by Hugh Wenban-Smith
This compilation of articles on development research in Tanzania, culled from journals in the LSE library, covers the period January to June 2014. The abstract is based on that published by the author(s).
Julius Nyerere, Ujamaa and political morality in contemporary Tanzania:
Fouere M-A, African Studies Review Vol 57(1).
Since the 2000s, Tanzania has witnessed the return in the public sphere of a reconfigured version of ujamaa as a set of moral principles embodied in the figure of the first President of Tanzania, Julius Kambarage Nyerere. The persisting traces of Nyerere and ujamaa are not so evident in actual political practices or economic policies, but rather in collective debates about politics and morality – in short in the contemporary imaginaries of the nation. Contributing to a long-standing discussion of the moral stature of Tanzania’s ‘Father of the Nation’, the article explores how and why a shared historical memory of Nyerere is being built or contested to define, mediate and construct Tanzanian conceptions of morality, belonging and citizenship in the polis today.
For richer, for poorer: Marriage and casualized sex in East African artisanal mining settlements: Bryceson DF, Jonsson JB &Verbrugge H, Development and Change Vol 45(1).
Migrants to Tanzania’s artisanal gold mining sites seek mineral wealth, which is accompanied by high risks of occupational hazards, economic failure, AIDS and social censure from their home communities. Male miners in these settlements compete to attract newly arrived young women, who are perceived to be diverting male material support from older women and children’s economic survival. This article explores the dynamics of monogamy, polygamy and promiscuity in the context of rapid occupational change. It shows how a wide spectrum of productive and welfare outcomes is generated through sexual experimentation, which calls into question conventional concepts of prostitution, marriage and gender power relations.
Financial crimes and the law: A critical analysis of the embezzlement of public funds in Tanzania: Kibamba K, Journal of African and International Law Vol 6(1).
The embezzlement of public funds and fraud in Tanzania are still large problems and there is a lot that needs to be done to deter such practices. Certain laws have been put in place to try and counter these financial crimes, but have not been effective enough due to the magnitude of the problems. Tanzania has two legislations which regulate collection and use of public funds: the Public Finances Act and the Local Government Finances Act. The main perpetrators are public officials and the penal code imposes a penalty of seven to fourteen years of imprisonment to public officers who are found guilty. The Public Finances Act empowers the Minister of Finance to impose a surcharge as a penalty for contravention of any provision of this Act, specifically where a public officer has caused loss or deficiency of public money entrusted. This further empowers the Minister to order the conversion of such a loss or deficit to a debt … The discrepancy between the penalties imposed by the penal code and penalties imposed by the Minister of Finance … is the major problem which contributes to the embezzlement of funds; this is because the penalty imposed on public officials who cause loss or deficiency is not enough to stir remorse among the perpetrators.
From millet to tomatoes: incremental intensification with high value crops in contemporary Meru: Hillbom E, Journal of Eastern African Studies V 8(3).
In Meru, Tanzania, changing land/labour ratios have, for over a century, been the main driving force in a farm intensification process. The construction and expansion of irrigation systems, increased use of farm inputs and transfer from low to high value agricultural crops have enabled smallholders to improve their land productivity. Technological change has been accompanied by institutional change, primarily in the form of changes to property right regimes and expanding markets. In the past few decades, increasing urban and rural demand has further enhanced smallholders’ production strategies. By applying induced innovation theory, this article captures and analyses the long-term incremental processes of change whereby endogenous technological and institutional innovations have led to farm intensification in the contemporary local system of agricultural smallholder production. Further it shows how this process has been reinforced by improved access to market opportunities.
Choices and changes of recruitment methods in a Tanzanian city:
Fischer G, Egbert H & Bredl S Journal of Eastern African Studies Vol 8(3). Labour market processes in Tanzania constitute an important but under-researched topic. This study investigates the recruitment methods of private companies in Mwanza, Tanzania’s second largest city. It asks whether employers make use of informal methods more often than formal methods, whether the skills required for a job relate to the choice of methods and whether the vacancy period of a position is linked to a specific approach. A survey consisting of 81 face-to-face interviews with hiring authorities shows that employers prefer informal to formal schemes but tend to rely on formal ones for filling high ranking positions … Additional insights are provided by 10 semi-structured follow-up interviews with respondents from the same group. They suggest an increase in solicited and unsolicited applications that might have caused some hiring authorities to avoid formal methods or modify informal methods. Moreover, it emerges that recruitment choices may be influenced by powerful actors outside or within companies.
Middle class construction: Domestic architecture, aesthetics and anxieties in Tanzania:
Mercer C Journal of Modern African Studies Vol 52(2). The paper examines the new styles of houses under construction in contemporary Tanzania and suggests that they can be understood as the material manifestation of middle class growth. Through an examination of the architecture, interior décor and compound space in a sample of these new houses in urban Dar es Salaam and rural Kilimanjaro, the paper identifies four domestic aesthetics: The respectable house, the locally aspirant house, the globally aspirant house and the minimalist house, each of which map onto ideas about ujamaa, liberalization and the consumption of global consumer goods in distinct ways. The paper argues that these different domestic aesthetics demonstrate intraclass differences, and in particular the emergence of a new middle class.
Gender perspectives on decentralization and services users’ participation in rural Tanzania: Masanyiwa ZS, Niehof A & Termeer CJAM Journal of Modern African Studies Vol 52 (1).
This paper examines the impact of decentralization reforms on service users’ participation for delivery of health and water services in rural Tanzania, using a gender perspective and principal-agent theory. The paper investigates how decentralization has fostered spaces for participation and how men and women use these spaces, and identifies factors that constrain or encourage women’s participation. It shows that decentralization has created spaces for service users’ participation at local level. Participation in these spaces however differs between men and women, and is influenced by socio-cultural norms within the household and community. Men have gained more leverage than women to exercise their agency as principals. Women’s participation is contributing to addressing practical gender needs but strategic gender needs have been largely untouched by the reforms.
Do micro-enterprises benefit from the ‘doing business’ reforms? The case of street-vending in Tanzania: Lyons M, Brown A & Msoka C Urban Studies Vol 51(8).
The World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ reforms were originally expected to help the growth and formalisation of SMEs and micro-enterprises. The expectations that the reforms would support the growth and development of SMEs were challenged by scholars, but the reforms impact on the micro-enterprises of the poor has received little scholarly attention. Drawing on a desk study and on field studies of street-vendors carried out in Tanzania in 2007 and 2011, this paper argues that the growth and formalization of micro-businesses are badly served by the ‘Doing Business’ reforms.
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) and empowered deliberative democracy: Learning from Tanzania: Mustalahti I & Rakotonarivo OS World Development Vol 59. This study was guided by the Empowered Deliberative Democracy (EDD) discourse. We analysed how the Tanzanian Community Carbon Enterprise (CCE) model could reinforce the representation of disadvantaged groups in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). The findings from Tanzania suggest unmet conditions with disadvantaged groups’ representation in local decision-making and project implementation. We argue that mechanisms to support horizontal accountability could include audits and monitoring carried out by disadvantaged groups.