This article focuses on addressing problems and challenges facing land dispute machinery in resolving land dispute by using Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Tanzania. The article reveals that disputes over the land are inevitable because land is the principal means of production. Long-drawn-out land disputes undermine effective land utilization and sustainable development. The competing interests over land have necessitated the need to have specialized machinery for land dispute settlement in the country. Nonetheless, it has never been a simple task to establish ideal land dispute machinery that strikes the balance between competing interests while maintaining peace, security and social order. Effective implementation of any dispute resolution approach mainly depends on the legal framework of a particular country where it is subjected. The institutional framework also plays a great role in considering what the system can deliver to its stakeholders. In most developing countries like Tanzania, ADR techniques are lowly used in resolving land disputes despite of ADR being incorporated into National laws. Motivations for the use of ADR included relationship building, perception of fairness and justice, and relatively cheaper and quicker processes of adjudication compared to traditional court system.
The article concludes that ADR is an effective machinery for solving land disputes but it is not effectively used due to legal challenges facing land dispute machineries in enforcement of ADR.
