JOHN MASHAKA ON LAND & WATER RESOURCES, MAIN CAUSE FOR FUTURE CONFLICTS. TANZANIA MUST WALK CAREFULLY….DEBATE

The African continent is absorbing the global pressure caused by population surge. The  enormous land grab, and food piracy trending in the continent, in which Africa’s farmlands, and water sources, necessary for food production, are rapidly falling in the hands of –land grabbers is quite worrisome and likely re-ignite another ugly chapter of confrontation in human history. Tanzania being a potential victim, it must do all it can to avert this brewing catastrophe from its boarders

Major global conflicts and wars were fought on the pretext of land; Quest for territorial expansionism and influence, need for natural resources, and food sufficiency.  From the agrarian period, to the never ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict, land has been at the center stage. Similarly, the challenging internal and cross boarder future conflicts will be land related.  The conflicts will be characterized by deadly internal uprising characterized by hungry rural population looking for water and land for farming, turning against investors-land grabbers- or modern day settles if you will, while urban dwellers dying to have food revolting against their regimes

Rich nations with population explosion are buying huge tracts of the continents arable farmland, to meet their domestic food needs and security. Many wealthy nations, with no arable land, are exploiting the cracks of greed and corruption within the African regimes, to address the pressing food needs within their countries, leaving Africa in a potentially explosive situation.

World largest commodity producers have sensed the dangers ahead, and since then have been imposing restrictions on their domestic staple food exports in order to maintain economic, and food related security, leaving the global market with huge supply deficit. This new trend is posing a greater threat, particularly for Africa, whose farmland is becoming an alternative for wealthy countries with huge populations to bank on in terms of their future food sustainability and security

South Korea, China, Japan, India, Britain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia are leading the pack in land grabbing spree. The Saudis have signed a deal for 500,000 hectares of land in Tanzania. South Korea has grabbed 960,000 hectares in Sudan, and 1.3 million hectares in Madagascar. These neo-colonialists are in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Congo, Mozambique, and Zambia just to name a few

The most troubling reality behind these neo-colonialists, is that, all of the food produced in these farms, are not for host country domestic consumption; they are however, being shipped back to their home countries to feed their populations. According to London’s Financial Times, Madagascar’s former regime leased their  land to the South Korea’s DAEWOO company for 99 years, and all the harvests during the period, was to be shipped back to feed South Koreans.

The company paid nothing for the land, and the only promise to the government was the improvement of the country’s infrastructure. This is the pattern across the continent in which African leaders have repeatedly inhumanely evicted, razed and burnt their citizens’ dwellings at the expense of these neo- colonialists, food pirates, and land grabbing settlers. Madagascar public was not informed of the land deal, and when the news leaked, the regime’s life came to an abrupt ending; the country’s leadership was toppled by the outraged population.

The following leadership led by Andry Rajoelina, world famous disc Jockey, nullified the contract, declaring Madagascar’s land as neither for sale nor for lease to foreigners.  African natives many a times have had no significant gains in these deals, apart from providing slave labor.  In a series of African leaders selling their countries, president Museveni In early 2000’s, violently displaced his own people, and gave the land to a German coffee investor leaving his population in extreme poverty and despair.

Millions of people around the continent have been violently driven out of their ancestral lands at the expense of foreign land grabbers, and food pirates. This leaves us to wonder on what’s wrong with us Africans. We can’t think the basics. It is next to impossible for a Tanzania national for instance go to Saudi Arabia, South Korea, India or even China and purchase 300 hectares of land.  Land is an extremely sensitive issue in the Middle East and Asia and simply untouchable, yet an African is selling his own land to foreigners to grow bio-fuel, yet he has no food. He is a slave in his own state of mind.

Land is rapidly becoming scarce within the Eastern Africa Bloc of nations. With projection of nearly 70million people by 2025, need for farmland, and water sources in Tanzania will be significant. Strain on these resources will be enormous and challenging, especially at the time they will in the hands of foreigners. We have to realize that, there is no sanity, restraint, or tranquility where there is no food. Hungry people have no morals and can never be rational. This is survival law of nature.

We are likely to face internal lawlessness when people will have to deal with live or die situations due to lack of food. This tragedy will only be averted, if our future food security and sustainability planning takes into account the fact that our LAND and water sources remains off limits for UNREASONABLE foreign lease, acquisition or purchase.

In recent years, Brazil moved to tighten her land ownership laws, in which no foreigner is allowed to purchase land. The same approach should be applied in Tanzania. We cannot allow foreign governments to ease their population pressure by taking advantage of our country to re-settle their land less.  Tanzania is nobody’s colony and is not going to be. We are a growing nation, leasing our land for 99 years to foreigners is a political suicide and betrayal to the people of Tanzania. Nationalists in the parliament of Tanzania must rise and confront this issue head on, be it in the East African Federation or Far Eastern friends, Tanzania’s land must be off limits.
Newly nominated members of the East African Legislative Assembly, Honorable Banji, Kizigha, Mwinyi, Taslim, Kesi, Ndelakindo, Kimbisa, Murunya, Nyerere and Yahya, must carry the same mantra to the EAL Assembly. Our land and natural resources, have no expiration date, and MUST remain out of bounds and completely out of the DISCUSSION by foreign entities.

Nyerere’s administration regarded our land and its resources so sacred, to an extent of leaving them intact for generations to come. Likewise, our present leadership must do the same as the current generation is in position to develop our land and its resources in very few years to come. We must adopt the Brazilians approach to maintain our future economic independence, and food security, averting land grabbing that is likely to ignite deadly survival conflicts of our times

Mungu Ibariki Tanzania

John Mashaka
Mashaka.john@yahoo.com