Towards Good Land Governance In Tanzania? The Case Of Urban Mbeya

Good land governance is increasingly gaining prominence among scholars and practitioners. In Tanzania that may be seen from the both the land policy and Land Act 1999 that require good governance principles as guidelines for land administration. Unfortunately however, there have been signs of escalation of weak land governance rather than good land governance despite the laws in place. Using the FAO good land governance framework the study argues that weaknesses in land law, information and leadership can all be seen as obstacles to good governance in the urban land sector in Mbeya. This work found that establishment of good land governance was blocked by weaknesses in land laws, inaccessibility of information and examples of a lack of clear leadership in land management, in the context of urban Mbeya. By using documentary analysis, interviews, cases studies and reviewing relevant literature, the study explored these impediments to good land governance in an urban area of Tanzania, and sought to make some modest recommendations.