Community-Based Approaches in the Construction and Management of Water Infrastructures among the Chagga, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Valence M. Silayo and Innocent Pikirayi ()
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Valence M. Silayo: School of Education and Human Development (SoEHD), Dar es Salaam College (TUDARCo), Tumaini University, Coca-Cola Road, Plot No. 10, Mikocheni Industrial Area, Dar es Salaam P.O. Box 77588, Tanzania
Innocent Pikirayi: Department of Anthropology, Archaeology and Development Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria, Lynnwood and Roper Street, Pretoria 0028, South Africa

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: Water management among the Chagga people of Kilimanjaro has involved community collaboration in the construction, ownership and management of water infrastructures. Since the second half of the second millennium AD, the Chagga settlement on the lower slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro significantly transformed the landscape to reflect an agrarian society characterised by decentralised forms of socio-political and economic organisation. Such organisation involved conception, construction, and post-construction management of water distribution systems, synonymous with high levels of socio-political complexity. The study employs ethnography and archaeological surveys to document the construction of water infrastructures on the lower slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro. An ethnographic survey among Chagga elders generated primary data on water furrow construction. This information was then used to aid archaeological surveys in mapping irrigation furrows ( mfongo ) in the lower slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro. The ethnography also provided data on how Chagga chiefs and clan leaders governed the construction, use and maintenance of water infrastructures in the past. Such approaches highlighted Chagga lived experiences of traditional irrigation technologies and infrastructures and how these developed a complex agrarian society. Results show that community collaboration was key in the management of water infrastructure vital for their home gardens, and this sustained Chagga society for centuries.

Keywords: Chagga; Kilimanjaro; water infrastructures; irrigation; furrows ( mfongo ); furrow construction; water management; home gardens; chiefdoms; clans (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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