Stakeholders’ diverging interests and emerging resource use conflicts in apiculture in West Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

Abstract

study was conducted in West Usambara Mountains, Tanzania to assess stakeholders diverging interests and emerging resource use conflicts in apiculture with respect to natural resource management (NRM) by local communities. The study aimed at generating knowledge base for effective governance of NRM by farmers from which lessons could be drawn for guiding appropriate NRM. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools including focused group discussion, questionnaire survey and participant observation were used for data collection from 98 respondents randomly selected. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. Results show that majority of individual small scale farmers (73%) were driven by social economic interests than NRM. On the other hand, farmers’ groups (10%) showed high interest in both economic and conservation of natural resources followed by faith based organisations (FBOs) (7%). Stakeholders’ diverging interests in apiculture were significantly influenced by educational level (p=0.010); household size (p=0.006); marital status (p=0.011) and major economic activities (p=0.029). The most prevalent conflicts in the study area were between farmers practising apiculture and fellow farmers (74%) followed by neighbours (16%). The study demonstrated that for small scale farmers to engage in NRM, economic interest is vital. Recommendations on areas of further intervention are given.