The REDD+ initiative known as Community-Based REDD Mechanisms for Sustainable Forest Management in Semiarid Areas: The Case of Ngitilis in Shinyanga Region, promoted sustainable natural resource management and reduced carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in ngitilis.1 The initiative was implemented by the Tanzania Traditional Energy Development and Environment Organization (TaTEDO) as part of its long-term agenda of promoting access to sustainable, modern energy technologies, poverty reduction and environmental conservation in Shinyanga. The initiative operated in two districts of Shinyanga region: Kahama and Shinyanga Rural. The intervention area, or REDD+ forest, was defined as the aggregation of individual ngitili. Thus, the initiative generated lessons about the best mechanisms for engaging private forest owners in a community-based REDD+ initiative.

16.1 Basic facts: Where, who, why and when

16.1.1 Geography

The initiative operated in 11 villages in the Kahama and Shinyanga Rural districts of the Shinyanga region, in northwestern Tanzania, south of Lake Victoria (Figure 16.1). Altitude in the region varies from 1000 to 1500 masl; annual average rainfall ranges from 600 to 1200 mm (HASHI 2002); and average monthly temperatures are between 27.6°C and 30.2°C (maximum) and 15°C and 18.3°C (minimum) (Zahabu 2012). Covering 50,764 km2, the region comprises 61% arable land, 24% grazing land and 15% forest reserves (HASHI 2002). The natural woodland vegetation of the region is characterized by various tree species including Acacia, Brachystegia, Albizia, Commiphora and Dalbergia. However, due to deforestation and severe forest degradation, many areas are now open bush savanna with only Acacia and baobab trees. Historically, deforestation was rooted in public campaigns in the 1920s and 1930s to eradicate agricultural pests such as the tsetse fly and quelea birds. Recently, extensive grazing has led to soil fertility decline and degradation with subsequent low crop yields, wind and soil erosion, and shortages of dry-season fodder, fuelwood and construction poles (HASHI 2002). Forest degradation is also driven by demand for fuelwood, both for local use and for sale as charcoal in Shinyanga towns.

16.1.2 Stakeholders and funding

The leading proponent of the initiative was TaTEDO, in partnership with Development Associates Ltd. (DASS) and the Natural Forest Resource and Agroforestry Centre (NAFRAC). TaTEDO is a private, nonprofit organization. According to their website, “the overall objective of TaTEDO is to enable the majority of the population, particularly women in rural areas, to access sustainable energy technologies and services that contribute to poverty reduction, sustainable development and climate change mitigation and adaptation” (TaTEDO 2013).

TaTEDO obtained funding from RNE to support the initiative for four years2 (2010–2013). During that time period, TaTEDO planned to develop a local institutional framework that would allow ngitili owners to benefit from REDD+, either through the voluntary market or through a national REDD+ fund. The proponent planned to accomplish this by formalizing ngitilis into legal entities, and by aggregating ngitili owners into functional groups to facilitate carbon marketing (TaTEDO, 2009). While the proponents did start developing a PDD to sell credits through the VCS, that process had not been finalized as of 2014 due to its high cost. It remains unclear whether and how the communities will receive REDD+ benefits under Tanzania’s national strategy for REDD+.

16.1.3 Motivation

TaTEDO began working in Shinyanga in 2007 in reforestation and soil restoration and in introducing alternative energy sources for cooking. After initially considering a larger area, TaTEDO decided to focus on Kahama and Shinyanga Rural districts because, compared to other districts, they had high rates of deforestation and degradation, faced severe threats to ngitili forests, were reasonably accessible, and had previous experience with ngitili restoration through a program called HASHI (Shinyanga Soil Conservation Programme). In 2009, TaTEDO seized the opportunity to tap into REDD+ funding from the RNE as a new source of support for local communities and specifically for 250 ngitili owners in 11 villages.

The major drivers of deforestation in the Shinyanga region are the rapid growth rates of human and livestock populations, requiring more land area for agriculture and grazing. Livestock serve a vital function in Sukuma (an ethnic group in the Shinyanga region) society as a form of insurance against periods of hardships, but the current size of the herd is believed to be far beyond the carrying capacity of the Shinyanga region (URT 2007c). Under the traditional management system, livestock are excluded from the ngitilis in the rainy season, thus ensuring the future provision of fodder, fuelwood and other wood products. This system has been undermined by expanding demands for pasture, fuelwood and land for agriculture. The logic of the initiative is that REDD+ could offer additional incentives to restore and reinstate traditional management of the ngitilis.

