Degradation of natural resources in the highlands of Usambara has been extensively covered. In the past, farmers in the Usambara’s were practicing effective soil conservation and soil fertility preserving methods like multi-storey agroforestry, mixed cropping and green manuring. Yet these systems and knowledge began crumbling when German colonialism and cash economy made their influence on these highlands which are home to the Wasambaa. It was the German settlers, who, lured by belief that the soils on these highlands were extremely fertile opened up huge plantations of cash crops, started exporting timber, hired local labour and in so doing also introduced the Wasambaa to the cash related agricultural activities. In doing so, the natural resources on these highlands began degrading.
