Market-Driven Rice Farming and Water Use Change in Mbarali District from the Mid-1980s to the 2010s

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of market-driven rice farming on the use of water in Mbarali District from about the mid-1980s to 2010s. It specifically traces the development of both peasant and state rice farming and their subsequent effects on water use in the district. The study is essentially qualitative, although in some cases it uses quantitative data to validate its arguments. Thus, it adopts political economy and historical ecology theories to understand changes brought by market-driven rice farming; and the ways peasants struggled to accommodate those changes in their agricultural practices. The area of study included six villages, namely Chimala, Mkombwe, Rujewa, Songwe-Imalilo, Ubaruku and Utengule-Usangu, in Mbeya region, Tanzania. Data of the study is drawn from oral interviews in these villages in three phases between 1999 and 2020; and from an examination of earlier studies (secondary data) and archival documents that provided primary data on government policies, ordinances and decisions. The findings show that the expansion of market-driven rice farming in Mbarali from 25,906ha in 1985 to 45,000ha in 2000 and 65,547ha in 2016 was in response to the economic liberalization drive which began in the mid-1980s. This expansion of market-driven rice farming during that period symbolized the response of the peasants to the new conditions created by the liberalization of the economy. Also, the expansion produced important changes such as prolonged use of water for irrigation, the general calendar change in the water use, etc., which affected the use of water, causing the drying up of some rivers, evolution of intense struggles over water, downstream water scarcity, etc.