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Politics, economics, how about our health? Impacts of large-scale land acquisitions on therapeutic spaces and wellbeing in coastal Tanzania

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  • Atuoye, Kilian Nasung
  • Luginaah, Isaac
  • Hambati, Herbert
  • Campbell, Gwyn

Abstract

One question that has remained unexplored in the global land rush debate is how large-scale land acquisitions affect health and wellbeing of local populations. As part of a larger study, this study advances our understanding in this area by applying the concept of therapeutic landscapes to analyze interviews conducted in two coastal communities in Tanzania where land investments have been prevalent. Our analysis found that local populations perceived traditional lands with sacred sites as therapeutic spaces, which embodied cultural values, and promoted health and wellbeing when protected. Intrusion into these spaces through large-scale land investment is believed to remove their therapeutic attributes, thereby turning them into unhealthy landscapes. Dispossession of these spaces is perceived to heighten community distress resulting in poor psychosocial health. Based on our findings, we suggest that health consequences of land investments should move to the center of the large-scale land acquisition discourse. Health policy should refocus on the psychosocial health impacts of global land investments in Tanzania and other low-income countries. Ultimately local participation in land governance should be strengthened through land reforms in Tanzania and similar contexts, as this may provide a buffer to poor psychosocial health.

Suggested Citation

  • Atuoye, Kilian Nasung & Luginaah, Isaac & Hambati, Herbert & Campbell, Gwyn, 2019. "Politics, economics, how about our health? Impacts of large-scale land acquisitions on therapeutic spaces and wellbeing in coastal Tanzania," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 283-291.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:220:y:2019:i:c:p:283-291
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.11.026
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. World Bank, 2009. "Awakening Africa's Sleeping Giant : Prospects for Commercial Agriculture in the Guinea Savannah Zone and Beyond [Le réveil du géant assoupi : Perspectives de l’agriculture commerciale dans les sava," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2640.
    2. Santangelo, Grazia D., 2018. "The impact of FDI in land in agriculture in developing countries on host country food security," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 75-84.
    3. Atuoye, Kilian Nasung & Luginaah, Isaac, 2017. "Food as a social determinant of mental health among household heads in the Upper West Region of Ghana," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 170-180.
    4. Rabah Arezki & Klaus Deininger & Harris Selod, 2015. "What Drives the Global "Land Rush"?," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 29(2), pages 207-233.
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    Cited by:

    1. Triguero-Mas, Margarita & Anguelovski, Isabelle & García-Lamarca, Melissa & Argüelles, Lucía & Perez-del-Pulgar, Carmen & Shokry, Galia & Connolly, James J.T. & Cole, Helen V.S., 2021. "Natural outdoor environments’ health effects in gentrifying neighborhoods: Disruptive green landscapes for underprivileged neighborhood residents," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    2. Atuoye, Kilian Nasung & Luginaah, Isaac & Hambati, Herbert & Campbell, Gwyn, 2021. "Who are the losers? Gendered-migration, climate change, and the impact of large scale land acquisitions on food security in coastal Tanzania," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    3. Xiaolin Yang & Yini Fan & Dawei Xia & Yukai Zou & Yuwen Deng, 2023. "Elderly Residents’ Uses of and Preferences for Community Outdoor Spaces during Heat Periods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-20, July.

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