The 1999 Tanzania land acts as a community lands approach: A review of research into their implementation

I argue that by prioritizing individualised titling, donors and government are fruitlessly chasing a de Soto inspired chimera. Tanzania thus represents a missed opportunity to find out whether a hybrid approach implemented through village institutions could effectively strengthen both local property relations and state legitimacy at the village level. For the Village Land Act to realise its potential, there is a need for state-led investment in a genuinely hybrid approach. At this juncture research could usefully focus on the existing ways that village institutions mediate social relations around land.