16.1.4 Timeline

Although this subnational initiative began in 2010, it is founded on a long history of efforts to restore and improve the management of the Shinyanga landscape. Figure 16.2 lists key interventions before this REDD+ initiative, as well as the steps undertaken by TaTEDO and partners until their REDD+ funding ended in December 2013. The initiative intended to position the communities to participate in REDD+ in the long term, but this depends on the structure that Tanzania puts in place for REDD+.

16.2 Strategy for the initiative

The initiative aimed to reduce carbon emissions from dry agro-pastoral systems with low carbon stocks. The basic strategy was to integrate REDD+ with the ngitili system by establishing an institutional framework for managing restored ngitilis to capture benefits arising from REDD+. Specifically, the initiative sought to mobilize and assist ngitili owners to form and legally establish ngitili carbon groups and associations.3 Working through this institutional framework, the proponents addressed key drivers of deforestation and degradation by promoting alternative and energy efficient technologies, improved farming techniques, and reduction of overgrazing, alongside other interventions introduced as co-benefits and for combating leakages.

For MRV of carbon emissions, TaTEDO partnered with DASS (an NGO) and NAFRAC, as well as other government agencies that provided access to satellite imagery. The initiative developed topographic maps and land-cover maps (based on LandSat imagery) for three points in time before the start of the REDD+ initiative for Kahama and Shinyanga Rural districts. They also collected field data for quantifying carbon stocks in various pools, and involved the communities in the fieldwork. The carbon density of the ngitilis is generally low and highly variable, making it challenging to conduct quality MRV at a reasonable cost. The selection of ngitilis and villages to participate in the initiative was based on both willingness to participate in REDD+ and minimum size criteria. Specifically, the initiative preferred ngitili of at least 8 ha, with miombo woodland or acacia forests that were at least 10 years old, and canopy cover of at least 30%. The initiative also required clear ownership of the ngitili, thus giving preference to households with statutory or customary ownership.

In principle, all villages in Kahama have the right to decide who can access the forest by formal or statutory law, although in practice, the villages vary in terms of their level of control over forest access. According to customary law, ngitili owners can monitor, enforce rules and sanction outsiders. In two of our four study villages, SHIN2 and SHIN3, restrictions and by-laws on forest use are generally respected by the community and there is little pressure from outsiders. In contrast, in SHIN1, the ngitilis are subject to cattle grazing pressure from neighboring villages, especially during the dry season, due to poor implementation of by-laws. The customary ownership of land (without a certificate) relies on relatives, neighbors and hamlet chairs who witness transfers of land ownership, which also sometimes creates problems when there are no remaining witnesses. To address these challenges associated with customary tenure, the proponents helped local households to formalize their land claims by getting certificates of the customary right of occupancy. This involved surveying the villages to identify the owner of each ngitili and registering the ngitilis with the village and district councils. However, challenges remain, including both encroachment by neighbors (in SHIN1 and SHIN4) and the arrival of new mining companies operating under a different legal framework in Shinyanga.

The agro-pastoralist nature of the communities in Shinyanga mean that households are always in search of better areas for grazing and cultivation. Ngitili by-laws do not completely restrict forest access, allowing some scope for ngitili owners to graze and collect dead wood inside the ngitilis. In village meetings, SHIN1 and SHIN4 reported that neighboring villages routinely enter their forests to graze their livestock during the dry season.

The initiative allows village governments to benefit because of their role in supporting individual households in their particular village. A benefit-sharing arrangement was proposed whereby a share of 83% goes to the individual ngitili (REDD+ forest) owners, 7% goes to the village government, 5% goes to the ngitili group in the village for operational costs and 2% goes to the ngitili group association. Under this proposal, the village security committee (sungu sungu) who are responsible for enforcing by-laws and protecting ngitili, would also get 3% of benefits.

In addition to TaTEDO, there are numerous other groups with development projects or one-off development activities (e.g. installation of a water source or construction of a school building) in the Shinyanga region. The government also provides infrastructure, education and social services as part of its development plan for rural areas. These development interventions were generally harmonized with the proponents’ activities, but they did not directly support improved forest management.

TaTEDO is respected by the government officials and communities in Shinyanga because of its history of working there before introduction of the REDD+ initiative. The trial incentive payment and registration of the ngitilis with the village and district council created positive momentum for REDD+ participants and the initiative. TaTEDO has also highlighted co-benefits such as increased agricultural productivity, increased access to efficient and alternative energy, sustainable grazing, beekeeping and other income generating activities. It is likely that TaTEDO’s influence on ngitili management and alternative energy for cooking will persist beyond REDD+. However, it ran out of REDD+ funds from the RNE before obtaining certification from VCS or CCBA. There is a draft PDD, but significant work – especially on the baseline carbon assessment data – is required for VCS certification.

