The Neglect of Local Residents’ Livelihood Issues in the Urbanising Peri-Urban Mwanza City, Tanzania

Abstract

Urbanisation is a powerful force for human development and progress in most cities. Numerous recent studies have shown that rapid urbanisation taking place in most cities of developing countries is associated with the destruction of livelihood assets in the peri-urban areas. The paper assesses the impact of urbanisation on the livelihoods of local residents in peri-urban Mwanza City , Tanzania. In doing so, the paper applies the trends analysis to capture the changes of livelihood assets and livelihood vulnerability of local residents in the peri-urban settings. The sustainable livelihood framework has been applied in the study as an analytical tool. Data were collected from 3 02 households in the study ward of Buswelu using both probability and non-probability sampling approaches. Structured interviews, in-depth interviews, field observation and documentary review were adopted as methods of data collection. The findings exhibit that urbanisation of peri-urban Mwanza City has destroyed the livelihood assets of most local residents. That, in turn, has negatively affect ed their livelihoods. Many households have lost their lands while oth ers have suffered disproportionately from highly commercialised environment in terms of accessing goods and services. Besides, lack of knowledge and skills, and financial constraints have significantly hampered local peri-urban residents from taking the opportunities created by the urbanisation process. This study establishes that urbanisation has affected the peri-urban local residents’ livelihoods due to loss of assets during the passage from nature-based resource provisioning to the urban economy. It is, therefore, recommended that cities and municipal authorities should address the livelihood needs of peri-urban local residents for inclusive and sustainable peri-urban livelihoods.