“They told us we have to plant many trees so that we can harvest air” : hegemony, mistrust and communication failure in a tree planting project in Tanzania

Abstract: PES has become an important tool in climate mitigation policies, and has potential to increase the economic flow to low-income countries and enhance rural development. However, most studies show cases where policy design is in conflict with the local context. In many cases, only partial information is provided to local people, which not only makes it difficult for them to understand the project goals, but the power imbalances between project implementers and participants could increase. This thesis focuses on a tree planting project in Tanzania where farmers receive incentives from tree planting activities. The project has three main implementers who work on different levels. The aim of the study is to understand how the different actors view the project, their own and the other actors´ roles within the project, and how those views affect the information given to the participating farmers. My data shows that hegemonic structures highly affect what information that is and is not being shared, which in turn affects how the farmers understand the project aims. The project has helped the farmers to increase their supply of firewood as well as improve the local environment. Due to a lack of sufficient information, however, the project implementers are failing in one of their main objectives: to empower the farmers.