Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS)

SULEDO Community-based Forest Reserve: A Contested Terrain between Peasants and Pastoralists in Kiteto District, 1990–2016

2024-02-29T06:50:05-08:00

This paper examines how the establishment of the SULEDO community forest reserve
caused land use conflicts between peasants and pastoralists in Kiteto District from
1990 to 2016. The peasants complained that the government had deliberately made
it possible for pastoralists to get more benefits from the reserve since they were
allowed to graze their livestock in the reserve, which took large parts of their former
agricultural land. Conversely, the grabbing of land by peasants in the forest reserve
caused complaints from the pastoralists who claimed that the peasants were
grabbing their grazing land in the reserve. Using archival sources, fieldwork
interviews, and secondary sources, the study found that the establishment of the
SULEDO, by de facto, favoured the pastoralists and directly affected the peasants. The
peasants interpreted the establishment of SULEDO as a confiscation of their land by
the government in the interest of the state and Maasai pastoralists. The reserve
authorities restricted the peasants from expanding their farms, did not allow them
to collect firewood and building materials, or undertake related activities in the
reserve. This planted seeds of hostility between the peasants and pastoralists. This
article argues that the government’s conversion of land into forest reserves without
considering the heterogeneity of the community in terms of land use, escalated
conflicts over land between the peasants and the pastoralists in Kiteto District.
Furthermore, the adoption of inappropriate approaches to conflict resolution did not
end the conflicts; instead, the conflicts changed their nature and magnitude.

Pre-service Teachers’ Epistemological Understanding of the Language of Instruction: Can Education Policy Stop Kiswahili in Tanzania’s Classrooms?

2024-02-29T06:55:20-08:00

Language-in-education policies in Sub-Saharan Africa is a topic that has attracted
several researchers. The adoption of alien languages as legitimate languages of
instruction is a matter that has been seriously challenged. Since the 1960s, the debate
in Tanzania has been on which language qualifies for the status of LOI. The answers
have been favouring either the alien language (English) or the dominant language
(Kiswahili). In 2014 the government launched the education policy, which declares
both English and Kiswahili as LOI in post-primary education. In the 2023 edition, the
policy was changed to declare English as the sole LOI in post-primary education. This
study examined pre-service teachers’ epistemological understanding of using the two
languages as LOI. The epistemological understanding model proposed by Kuhn (1991)
was used as a conceptual framework. The data from interview revealed that the
participants had different epistemological understandings about the issue. The study,
therefore, provides a firm standing that pre-service teachers should be prepared and
assisted to attain evaluatism understanding for a reasonable selection of LOI in a
multilingual community like in Tanzania

Language Contest in the Linguistic Landscape of Sabasaba International Trade Exhibitions in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

2024-02-29T07:01:44-08:00

This inquiry stems from the scarcity of research on linguistic landscape particularly
on the intersection between physical landscape, business fairs, and languages in Dar
es Salaam. Essentially, it discusses the complexities of linguistic signs at the Dar es
Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) in Tanzania. The central purposes are
grounded in the roles of information and symbolism, power dynamics, group
identities, language policies, and rationale for the use of specific languages at the
fair. Photographic method was employed in the generation of data. The analysis of
data was framed in line with informational and symbolic frameworks, and
structuration principles. The findings unveil the superiority of Kiswahili and English
over other languages, which serve both informational and indexical roles. The
linguistic signs illustrate the identities of the makers. The rationale for using
Kiswahili, English, Chinese, Japanese; and the absence of ethnic community
languages has been justified. Fundamentally, the linguistic signs at the exhibitions
converge and deviate from the established language policies. Given the absence of
the ethnic languages in the fairgrounds, this article calls for inclusivity in the
competitive nature of languages in public spaces.
Keywords:

A Morpho-semantic Description of Adjectives in Kipangwa

2024-02-29T07:14:49-08:00

This paper presents the characteristics of a lexical category adjective in Kipangwa.
The lexical category adjective is proposed to be universal, but its realisation varies
across languages. This paper offers evidence to authenticate the presence of an
independent lexical category adjective in Kipangwa. The study employed a qualitative
approach in generating data, analysing the data and reporting the findings. The data
for this study were collected through text collections, both spoken and written.
Spoken texts/ sentences with adjectives were collected from 18 informants by
recording them through a digital audio recorder, while written texts were collected
from two (2) Bible storybooks in Kipangwa. The informants were sampled through
snowball sampling, whereas the storybooks in Kipangwa were purposefully sampled.
The paper reveals that, like other Bantu languages, Kipangwa has a class of adjectives
that may be underived or derived. In the derived form, the lexical category nouns and
verbs undergo morphological derivations to establish the adjectival category. The
paper also shows that Kipangwa has adjectives of different classifications based on
13 semantic classes as proposed by Dixon (2004). It further reveals that adjectives
agree in class, number, and person with the noun they modify in the noun phrase.
Furthermore, the paper shows that syntactically, adjectives in Kipangwa can occur in
the noun phrase’s attributive or predicative position. This paper adds knowledge and
understanding of lexical category adjective in Bantu languages.