16.3 Smallholders in the initiative

In the four intervention villages (locally referred to as kijiji) selected for the CIFOR-GCS study, we interviewed a total of 120 households, and held two focus groups in each village. Table 16.1 shows the characteristics of the villages. All of the four study villages are in the Kahama district, which has a total population of 523,802, or 1225 households, living on 80,153 ha (Zahabu 2012; NBS 2013). The total populations of the four study villages range from 1333 (169 households) in SHIN3 to 2065 (489 households) in SHIN4. The largest ethnic group in SHIN1, SHIN2 and SHIN3 is Sukuma, while Nyamwezi are the largest ethnic group in SHIN4.

The most important local institution in the study area is the village government and its council. Members of the village government are elected, with the exception of the village executive officer, who is employed by the district council. In most cases the village council is formed by 25 members of which, by law, a minimum of 30% must be women. All important matters must be discussed and agreed at the village level first. Any development project or initiative aiming to implement activities in the village must get permission through a village assembly meeting. REDD+ activities go through the same procedure as any others. Thus, reductions in forest carbon emissions depend on interventions implemented by village governments.

The participation of women in decision-making varied substantially across villages. For example, most women in SHIN3 reported that they participated in household decisions about land and forest use and use of the household’s cash income, while respondents in SHIN2 reported that women were rarely consulted about these decisions, perhaps because of the heavy dependence on livestock, which is traditionally a male domain. In terms of decisions about forest use, rules and monitoring, women in SHIN2 and SHIN3 participated more than in SHIN1 and SHIN4. About 50% of the women interviewed in SHIN1, SHIN3 and SHIN4 perceived participation in forest activities and monitoring as a burden, with little benefit to women or the village. In SHIN3, more than half of the women interviewed reported that they influenced decisions at the village level in general, but mostly through their husbands. Sukuma society is traditionally patriarchal, giving little voice to women, although this is slowly changing due to national efforts to raise awareness of women’s rights and encourage their participation in government.

Access to infrastructure and services such as roads, education, sanitation and health care is limited. Until 2010, only two (SHIN2 and SHIN4) out of four villages had road access. People must walk 4–18 km (30–120 min) to reach district markets. The average level of education for adults (16-years old and older) is less than five years of study in all villages (Table 16.2) due to the limited access to schools. While each village has an elementary school, there is no access to secondary school. Health centers are also unavailable in the four surveyed villages. While most households in all four villages have their own latrine, very few households in SHIN2 (3%) have a flush toilet and only a few households in SHIN3 (10%) have access to piped drinking water. This general picture of poor water supply and sanitation is associated with an average of 8 to 25 days illness per year among adults.

SHIN2 stands out for its high average household income from agriculture and livestock compared to the other study villages. At the same time, income levels from the environment and forest are much lower than in SHIN1 and SHIN4 (Figure 16.3). This might be because SHIN2 is close to major towns and has better road access than the other villages, creating trade opportunities and reducing dependency on the forest and environment for income.

In the study villages, maize is the most widely consumed agricultural commodity, followed by sorghum and rice, although cassava is becoming more prevalent in SHIN1. In SHIN1 and SHIN2, permanent agriculture is gaining importance, in terms of both number of households and land area. Household income in all four villages is derived primarily from crops and livestock (Figure 16.4), as with most areas in rural Tanzania (Waithaka 2013). One factor that distinguishes Shinyanga from the rest of Tanzania is its larger number of cattle, equivalent to 20%–30% of the national herd (Machanya et al. 2003). Cattle are a traditional symbol of wealth and status because they can be converted to money for food or farm implements, or be used as a bridal dowry.

As seen in Table 16.3, all of the study villages are within an hour walk of forests, and most households (80%) harvest forest products, mainly in the dry season. Both men and women collect products from the forest but they specialize in different products: women collect mostly fuelwood and wild fruits while men mainly collect building poles and wood for producing charcoal. Both men and women collect NTFPs (mainly for domestic use) from the ngitilis. However, very few households reported forest harvesting as their primary occupation. They considered agriculture to be their primary livelihood. Half of the respondents (across all villages) reported that their income from sales of forest products had decreased over the two years prior to the survey. In all of the study villages except SHIN4, both forest area and forest quality were also reported to have declined over the two years prior to the survey due to clearing for permanent and swidden agriculture, and new settlements to accommodate the growing population. The growing scarcity of forestland was reported as one reason for the decline in swidden agriculture in SHIN3 and SHIN4. Forests are also intertwined with agriculture through grazing, which is allowed in appropriate seasons in the ngitili forests.

