Land Acquisitions in Tanzania: Strong Sustainability, Weak Sustainability and the Importance of Comparative Methods created by Mark Purdon

This paper distinguished different analytical approaches to the evaluation of the sustainability of large-scale land acquisitions—at both the conceptual and
methodological levels. First, at the conceptual level, evaluation of the sustainability
of land acquisitions depends on what definition of sustainability is adopted—strong
or weak sustainability. Second, a lack of comparative empirical methods in many
studies has limited the identification of causal factors affecting sustainability. An
empirical investigation into the sustainability of land acquisitions in Tanzania that
employs these existing concepts in a methodologically rigorous manner offers an
opportunity to more clearly addresses ethical questions surrounding international
land acquisitions. My findings indicate that it should not be assumed that sustainability necessarily hinges on issues of strong sustainability, particularly that all
village lands represent critical natural capital. As a result of its unique history of
Ujamaa villagization, Tanzania villages often have ownership of significant tracts of
unused land that mitigates the risk of violating conditions of strong sustainability.
Issues of weak sustainability appear to be more important to villagers—particularly
the degree of man-made capital benefits derived from projects. While compensation
rates for lands acquired were low and the process lacked transparency, low compensation rates are not sufficient grounds for rejecting land acquisitions as unsustainable. When projects deliver significant man-made capital benefits, low
compensation rates were not a politically salient issue amongst villagers. Finally,
results suggest that some prioritization of man-made capital over biodiversity can be
ethically defensible when the decision-making process goes through legitimate
village government bodies and benefits reach poor villagers.