Category Archives: Issue 20

TA ISSUE 20

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Issue 20 cover

Bulletin of Tanzanian Affairs
Issued by the Britain-Tanzania Society
No. 20 January 1985

CONTENTS
Editor’s Note
The Sokoine University of Agriculture: extracts from a speech by Julius K. Nyerere
Tanzania’s Long Term Prospects – J. Roger Carter
Changes in the Standard of Living – J. Roger Carter
Socialism and Capitalism: from a. speech by Prof. A.M. Babu
Books: Resources and Industry in Tanzania by J .D. V. Jones – Andrew Coulson
Ox Cultivation in Tanzania by Finn Kjaerby – Prof. Royston Jones
Tanzania’s Water Supplies: quoting from Allen Armstrong
Tanzania’s Constitutional Amendments – B.T.M. Nyanduga
Resumption of Rail Traffic – P.R. White

EDITOR’S NOTE
Some of the Members of the Britain-Tanzania Society enjoyed two notable evenings recently. First, there was Glyn Roberts, who spoke at our Annual General Meeting about ‘Tools for Self-Reliance’ – surely one of the most pragmatic forms of foreign aid. He explained how, on the death of the father of a typical family, mother is often left with a garage full of tools and how much this circumstance had contributed to the beginnings of what has now become a very large effort to collect, supplement where necessary, refurbish, pack and despatch large numbers of tools to needy craftsmen in the developing world including, in particular, Tanzania. The mention of tools brings us to the subject of ox cultivation. Comprehensive studies have recently been published on this subject. One deals specifically with Tanzania and is reviewed in this issue. Another, an assessment of animal traction in Francophone Africa from Michigan State University, states that results in West Africa have often been well below expectations due to lack of improved crop husbandry practices to complement the ox cultivation, land shortage and competing demands for labour. The paper suggests more applied research and comparative studies of ox, donkey and horse draught, insurance of animals and equipment to lessen risks and better balanced crop systems.

The second notable occasion was a talk by Hon. Lawrence Gama MP, grandson of one of the leaders of the Maji Maji uprising, who since 1977 has been Regional Commissioner in Ruvuma Region and has been visiting Britain. He was happy to tell us that Ruvuma had been able to produce a record (since 1974) crop of 420,000 tonnes of maize this year. He attributed this partly to the use of fertiliser, closer spacing and better seed and also referred to the growing practice of interplanting with Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea), a nitrogenous legume, to reduce the fertiliser requirement. In discussion Mr. Gama did not disguise the problems he faces in administering his remote Region. Communications remained a major problem, though the completion of the Makambako to Songea road with UK aid at the end of 1985 would greatly ease access to the Region. In education we learned that the national ratio of 2.6% of primary school leavers able to gain entry to a secondary school meant, in the case of Ruvuma Region, only 300 places for 20,000 primary school leavers.

We wish to record the visit between 3rd. and 13th. December of an important delegation from Zanzibar headed by Hon. Seif Shariff Hamad MP, Chief Minister of Zanzibar and including also Hon. Taimur Saleh Juma MP, Minister for Finance, Ndugu Abdullah Said Haji MP, a member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives, Ndugu Abdullah Juma Khatib, Governor of the Zanzibar People’s Bank and Ndugu Mohammed Mwinyi Mzale, Principal Secretary in the Office of the Chief Minister. The Britain-Tanzania Society cooperated with the Royal Commonwealth Society in a meeting addressed by the Chief Minister on 5th. December.

Elsewhere in this issue is part of a press report in the ‘Daily News’ of an address to the University of Dar es Salaam by Ndugu Abdulrahman Mohammed Babu, one of the leaders of the Zanzibar revolution and a former Minister in the Tanzanian Government, now teaching as a Professor of International Relations in the University of Massachusetts.

I recently had occasion to visit the Tanzania High Commission in London in its building at 43, Hertford Street, London W1Y 7TF. I thought it might be useful for readers to know who is working there and so we are publishing in this issue a list of the present members of the staff, including two who are working in the Tanzania Tourist Office at 77, South Audley Street, London W1Y 5TA.