The Role of Cooperatives and Farmer-Industry Linkages in the Evolution of Tanga’s Dairy Innovation System

2024-02-29T07:21:36-08:00

This study investigated the development of Tanga’s dairy innovation system and its role
in promoting and maintaining relationships between farmers, the industry, and
cooperative unions; employing a case study approach. The main objective was to assess
the role of cooperatives in forging farmer-industry linkages and in improving dairy
industry innovations. 100 dairy producers in Tanga participated in the survey that led
to the paper. A questionnaire was used to collect data from randomly selected farmers.
Furthermore, 20 key informant interviews were conducted with various participants,
including the Tanga Dairy Cooperative Union livestock extension service providers.
Also, one Focus Group Discussion involving 12 participants from the aforementioned
stakeholders was held. The findings revealed that over the last three decades, Tanga’s
dairy innovation has evolved into a competitive innovation system. It has gone through
four phases: development of the capability of dairy farming (1985–1992), the formation
of the Dairy Cooperative Union (1993), the development of milk-processing capability
(1996–1997–2007), and the phase of improving the innovation capability of the whole
system (2008–present). The formal and informal contractual arrangements of the Tanga
Dairy Cooperative Union were found to be the primary means for sustaining close ties
between dairy farmers and the Tanga Fresh Ltd. These agreements have enhanced
collaboration and mutual learning that have contributed to a significant increase in
farmers’ milk production and Tanga Fresh Ltd’s processing capacity. Based on the
recorded achievements, this paper recommends for the adoption of the identified
innovative contractual model to other cattle-rich zones. However, it is also imperative
to address identified challenges such as fluctuation of trust between the farmers and
the cooperative, and cases of deviation from contractual obligations.

“But he did not commit incest…!” A Comparative Analysis of Utenzi wa Nyakiiru Kibi and Oedipus Rex

2024-02-29T07:25:22-08:00

Human beings share commonalities, many of which are intricately woven into
literature. Literary works allow individuals to explore and gain insights into diverse
cultures and ideas across spatiotemporal contexts. Against this backdrop, this study
compared two literary works, Oedipus Rex (Sophocles, 1992) and Utenzi wa Nyakiiru
Kibi [‘Epic of Nyakiiru-Kibi’] (Mulokozi, 1997), to gain insight into the two societies
from which the stories are derived. Using Aarne and Thompson’s (1961) classification
of the Oedipus story, the study finds that Utenzi wa Nyakiiru Kibi qualifies as an
Oedipal story as it meets several Oedipal narrative motifs in the Oedipus story. The
epic of Nyakiiru-Kibi presents an Oedipal narrative, a relatively scarce tale in Africa. It
presents a complex organisation in the Great Lakes Region, similar to ancient Greece.
The similarities between the stories reflect the comparability of sociology, culture
and political systems in ancient Greek kingdoms, the Kiziba kingdom and several
others in the Great Lakes of East Africa around the 15th century.

Exploring the Value of Cannabis and Changing Mindset for Advancing Socio-economic Development in Tanzania, 1891–2023

2024-02-29T07:29:39-08:00

This paper examines the origin, cultivation, laws, values, uses and other cultural
practices connected to cannabis in Tanzania, and other parts of the world, for the
purpose of contributing to the existing debate on whether cannabis should be
legalised or illegalised in Tanzania and other parts of Africa. The data for this study
were collected from both primary and secondary sources, including published
documents, oral sources, archival documents and newspapers. Based on the
evidence collected, I argue that the values and other benefits accrued from the
cultivation and uses of cannabis outweigh the negative impacts which policy
makers capitalize on to illegalise the plant. Furthermore, considering the
economic, medicinal, social, and cultural values of cannabis, there is a need for
enlightening the public to change the attitude towards cannabis so that it can be
used to advance the country’s socio-economic development.