AfricaPress-Tanzania: FINANCIAL institutions, including CRDB and NMB banks in Mbarali District, Mbeya Region, have issued 18.09bn/- loans to residents who used their certificates of the customary right of occupancy they received after formalising their farms in 2014/15 and 2019/20 seasons.
Property and Business Formalisation Programme (Mkurabita) Chairperson of the Executive Committee Daniel ole Njoolay said the success was a sign that land formalisation that was done after Mkurabita capacity building had brought about anticipated results.
Speaking to some of the beneficiaries, Mr Njoolay stressed the benefits of customary land titles and urged all citizens to utilise this opportunity to develop financially.
“I call on more financial institutions to come and help residents use their customary title deeds to access loans.”
He emphasised that land formalisation in the areas where farmers and pastoralists were living had helped a lot to improve their livelihoods as most of them were paying for the education of their children, increasing efficiency in their activities, promoting economic growth and also resolving land disputes.
According to Mkurabita Coordinator, Dr Seraphia Mgembe, Mbarali District Council has set a good example to promote land formalisation after being empowered by the Mkurabita programme.
She further called on financial institutions to support the government to improve social services and boost development by returning to community a portion of the benefits they had received by contributing to social development.
“The move will boost community development in the land sector, especially land formalisation and the construction of infrastructure, including village registers for customary land titles, as they will make people regard the institutions as their own and use them more for savings and loans,” she noted.
For his part, Land and Natural Resources Officer of Mbarali District Council Geofrey Mwaijombe, said the council had continued land formalisation and successfully surveyed 2,953 farms and had issued 2,720 customary title deeds in its various villages.
“We are engaging stakeholders in land formalisation after capacity building and by February this year we expect to start formalisation in other 10 villages in Mbarali District Council,” he said.
He noted that villages with proper land use planning had increased from 16 in 2009/10 to 36 in 2020/21.
Mr Mwaijombe explained that the successes of land formalisation included the establishment of value-adding industries, the construction of better housing and increased crop production.
Mkurabita has built the capacity of various councils in the country through land formalisation and trade.