It may interest our readers to know that we exchange copies of our respective journals with our fellow Tanzanian societies in other European countries. The names of the societies and their journals are as follows:
Amities Franco-Tanzaniennes- ‘Urafiki Tanzania’
Svensk-Tanzaniska Foreningen- ‘Habari: Information om Tanzania’
Norge-Tanzania Foreningen- ‘Hodi’
Dansk-Tanzaniansk Venskabsforening (Dantan)- ‘Kumekucha’

We are grateful for receiving these journals and find ourselves quoting from them, or reproducing their articles, from time to time. We like the Danish title ‘Kumekucha’ (The Dawn has Come) and wonder whether there might be a better title for our Bulletin. If you agree, do send me your suggestions.

David Brewin
Editor
14B, Westbourne Grove Terrace,
London W2 5SD.

THE SOKOINE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

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The Morogoro campus of the University of Dar es Salaam became a university in its own right on 1st. July, 1984. At the subsequent inauguration President Nyerere reflected on what a university of agriculture with a practical orientation was intended to do. The following are extracts from his address:

“The Sokoine University of Agriculture is intended to be directly useful to our farmers and our nation now as well as in the future. It must be professionally oriented and the professions concerned are those which encompass the knowledge, the understanding and the skills to do a practical job in our rural areas. Thus, the main objective of this university is not abstract research, or the training of academics who can write learned treatises. Certainly we hope that it will do those things, for we expect – and we demand from both staff and students – rigorous scholarship and scientific research. But they are not what the University will be judged by during the next twenty years or more.

The major purpose of this University is the development and transmission of skills and practical expertise at the highest level…. Thus, the concern of the leaders of the Sokoine University of Agriculture should not be the attainment of degrees comparable to those of the Colleges you may have attended in the USA, or elsewhere. It should be the giving of service to our agriculture and our rural people comparable to (or better than) that which those Colleges give to their own hinterlands.”

The President appeared here to forget the pioneering work of the Land Grant Colleges, whose character and objectives would fit well the above description. He went on:

On appropriate technology
“Combine harvesters are awe-inspiring to the uninitiated and have a glamour for the agricultural engineer; it is true that our larger and more successful cooperative will need them. But the more important implements for us are the ones which can be useful to peasants, or the small village cooperatives. That means simple tools, tools which do not depend on imported fuel, which can be repaired (and preferably even manufactured) in the villages, or small towns, and which do not require advanced mechanical skills for their maintenance, or efficient use.”

On management
“While the return a farmer gets from his land and labour depends on his technical skill, it is very greatly increased by good farm management. This is true for a peasant farmer, a village cooperative and for a commercial farmer. And all are interested in the net benefit obtained from their work and their inputs. One does not have to be a capitalist, or a monetarist, to recognise this.”

On learning from peasants
“There have been many cases where so-called modern scientific methods imported from temperate areas have proved to be less productive than traditional methods, or to cause unacceptable damage to our soils. The practice of deep ploughing on fragile tropical soils and of opposing intercropping on small farms are but two ‘examples of this. We need to study the traditional practices and, where the circumstances in which they developed have changed, see how they can be adapted to the new conditions. There was the traditional practice of slash and burn, cultivate and move on. Now that we live in settled communities we have to show the peasants that the modern equivalent- equally within his own control and more productive- is the use of compost, green manure and animal manure.”

On cooperative production
“We have to understand the existing societies in order to help the gradual move towards cooperative production. For while individual peasant farms are now the most important productive units in our agriculture, and must be treated as such, the future lies in larger farm units on which better implements can be used economically. For a socialist country this must mean the expansion of village cooperatives. An agricultural university in a socialist country must make a contribution to that development.”

