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Press Release

For immediate release

UHURU MONUMENT AND FAMOUS COCO BEACH AREA IN DAR ES SALAAM SOLD!

• Global land grab day commemorated on February 07, 2013
• Let’s Talk Land Tanzania partners symbolically sell the Uhuru Monument and Coco Beach in Dar to highlight land grabbing issues in Tanzania
• Large land deals in the first 10 years of the century have affected over 200million hectares of land internationally (larger than Tanzania, Ghana and Zambia Combined)
• Millions of hectares of land sold or under threat in Tanzania

Today, 7th February, iconic sites are being 'sold' to draw attention to the land grabbing that is taking the land people depend on for their homes and food. These land grabs are often unseen in rural areas; today the message is being brought to key sites in our main cities.

In Tanzania activists from the Let's Talk Land Tanzania coalition (www.letstalklandtanzania.com) are symbolically ‘selling’ the Uhuru Monument and Coco Beach in Dar es Salaam to raise awareness of the problems of large land deals and land grabs in Tanzania.

Rogers Ruhiye, from Let’s Talk Land Tanzania, explained: “To highlight this sensitive issue and get Tanzanians talking about land grabbing we decided to sell off Uhuru monument, our national symbol of freedom, to foreign investors; selling our land to foreign investors is selling our freedom. We are appealing to our government to protect our land as the source of our livelihoods, identity and sovereignty.”

Globally in the first ten years of this century over 200 million hectares of land has been reported to be subject to land deals, including more that 6 million hectares in Tanzania (http://landportal.info/landmatrix). These deals are too often resulting in farmers and pastoralists losing land and ending up in poverty. The land villages, and Tanzania as a whole, need for the growing population and future development is being signed away. Women who have weaker land rights are losing even more as competition for limited land increases. 

 

Women are not considered in negotiations on land deals and therefore get little if any of the benefits and compensation.

We welcome some of the commitments from amongst others Prime Minister Pinda and President Kikwete to put limits on large land deals. We call for these plans to be implemented and for citizens, companies, leaders and government to ensure:

1.    Land is made available to Tanzanian farmers and pastoralists especially women;

2.    Support for the motion in Parliament for a moratorium on foreign land investment;

3.  Adherence in Tanzania to the African Union Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land that was adopted by all governments under the Food and Agriculture Organisation;

4.    Transparency and the active and fair participation of local people, especially women, affected by any large land acquisitions;

5.    The reduction in the length of agreements made with investors and the monitoring of these investments to ensure a benefit to local communities,

People affected by land grabs or wanting to share information can SMS to 0767 751659 or go to the website:  www.letstalktanzania.com (click on the mapping section).