Govt reviews legislations on land use, management

IN protecting the country’s land for agriculture, the government is currently reviewing and analysing different legislations concerning land use and management.

Some of the laws that are lined up for review according to Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Anthony Mavunde, include The Village Land Act Cap 114, the Land Act Cap 113, the Land Use Planning Act and the Land Acquisition Act.

Mr Mavunde was responding to a question posed by Special Seats Member of Parliament, Naghenjwa Kaboyoka, who had demanded to know when the government would table a Bill for Protection of Reserved Land for Agriculture.

In response, the deputy minister said that the government was recognising the importance of protecting land for agriculture just as it is made clear in the National Agriculture Policy 2013 (NAP 2013).

The policy revolves around the goals of developing an efficient, competitive and profitable agricultural industry that contributes to the improvement of the livelihoods of Tanzanians and attainment of broad based economic growth and poverty alleviation.

Therefore, the deputy minister said the ministry of agriculture in collaboration with the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development was analysing all the laws, insisting that the bill would be tabled in the House immediately after the review is completed by a team of experts in the two ministries.

Additionally, the Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Development, Dr Angelina Mabula said that already the two ministries had identified all areas that are suitable for agriculture.

“The next step now will be to gazette all these areas to avoid encroachment before tabling the bill in Parliament,’’ insisted Dr Mabula.