On the controversial issue amongst agricultural educators of the true function of university farms as an aid to teaching or demonstration of management:
“The university farm must have management systems appropriate to the size of its unit or units. It must be run on strictly commercial principles as a self-accounting unit, which operates in accordance with all the laws and conditions which prevail elsewhere in Tanzania. There must be no scope for excuses that it is making a loss because of its importance to University research, or teaching, or feeding. On the contrary, the farm must make a profit and contribute directly or indirectly to the foreign exchange earnings of the country. It must do this through the efficient production and sale of its food and other crops.”

On Development Studies
“Courses under the title of Development Studies are certainly not a complete answer. Sometimes they have the disadvantage of leading people to believe that ‘Development Studies’ covers questions of ideology, so everyone else can ignore them, or alternatively that a study of socialist theories is all that is required. In fact Development Studies courses are intended to help students to understand the purposes of Tanzania and the environment in which our country has to make a living and develop. That is essential for all university students, but it is not enough. For it is certainly necessary to understand the malign influence of external factors on Tanzania’s development. But ideological teaching has to free us and inspire us to work out what we can do in the face of these things and how we can do it. The external circumstances we are contending with are not going to change in the near future. We have to learn to cope with them.

What I am suggesting is that everyone involved in teaching, administering, or governing the Sokoine University of Agriculture have to involve themselves in promoting attitudes of service. And it has to be service needed by Tanzania in the light of Tanzanian circumstances and aspirations.”
On the selection of students

“You will need a few academic ‘high fliers’. But I suggest that the greatest need is for students who want to be farmers, to work with farmers and to help farmers. Your selection criteria should reflect these purposes.

I am aware that this may mean less First Class Passes in your degrees and I am not suggesting that you should reduce your standards of academic excellence. What I am saying is that your job is to spread and enlarge knowledge so that our agriculture improves and our lives improve, and that you will therefore be judged, in Tanzania and elsewhere, by whether you contribute to reaching that goal. Your objectives should not be sacrificed to class lists.

In particular, I suggest that this University should be looking for mature students, not making it difficult for them to enter …. I am not impressed by the argument that mature students rarely get good degrees and sometimes have to be helped to get a pass in the basic sciences, because they do not have the grounding. Give them help in such subjects as mathematics …. It is absurd that it should be more difficult for mature students to enter universities in this country than it is in America or Britain. That only shows lack of self-confidence on the part of the universities themselves. As I have said before, had I not been admitted as a mature student I would never have received a university education.”

On architecture
“We do not want to build slums, but good architecture does not have to be expensive, or grandiose. It can be attractive while still being functional and meeting the circumstances of the people for whom it is being created. Let architects accept the challenge of building for a country which is both poor and ambitious. Staff and student housing, for example, must be designed and built so that its capital and maintenance costs are low. In Tanzania we have a Building Research Unit. Could we not adopt some of their plans and techniques for low-cost housing, rather than just thinking in terms of unique (and generally European-based) designs for hostels, flats and so on? … The simplest and cheapest student and staff housing on this campus will have many advantages over the desperate search for suitable accommodation outside, which also involves transport and other problems.”

On bureaucracy and democracy
“I ask that the administration of this University should be simple and cheap. Keep the number of Faculties and Departments to a minimum and the bureaucracy at the lowest possible level. More administrators and what are called ‘supporting staff’ do not necessarily mean letter administration and service; often the reverse is the case, for Parkinson’s Law is valid in Tanzania as well as elsewhere. The administrative and academic structure must be such that individual responsibility for jobs is clear, so that persons can be held accountable for their actions, or lack of them./ And I would add that, while student and staff involvement in the running of the University is necessary, democracy must not be carried to the lengths where it becomes an enemy of efficiency. This is an educational institution, not a representative body, and people must be required to work at their jobs, not to spend all their time on committees. Nor should we be selecting teachers and administrators on the basis of their popularity, rather than their competence in their work.”

