Applicability of Surveying Professional Practice in Land Use Planning for Community Land Conflict Extrication in Mbeya Rural Area

Land conflict has been noted to be an intervening phenomenon for quite longer as it has caused many misunderstanding, competition and violence between different society group as well as adjacent land owners. Different factors has been noted in different literatures related to land conflict like scarcity of resource (water, land, pasture), policies, politics on land decision matters, land law, irregularities on land allocation procedures etc. This study explains the applicability of surveying professional practice in land use planning for community land conflict extrication in Mbeya rural area. Three districts were randomly selected as a pilot survey area for the study. Land officer, land surveyor and planners were considered as important participants in land related issues as well as participating in land conflict extrication. The study revealed that poor procedure on land planning and demarcation, poor technical survey skills, poor adherence to survey practice as well as poor participation of surveyors from inception and or during base map and or town planning drawing preparation mostly results to poor and or incorrect drawing which would always be used by the planner for land use planning. However the use of inaccurate surveying equipment like a hand held Global positioning system (GPS) which has the accuracy of up to ±3m was noted to facilitate encroachment and hence the land conflict between neibour if not well and early settled. Nevertheless the applicability of the surveying professional practice was considered to resolve the problems. A well trained and experienced surveyor should be engaged during preliminary spatial data capture for base map and or town planning drawing preparation, a work which to-date at large is being done by the planner who in reality lacks the surveying professional practice in either using surveying equipment or data analysis something in turn leads to prolonged land conflict.