Paper short abstract:

Forestry companies often present themselves as socially responsible and promote long-term partnerships with local communities. Two case studies from Tanzania with complex land tenure situations reveal unequal power positions between local landholders and investors that lead to a number of conflicts.

Paper long abstract:

Large-scale land acquisitions by foreign investors in the Global South, often termed 'land grabbing', have been widely discussed as potentially supportive, but often rather harmful for local populations. Among the transnational investors, companies operating large-scale forestry plantations can be assumed to have potentially more positive impacts on rural development than others: they depend on the local people's acceptance in order to protect their long-term investment without excessive costs for fire prevention. Such companies tend to announce broad benefits to the local population and promote comprehensive Corporate Social Responsibility strategies.

This presentation focuses on two European companies, which have acquired land in Tanzania in order to grow wood products and generate carbon credits. Both investors present themselves as socially responsible and sustainable enterprises, and promote a long-term partnership with the local communities for rural development. However, empirical research reveals that the promoted cooperative relationship is highly ambivalent and characterized by unequal power relations. Combining a livelihoods approach with elements of the 'theory of access' (Ribot and Peluso 2003), this study analyzes the strands of powers that influence negotiations over land and presents related conflicts.

Thus, by engaging with a critical livelihoods perspective, this study contributes to a differentiated analysis of the contested role of large-scale land acquisitions in contemporary rural development and draws preliminary conclusions regarding the long-term consequences for smallholders.