TANZANIA’S LONG TERM PROSPECTS

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It might be possible to infer from articles that have appeared recently in The Times and The Economist that Tanzania is the locus classicus of failed economic policies in Africa. There have of course been failures and misjudgements, well documented by President Nyerere himself in his address to the National Conference of the Party on 20th. October, 1982, and elsewhere.

But the performance of the Tanzanian economy does not differ greatly from most of the other oil-importing low-income countries of Africa.

If we look at a recent World Bank publication (1) we find that output per head in the oil-importing countries of Africa fell in 1982 by 1.7% and in 1983 by a further 2%. The corresponding figures for Tanzania were 5% and 1.5%. Between 1970 and 1982 Tanzania’s output of food crops by volume grew at an average rate of 2.1% per annum: the average growth rate for the 23 low income countries of Africa in that period was 1%, for Kenya 2%, for Uganda 1.7% and for Malawi 2.9%. All of these growth rates were less than the rates of growth of population. As a result, there was a negative growth rate per head of -1.4% for all low-income countries, for Tanzania -1.3%, for Kenya -1.9%, for Uganda -1.0% and for Malawi -0.1%. The high figure for Kenya was influenced both by low growth in food production and the phenomenally high population growth rate, as will appear later.

There are, of course, differences both in resources and in response between the different low-income countries of Africa, but such variations do not justify singling out Tanzania for special criticism. As the writers of the World Bank report point out, ‘evidence suggests that the deterioration in most countries has been under way for more than a decade and that it has deep-seated causes. Compared with the rest of the world, African countries have been independent for a shorter time … The colonial powers typically favoured their own settlers, or certain local groups. Independent African governments, almost irrespective of ideological preference or broad development objectives, have always had to contend with the high expectations of their people. Many governments created projects and institution~ that outstripped their capacity to be staffed and operated effectively …’ (2)

If we look more closely at the underlying causes of the crisis as it affects Tanzania, we find a remarkable resemblance with the causes of decline in other countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Three such causes may be singled out for mention.

First, the population of Africa is growing faster than that of any other continent. The average growth rate in Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole in the last two decades of this century has been estimated to be 3.3% per annum, in Tanzania 3.5%(3) and in Kenya a formidable 4.4%. In 1982 it was estimated that the average number of children born to women during the years of child bearing (12 to 50) was 6.5 in Tanzania and 8 in Kenya. This compares with 4.8 in India, 4.3 in Indonesia, 2.3 in China and 1.8 in the United Kingdom. As the World Bank report maintains, the growth of population is the single greatest long-term threat to Africa’s economic development.

What this means for Tanzania is that, assuming the figures to be approximately correct, the population will be in the region of 40 million twenty years from now. The burden that such an increase will impose on the economy requires no emphasis, for example, with respect to food production. It is true that there will be many more persons of working age. But a characteristic of a rapidly growing population is the exceptionally large numbers of children below working age and the heavy burden that they will impose on the educational system, the health services and the country’s resources generally. In the United Kingdom, 64% of the population were of working age (15 to 64) in 1982, in Tanzania only 51%, in Kenya 47%. Rapid population growth is bound to militate against efforts to combat deforestation and soil erosion, a problem that is rapidly becoming acute in many parts of Africa. Political and social problems may well be caused by the increasing numbers of children leaving school with inadequate opportunities for work or further training. In Butiama, for example, it is understood that deeply worrying problems are already arising from the large and increasing number of school leavers unwilling, or unable, to devote themselves to farming and faced with far too few opportunities for higher education, training, or wage employment.

If rapid population growth could be matched by rapid economic growth, the adjustment problems would be much less acute. In fact a rapid increase in the population drains away and diverts resources that might otherwise have been invested in technological change and wealth creation. We are, moreover, witnessing population changes of proportions unparalleled in history. ‘In today’s developed countries fertility was never as high as in developing countries now and morta4ity fell more slowly. Population growth rarely exceeded 1.5% a year. (4) The Third World countries of Africa therefore face formidable problems of employment and wealth creation for which the early experience of the industrial countries can offer us no precedent. The second cause of economic crisis lies in the process of development itself. Propelled forward by the growing expectations of people and the inherent urgency of change, Third World governments have pressed ahead with development projects often beyond the limits imposed by the available resources of managerial and administrative skills and with inadequate provision for maintenance. We read of territories like Hong Kong achieving growth rates bordering on 10% and it would be providential if the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa could match this performance. But Hong Kong possesses sophisticated infrastructural and administrative advantages and investable resources far beyond those enjoyed by any country in Africa.

