- Royce Fellowship
Concentration
Award Year
Faculty Sponsor: Nancy Jacobs
Niwaeli conducted oral interviews, used archival records and analyzed aerial photographs in order to add nuance to the narrative of failure that surrounds ujamaa. A form of socialism officially practiced in Tanzania from the 60s to late 80s, ujamaa had an economic and social impact that is still palpable in public memories and rhetoric. Her project traced the changes in land use and in the dialogue between people and the state as Tanzania moved from villagization to a more open economic structure. Her work will be documented in a scholarly paper and on a website that will assist scholars who wish to study Tanzania.
Niwaeli is a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is broadly interested in balancing conservation concerns and rural livelihood opportunities around protected areas. Her current research project examines approaches for increasing habitat connectivity in montane forests of East Africa. Specifically, she looks at tree cover trajectories for land that is under a protected status, compared to land that is under individual landholding and active cultivation. Her study area is in the South of Tanzania where habitat connectivity is a conservation priority for a newly discovered endangered primate.