Bridging Land Literacy Gaps through Transformative Adult Education in Rural Tanzania: A Participatory Action Research Study

Abstract

Rural Tanzania continues to face persistent land-related challenges, including tenure insecurity, environmental degradation, and farmer–pastoralist conflicts, which require responses that extend beyond technical and policy solutions. This study examines how participatory adult education, informed by diagnosed land literacy gaps and community priorities, contributes to incremental changes in knowledge, practices, and collective engagement in the land governance. Using a Participatory Action Research approach with 106 adults, a context-responsive four-module program was implemented covering land literacy and legal awareness, sustainable land use and agriculture, conflict management and negotiation, and drought management and resilience. Community participation informed needs identification and the contextual adaptation of content through iterative
engagement with the community. The findings are based on triangulated qualitative and documentary evidence, including observations, reflections, and community records, suggesting emerging improvements in land-related knowledge, sustainable land-use practices, engagement in local governance processes, and collective initiatives, such as community-based organisations and adult literacy activities. These changes were interpreted as gradual and processual. This study contributes acontext-responsive, gap-informed model of adult education to strengthen land literacy and community-based land governance.