Analysis of socio-economic impacts of uranium exploration in villages participating in Mbarang’andu wildlife management area in Namtumbo district, Tanzania
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Date
2014
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
The rising demand for Uranium to produce nuclear energy has led to increasing interest
on Uranium exploration activities in Tanzania. Tanzania reported on-going exploration
The findings show that 60% of the household were of opinion that Uranium exploration
has positive socio-economic impacts in their area and the remaining 40% indicated that it
has negative impacts activities for Uranium in Wildlife Management Area. The aim of
this study was to assess socio-economic impacts of Uranium exploration in three villages
participating in Mbarang’andu WMA in Namtumbo District. The socio-economic
activities in the study area were assessed in relation to Uranium exploration, determined
the effects of Uranium exploration on the livelihoods of local community and examined
the impact of Uranium exploration on conservation activities carried out in the villages
participating in Mbarang’andu WMA. Random sampling procedure was employed to
select a total of 90 households from the three villages. Data were collected through
questionnaire, checklist, focus group discussion, field observation by the researcher and
literature search. One third of the sample household realized increased in household
income was due to Uranium exploration while majority are not sure whether the change in
their income due to exploration as they were not directly participating in exploration
activities. Findings indicate that conservation activities encounter difficulties due to
Uranium exploration. The number of beekeepers have decreased at significant rate
through (r = -0.84, p = 0.008) due to Uranium exploration. Similarly honey production per
beehive has decreased, at non significant rate (r = 0.321, p = 0.436). The study concludes
that there are both positive and negative impacts of Uranium exploration. The study
recommends that the Government should involve local communities during establishment
of exploration activities in their area. Companies doing exploration should develop and
implement the conservation measures to sustain community and conservation activities.
Description
Dissertation
Keywords
Uranium, Wildlife management, Mineral exploration, Mineral exploration-local community