Impacts of Development-Induced Displacement on Households' Livelihoods

In many developing countries population displacement because of development projects has been a prominent feature in urban settings. Population displacement due to development projects poses one of the major challenges facing governments in developing courtiers because displaced people are not resettled and rehabilitated. The main method used by many governments in dealing with population displacement is through payment of cash compensation. Cash compensation has been criticized by scholars and donor organizations as having limited capacity to improve and/or restore the livelihood of the displaced households. In Tanzania, since 2006, the government has implemented the Kurasini Redevelopment Plan to allow provision of land for the Dar es Salaam port expansion. The project involves displacement of people settled in the informal settlements of Kurasini. Payment of cash compensation was made to the displaced households. The Land Policy provides for full, fair and prompt compensation to affected people when land is acquired for public interests but the policy is silent on resettlement and rehabilitation of the displaced people. This research is an exploratory case study that sought to find out what the experienced impacts of displacement were on household's livelihood and whether the policies that focus on cash compensation sufficiently prevent impoverishment. A comparative study was conducted between non displaced households living in Kurasini and displaced households living in Vijibweni, Dar es Salaam. 32 in-depth interviews and 2 focus group discussions among women in each community were conducted. Key Informants Interviews were carried out with government officials. The research findings revealed that there were various impacts experienced by households economically and socially. There was a significant difference in household income between the two groups. The non displaced households earned between Tanzania shillings 100,000 and 400,000 and the displaced households earned between Tanzania shillings 75,000 300,000. The displaced households relied on a single income source. Multiple income sources were reported by non displaced households; including small business, wage employment and income from rent. Many households' members were involved in income generation at Kurasini and all contribute to the household's income. In Vijibweni household heads, mainly men, were the only income earners. All displaced households purchased land and constructed houses, of these only 2 houses were completed and 15 were semi finished. The compensation money was spent for various uses including: buying land, construction, education costs, funeral costs, accommodation, transport costs and buying food. Compensation payments have not enabled displaced households to improve their livelihood. No rehabilitation measures or livelihood reestablishments were considered by government for the displaced households. To accomplish the goal of livelihood improvement the government should set a budget for livelihood reestablishment, amendments policy to accommodate resettlement and rehabilitation, provision of entrepreneurship skills involve key stakeholders, provide technical advice to displaced households, conduct assessment to identify needs of households and of various groups including women and children and consider other forms of compensation.