The Chagga

The Chagga are a Bantu-speaking people who live around the Kilimanjaro massif in Tanzania.

The slopes of Kilimanjaro have been continuously inhabited by people over the last 2000 years. In the last few decades, the population has increased tenfold within 90 years. The majority of the population is concentrated at an altitude of between 1000 and 1800 metres. A very remarkable type of land use prevails here, the so-called Chagga Homegardens, mndà in the Chagga language.
The agroforestry system of Chagga homegardens is a unique feature of Kilimanjaro, covering an area of 1000 km2 in the most favourable climatic zone of the southern and south-eastern slopes.
In their home gardens, the Chagga use four layers of vegetation. Bananas are grown under a layer of trees, which provide shade, fodder, medicine, firewood and, in the past, timber, coffee trees are grown under the bananas, and vegetables are grown under the coffee trees. This multi-layered system maximises the use of the limited land. The area is irrigated by a network of canals fed by the main furrows originating from the mountain forest.
This cultivation system has evolved over several centuries and has not changed significantly in recent decades compared to the land uses in the lower zones. There is evidence that the first banana gardens and water channels existed as early as the 12th century.
This ancient land use system has shaped the identity of the Chagga, who, despite belonging to the Bantu people, belong to a multi-ethnic ethnic group.