923, is complex. In its 2013 Freedom in the World report, Freedom House declared the country "Partly Free".

References

  1. Lange, Siri. (2008) Land Tenure and Mining In Tanzania . Bergen: Chr. Michelson Institute, p. 2.
  2. Benschop, Marjolein. (2002) Rights and Reality: Are women’s equal rights to land, housing and property implemented in East Africa? Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine Nairobi: United Nations Human Settlements Programme, chapter 4, p. 100.