16.4 Challenges facing the initiative

TaTEDO experienced a variety of challenges in implementing its REDD+ initiative in Shinyanga. The largest challenge was financial constraints. Although some activities continue through the work of the district councils and other collaborating partners, TaTEDO suspended its work on REDD+ in Shinyanga when funding from the RNE ended; it is unclear if or when they will resume because they are not yet in a position to sell carbon credits. This is related to the difficulty of acquiring the technical skills and spatial data required to calculate a reference level and project emissions reductions. The required technical capacity is hard to find locally and costly to source from outside Tanzania.

Another important challenge is the low carbon content of Shinyanga’s forests. Carbon stocks in ngitili (miombo woodland or acacia savannahs) are low relative to carbon-rich habitats such as rainforests. Incremental accumulation of carbon, both above and below ground, is slow with negative implications for revenue streams based on metric tons of carbon.

Yet another challenge for the initiative has been suspicion in the community. Many rural households see REDD+ as a ploy of the government to take control over their land. This mistrust has been exacerbated by households’ insecurity about their land tenure. This is related to the fact that REDD+ is not yet well understood locally. Most villagers and government officials still struggle to understand how REDD+ is supposed to work and what it requires. This means they are often either not sure what to expect, or do not believe in what is proposed. Moreover, neither the proponent nor the government can guarantee how much revenue ngitili owners will receive because of uncertainty about the future existence of a carbon market, as well as the future price of carbon. This leaves the ngitili owners with unanswered questions that they raise repeatedly with the proponents.

16.5 Lessons from the initiative

While TaTEDO seems unlikely to turn this pilot project into an ongoing initiative sustained with revenues from the carbon market, they succeeded in piloting various aspects of REDD+ and informing the national dialogue about REDD+ in Tanzania. Most importantly, they explored mechanisms for integrating REDD+ with a customary land management system. Households with nigitilis have customary ownership of the land and hence relatively clear ownership status, but their lands and carbon stocks are too small for them to individually sell carbon credits. The initiative has pioneered a system of aggregating them into nigitili groups, which could sell carbon offsets once the initiative has developed its REL and been validated. TaTEDO helped set the rules and by-laws governing these nigitili groups, including a detailed benefit-sharing mechanism that bases the payment amount on the performance of the nigitili owners. The fact that these groups are small has facilitated the decision-making process.

The initiative does not seek to protect large tracts of forest but instead is focused on testing how REDD+ performs in a dry silvopastoral landscape with little tree cover and little carbon in the existing forest patches. The initiative is pursuing this by using REDD+ to promote ngitili regeneration through a strategy that includes: dissemination of improved cookstoves, agricultural extension services, land-use planning and introduction of new income generating activities. Revenues from selling carbon credits will thus be supplementary to the many other benefits associated with ngitili conservation and management – an important lesson for REDD+ in Tanzania and elsewhere in the dry tropics.

This initiative also illustrates an effective approach to land-use planning by working with local institutions to formalize the customary rights of smallholders and to revitalize the traditional ngitili system. This approach reflected a good understanding of local conditions, including the strong link between livestock husbandry and forest management. In addition to building on the ngitili tradition, the initiative engaged with the sungu sungu and the kitongoji (council of elders), which has encouraged uptake of new cattle management practices. However, there are tensions in the area caused by both overstocking of cattle and a growing human population that cannot be resolved within the context of a four-year REDD+ initiative. The Kigoma District Council will oversee the implementation of activities beyond 2014, and some households are continuing with improved management of their ngitilis and agricultural fields with no external funding. Nonetheless, one clear lesson of this initiative is the need for sustained funding, whether from donors or from a viable carbon market.

16.6 Acknowledgments

This chapter would not have been possible without valuable contributions from many people. Dr. Robert Otysina, Mary Swai and Pastore Mwesiga of TaTEDO provided invaluable information. We would also like to acknowledge the contribution of the district office in Kahama and especially community development officer Mr. Franael Ruben who participated in the survey of project implementation work in 2012. Special thanks and appreciation also go to village leaders and all the survey respondents who made this work successful. Finally, we would like to thank: George Phabian Kabado, Hawa Mushi, Thadeus Kisangi, Mohamed Mmaoga Omar, Georgina Misama, Yesaya Bendera, Nanjiva Mzunda and Aklei Albert for their assistance in the field as enumerators, and Johannes Dill for data entry.