A critical problem posed by development is the growth of demand that it inevitably makes on the country’s foreign exchange resources. Machinery and machinery spares are almost all imported in Tanzania. Much of the raw material used by industry, notably fuel, is imported. Even in the service sector, development is liable to create new demands for scientific equipment and books for the schools, medical equipment and drugs for the hospitals and dispensaries, pumps and engines for the clean water schemes, nearly all of them imported. And in both the economic and social sectors transport, telephones and air communications play a critical role. All of these developments are of fundamental importance for raising the living standards of a rapidly growing population; but all of them also make serious claims on the country’s resources of foreign exchange. It is the availability of foreign exchange resources for maintenance rather than the availability of new capital that imposes the principal constraint on development.

The key to this problem lies in a steady upward trend in export earnings. But here again most of the oil-importing low-income countries of Africa are caught in a serious difficulty. Their exports are for the most part raw materials of agricultural origin for which world demand is comparatively inflexible and which are notoriously subject to price fluctuations due to the vagaries of climate and changes in the level of economic activity in the 1uropean markets in which they are for the most part sold. Tanzania may be able to increase its market share of some products and the impact of unfavourable price changes may be blunted by the operations of the STABEX scheme; but any drastic rise in earnings is unlikely, at least in the short term. Nor is it likely that Tanzania will be able to penetrate new export markets with new products on any large scale. While, therefore, the enhancement of export earnings from traditional exports, or in new ways, remains a matter of first priority, there seems at present little ground for expectation that, short of a miracle, such as the discovery of oil in commercial quantities, Tanzania will in the near future be in a position to generate sufficient foreign exchange resources by its own efforts to remove present constraints on development.

The third ground for anxiety affects future prospects more than present circumstances, namely, the growing proportion of export earnings that are syphoned off to pay for interest and amortisation on loans. At the moment Tanzania is less seriously affected than some other countries in the region because much of its loan finance has been on concessional terms. Moreover, Tanzania has benefited from the conversion of many bilateral loans into grants, by the UK for instance. In 1982 23.5% of Tanzania’s merchandise export earnings were mortgaged to pay for debt service, which contrasts favourably with Kenya, where debt service payments consumed 38.4% of merchandise earnings due in part to Kenya’s greater use of commercial loans. (5) Compared with the Sudan, where the estimated debt service of 1.1 billion dollars in 1983 was slightly more than total export earnings, these figures seem moderate, but according to the Bank ‘debt service payments are scheduled to increase dramatically in the near future.'(6) In Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole interest and amortisation is due to rise from 5 billion dollars in 1983 to 9.9 billion dollars in 1984 and something like 11.6 billion dollars in 1985. While the precise impact on Tanzania is not known, it is clear that a large proportion of export earnings will be committed to debt service even before imports are considered.

This brief account of some of the problems that beset not only Tanzania, but also in varying degrees many of the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, makes clear the dependence of these countries on external capital flows if the momentum of development is to be resumed. Tentative estimates for 1983 ‘suggest that Sub-Saharan Africa’s import capacity declined Significantly, the result of declining export earnings, falling capital inflows … less finance from the IMF and the exhaustion of foreign reserves.'(7)

Tanzania has already taken radical steps to arrest economic decline in the Structural Adjustment Programme and more recently in the 1984 budget described in the Bulletin of Tanzanian Affairs No.19. There is, however, a real danger that the measures taken will fail to reverse the decline unless there is timely complementary support from without. As the writers of the Bank report contend, ‘there are already several countries in which domestic reform programmes are threatened by inadequate external support.’ (8) Given such support, however, there are grounds for hope that the present downward trend, already slowed by Tanzania’s own efforts, may be reversed if present policies are unremittingly continued. But there are other ground for qualified optimism.

