Taking an example from the frontier settlement zone of the mountainous areas
in Arusha Region, Northeastern Tanzania, this study examines whether and how far land
subdivision information can illuminate the way in which rural livelihood transformation has
been refl ected in land use at the local, land parcel scale for the period from 1962 to 2008, with
a general scarcity of longitudinal information on the livelihood of rural households. It
combines the reconstruction of the land subdivision process by way of Differential Global
Positioning System land parcel measurements and interviews with smallholders on changing
land ownership on the one hand, and the land cover/use analysis of aerial photo/satellite
images on the other. Employing remote sensing and Geographical Information System
techniques, the study identifi es the land use patterns of particular households in particular
years and examines the changes in relation to land subdivision, which is central to livelihoods.
This study confi rms that the initial expansion of home garden has stopped and that the land use
pattern has begun to change in the reverse direction toward enlargement of cultivated open
spaces, as previous studies have reported in an aggregated manner for the neighboring
Kilimanjaro area. The present study also demonstrates that this process has developed along
with land subdivision and is to be understood with the distinction between resident and
non-resident use of the frontier zone.