THE BENEFITS OF SYSTEMATIC LAND FORMALIZATION APPROACH TO WOMEN: A CASE OF IFAKARA TOWN COUNCIL, TANZANIA

The systematic land formalization approach contributes to the women's own land officially, which enables them to use the land for different social and economic purposes and increase their participation in community activities in Tanzania. This study assesses the benefits of the systematic land formalization approach to women in Ifakara town council in Tanzania focusing on social assets associated with land ownership certificates for women, the economic use of land certificates by women and women’s participation in decision-making in rural areas. The study used a cross-sectional design and applied multi-stage and random sampling to select 120 households who participated in Land Tenure Support Programme in Ifakara town Council located in the Morogoro region, Tanzania. The social, economic and participative benefits associated with the systematic land formalization approach were determined using content and descriptive analyses. The study found that women’s acquisition of right to own land officially results in social and economic benefits and increases decision-making power for women in the community. The findings showed a statistical significance (p