First, Tanzania is bound to be helped by an upturn in the world economy, particularly through its effect on prices and markets for Tanzania’s exports. Secondly, efforts now in train to increase food production to the point of self-sufficiency can substantially reduce the present drain on foreign exchange as well as eliminate the distress caused by famine and the costly measures needed for its relief. Apart from the importance of transport in contributing to this end there is the elimination of waste that has characterised crop collection and marketing. The intention here is to curtail considerably the functions of the crop authorities and transfer crop collection and the distribution of fertilisers to regional cooperative unions. Unfortunately, these changes are proceeding but slowly and adequate measures to curtail the expenditure of the crop authorities have still to be taken. Reducing collection and marketing costs is essential not only to contain inflation, but also to maintain producer incentives without further burdening the urban consumers.

Thirdly, as new planting under the coffee rehabilitation programme comes into operation, there is a prospect that Tanzania’s market share of this expanding commodity market will increase. Finally, there now seems some prospect in the medium term of export from the Mufindi Paper Mill and of urea and ammonia from the Songo Songo natural gas plant; while the last named products may also enable the Tanga fertiliser factory to manufacture nitrogenous fertilisers with less dependence on imported raw materials. None of these developments, if realised, will create spectacular foreign exchange balances, but they may enable Tanzania to sustain the momentum of industrial rehabilitation. It is important to realise, however, that such projects take time and that aid remains the only hope in the short term of giving new life to the economy. As the writers of the Bank report cogently argue, ‘donors must be particularly willing to make available adequate financial assistance in a timely and suitable form to support those Sub-Saharan countries that are implementing major programmes of policy reform … There is no escaping the fact that, if these countries are to be effectively assisted in reversing the downward trend in per capita incomes, they will require large increases in net capital inflows.’ (9)

Thus the prospect, though difficult and uncertain as far as the eye can see, is not without hope. It depends on such external influences as the world economic environment, but it also depends crucially on measures taken within Tanzania itself and the continuation of supportive aid from without. It is not so much the volume as the character and relevance of aid that matters most. The old practice so noticeable in the past in various Third World countries of aid hunting by departmental ministers must give place to carefully devised projects and programmes closely geared to the government’s priorities and managerial resources and having a calculated impact on the foreign exchanges. But to have the required impact in the short term it must be adequate in volume nevertheless.

J. Roger Carter

(1) Towards Sustained Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Joint Program of Action: The World Bank, September 1984.
(2) Towards Sustained Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, p.25
(3) Owing to the lack of full demographic analysis, the Tanzanian figure may be insecure, though it is not inherently improbable.
(4) World Development Report 1984: World Bank, July, 1984, p.184.
(5) In 1982 Tanzania’s outstanding debts from official sources at 1,550.5 million dollars were almost the same as Kenya’s at 1,572.7 million, but Kenya also had debts from private sources of 828.9 million dollars against Tanzania’s 81.1 million.
(6) Towards Sustained Development in Sub-Saharan Africa p.12
(7) Ditto p.13
(8) Ditto p.47
(9) Ditto p.47

CHANGES IN THE STANDARD OF LIVING

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In January, 1978, in Bulletin of Tanzanian Affairs No.5 we reported on the trend in the cost of living in Tanzania down to the beginning of 1977. Since then, strong inflationary influences have pushed prices up and it therefore seems opportune to review once again the effect of this trend on the standard of living so far as this is apparent from the published figures.

The first general indication of the price trend is to be seen in the national consumer price index. Using a base line in 1969, this index rose by 687% in 1983. Within this period, food prices rose by 807%, clothing by 696%, fuel and water by 855% and furniture and utensils by 1,101%, only rents remaining but 8% above the 1969 level. After the nationalisation of buildings in April, 1971, rents fell by over 60%, but were subsequently increased in stages in 1978, 1980 and 1982. The trend of prices at the end of 1983 is clearly visible in the figures for the fourth quarter. Food prices were then 894% above the 1969 baseline, fuel and water 1,252% up.

