DAR ES SALAAM — In 1961, a chartered plane circled the Kilombero Valley, unable to land because the “fertile” plains had turned into an impassable swamp. Desperate to pay stranded workers at a sugar estate below, the pilot made a frantic decision: he would bomb the site with cash.
Sacks of money were shoved out the door. One bag burst in mid-air, raining coins and banknotes down onto a muddy football pitch where workers scrambled to collect their wages.
This bizarre scene, unearthed in a new research report published in Utafiti, is perhaps the perfect metaphor for development in Kilombero: a century of high-flying visions, pouring vast resources into a landscape that refuses to be tamed.
A compelling new study by historians Jonathan M. Jackson and Francis Ching’ota, titled “Visions for Kilombero Valley,” argues that for over 100 years, outsiders—from German colonials to modern investors—have been seduced by a “mirage” of fertility, ignoring the valley’s complex reality.
The “Nile” That Never Was
Since the late 19th century, explorers have dubbed Kilombero the “potential granary of East Africa”. German Captain Heinrich Fonck famously declared in 1908 that with enough effort, “Ulanga [Kilombero] will be our Nile,” envisioning it feeding the entire colony. British officials later echoed this, describing it in 1955 as the only major area in Tanganyika with “good potential… largely undeveloped”.
However, the report reveals that while outsiders saw “empty” land waiting for plows, locals knew better. They practiced shifting cultivation to adapt to the region’s violent, unpredictable floods—an ecological reality that rigid development schemes repeatedly failed to grasp. The authors argue that the persistence of the idea that Kilombero had unlimited potential “obscured the possibility of overcoming obstacles”.
The North Korean Connection and Corporate Failures
The report highlights that the collapse of high-profile projects is not a new phenomenon. While the bankruptcy of the British-backed Kilombero Plantations Limited (KPL) in 2019 made headlines, the research exposes its surprising lineage.
The land used by KPL had originally been demarcated in 1986 through a partnership between Tanzania and North Korea. Like many before it, the North Korean scheme failed, and the land lay dormant from 1993 until KPL arrived years later. When KPL took over, they found over 2,000 farmers had settled on the “unused” land, leading to conflicts and a $1 million resettlement program that human rights activists criticized heavily.
The authors note that despite the unprecedented investment, KPL joined the “long line of failed schemes” because it could not overcome the long-standing environmental and social challenges of the valley.
From “Killing Beasts” to “Ghost Safaris”
A major theme of the study is “Ecology Control”—the struggle to manage the valley’s water and wildlife. The report documents a dramatic shift in how this control was envisioned:
- The War on Wildlife: In the 1930s, colonial administrators believed that wildlife had to be eradicated for progress. One 1936 report stated that “unceasing war” against animals was necessary for human development.
- The Conservation Era: Today, the script has flipped. The valley was named a Ramsar wetland site in 2002, and conservationists now fight to protect the wildlife corridor between the Udzungwa Mountains and the Nyerere National Park.
However, the results remain contentious. The report cites a 2017 description of the area as a “ghost safari,” arguing that Western aid and conservation efforts ironically contributed to the decline of the very wildlife they sought to save by failing to integrate local communities effectively.
Social Engineering: The Myth of the “Empty” Land
The researchers argue that Kilombero has long been a laboratory for social engineering, driven by the false belief that the land was underpopulated. This led to waves of forced migration:
- Colonial Labor: In the 1930s, thousands of Zulu men were imported by a South African company to solve labor shortages.
- The Kiberege Project (1955–1957): An early scheme promoted by Julius Nyerere and TANU to settle unemployed urban youth in the valley, viewing it as a solution for “surplus” populations.
- Ujamaa Villagization: The forced resettlements of 1973–1976 disrupted traditional farming methods that were actually better suited to the environment.
These interventions often sparked conflicts over land rights that persist today, particularly the evictions of pastoralists and farmers witnessed in 2012–2013.
A Bridge Over Troubled Waters
For decades, the lack of infrastructure was both an excuse for failure and a cause of tragedy. The report details how a bridge across the Kilombero River was dismissed by the FAO in 1964 as “too expensive”.
The cost of that delay was measured in lives. The report recounts horrific ferry disasters, including the sinking of the MV Kiu in 2002 (killing nearly 100 people) and the MV Kilombero II in 2016.
The eventual completion of the “Magufuli Bridge” in 2018—a 384-meter structure costing $27 million—marked the end of a century-long struggle to physically conquer the river. The authors suggest this is one of the few instances where a long-held “vision” was finally realized, changing the history of the region.
Learning from the Past
As Tanzania continues to look toward Kilombero for food security, Jackson and Ching’ota’s research offers a sobering lesson: “Visions” are not enough.
Whether it is the colonial officers of 1908 or the investors of 2008, the mistake has been the same—imposing a fantasy from above rather than working with the reality on the ground. The authors conclude that development planning is a form of “future making,” but without understanding the history of failures—from bursting money bags to North Korean ghost farms—new visions are likely to face the same old fate.
About the Research:
- Title: Maono ya Bonde la Kilombero, Tanzania: Historia za Maendeleo Yake
- Journal: Utafiti (Journal of African Perspectives), Vol 18 (2023)
- Authors: Jonathan M. Jackson (University of Cologne) & Francis Ching’ota (National Institute of Transport, Dar es Salaam)