46 The Global Food System
uncontrolled: certain areas and resources are protected by rights and obligations
for individuals, clans and local groups. In the past, the customary rules and institu-
tions had been effective in both maximizing production and conserving resources.
The Barabaig, like many people who live in variable environments, have a tradi-
tion of respect for the land they rely on for their survival. Their elders recently said
‘We value and respect the land. We want to preserve it for all time’ (in Paavo,
1989).
But in order for wheat to be grown on the Basotu Plain, about 40,000ha of
land was taken from the Barabaig. This was their most fertile prime grazing land.
Some of them were forcibly removed and their homes burned. They were pre-
vented from following traditional routes across the farms to reach pasture, water or
salt resources. Many of their sacred graves were ploughed up and are no longer
recognizable. There are also ecological problems, as the soil is left bare soon after
the July harvest until the time of planting in February. This makes the soil suscep-
tible to rain-induced erosion, and deep gullies have been created and the sacred
Lake Basotu is being silted up.
Although the farms cover only 12 per cent of the total land area of the district,
the loss of this area is crucial for pastoralist production (Lane and Pretty, 1990). By
losing access to these fertile areas, the whole rotational grazing system has been
disrupted, so reducing the pastoral productive capacity beyond the direct impact
of the wheat farms. This loss has resulted in a drastic reduction of livestock num-
bers and a decline in production which the Barabaig say has caused them ‘great
suffering’ (in Paavo, 1989).
Part of the problem is that outsiders misunderstand pastoralists and their pro-
duction systems. Rangeland is common land to the Barabaig and individual herd-
ers move about in response to their assessments of range productivity or social
needs. People who fail to understand this can be misled into thinking land is
vacant or poorly managed by the pastoralists, so justifying their dispossession. One
study of Canadian aid to Tanzania said: ‘The project has many of the characteris-
tics of a frontier development effort. Traditional pastoralists ... are being displaced
and absorbed into the project as labourers. Previously idle land is being brought
under cultivation’ (Young, 1983).
From the viewpoint of the farms, wheat production is financially profitable. A
project evaluation conducted in 1980 arrived at a benefit/cost ratio of 1.59. The
return to the capital of nearly 40 per cent also indicated that it was a ‘very profit-
able investment for the Tanzanian economy’ (Stone, 1982). But if the wider social
and environmental impacts are accounted for, then the picture changes dramati-
cally. The costs actually far exceed the benefits, and there would appear to be many
better ways to use aid and scarce foreign exchange. As one economic assessment
put it: ‘The results of this study indicate that wheat production on the Hanang
farms is profitable from the viewpoint of the farms... However, from the stand-
point of contributions to, and resources used within, the Tanzanian economy the
Project is shown to be uneconomic. In strict economic terms, the costs have
exceeded the benefits’ (Prairie Horizons Ltd, 1986). The financial resources spent