At first, the World Bank required Tanzania to follow the bank’s policy to protect indigenous groups such as the Barabaig and Hadzabe tribes.
But the World Bank’s board has granted an East African agribusiness project called SAGCOT a waiver that exempts it from following the bank’s Indigenous Peoples Policy. That move has sparked fears among human rights advocates that the development lender is setting a precedent that weakens protections for indigenous peoples.
The United States, the World Bank’s largest donor, also warned in a recent Treasury Department statement that the waiver could set an “unfortunate precedent” and called the bank’s justification for granting it “unconvincing.”
The bank maintains that indigenous communities will still be protected under procedures established for the SAGCOT project.
These are images of the Barabaig people and their daily life in Tanzania’s Morogoro region.
The GroundTruth Project and the International Women’s Media Foundation supported reporting for this story.
Help keep The World going strong!
The article you just read is free because dedicated readers and listeners like you chose to support our nonprofit newsroom. Our team works tirelessly to ensure you hear the latest in international, human-centered reporting every weekday. But our work would not be possible without you. We need your help.
Make a gift today to help us reach our $25,000 goal and keep The World going strong. Every gift will get us one step closer.