The Dar es Salaam retail price index for the lowest paid workers showed a still more serious upward movement, while Dodoma was somewhat less seriously affected. The following table compares the trend in Dar es Salaam and Dodoma with the trend in the minimum wage for urban workers.

Percentage rise over 1969 of the retail price index for the lowest paid urban workers in Dar es Salaam and Dodoma

Dar es Salaam All items, Food
1972 18.6, 20.1
1974 69.0, 77.2
1975 148.5, 165.8
1980 412.2, 460.1
1981 569.5, 619.4
1983 907.9, 961.2

Dodoma All items, Food
1972 14.2, 13.4
1974 47.2, 70.2
1975 99.0, 144.4
1980 292.2, 324.4
1981 392.6, 424.0
1983 706.8, 784.4

Minimum wage % over 1969
1972 35%
1974 70%
1975 90%
1980 140%
1981 300%
1983 300%

Source: Hali ya Uchumi wa Taifa katika Mwaka 1983: Dar es Salaam 1984

The conclusion from the above table is inescapable that the standard of living of the lower paid town dwellers has fallen substantially. In July, 1984, there was a further rise in the minimum wage to 405% above the 1969 level, but the disappearance of the sembe subsidy in the 1984 budget must have given a simultaneous boost to the retail price index. The widespread cultivation of spare patches of land in Dar es Salaam, even to some extent in the middle class suburbs, is evidence of the straightened conditions in which many people now live.

There is no doubt that the pressure on urban populations shown by these figures is a cause not only of great anxiety on behalf of those affected, but also of concern for political stability. The figures well illustrate the caution shown by the Tanzanian government in accepting some of the more draconian proposals of the International Monetary Fund. Owing to the very great difficulty in bringing inflation quickly under control, the situation is unlikely to get better in the short term. The real solution to the problems of the urban poor is a turn round in the economy and every day that passes without an IMF agreement only exacerbates the problems of regeneration and increases the dangers of political disorder.

J. Roger Carter

SOCIALISM AND CAPITALISM

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Professor Abdulrahman Mohamed Babu’s address at the University of Dar es Salaam received front page coverage in the ‘Daily News’. He is reported to have said that capitalism can be applied towards attaining Tanzania’s socialist objectives and added that it was wrong to condemn capitalism wholesale. It was a dynamic force. To ignore it would amount to unrealistic emotionalism, he pointed out, stressing that ‘we should make the best out of it and avoid the worst.’ To quote the article, Ndugu Babu said infusion of positive capitalist practices into Tanzania’s economic system was essential for reconciling the country’s backward agriculture and infant industrialisation. ‘Let the people be rich- socialism is about plenty, not poverty, ‘ he emphasised, pointing out that the more economically well-off people become, the stronger the home market becomes and the more conducive situation you create for a budding industry.

He argued that the burning question was not capitalism versus the masses, but by 90% the masses versus nature. He thus advocated increased encouragement of private investment in socially oriented enterprises as well as individual initiative to create capital for sustained growth.

He called for emulation of the recent decision by Chinese authorities to allow for three per cent vigorous private economic participation in the continuing search for a rational balance between consumption and accumulation, a goal, he said, which transcended ideological affiliations.

The Professor decried the tendency of heavy expenditure on grandiose projects at the expense of those that touched the people more closely and which would ultimately be economically more viable. Ndugu Babu, who underscored the need for constant self-criticism, called for a scientific approach in mapping and implementing Tanzania’s socialist programmes, noting that the country’s stable government was a major foundation upon which to build a successful future.

BOOKS

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Andrew Coulson of the Institute of Local Government Studies in the University of Birmingham has reviewed: “Resources and Industry in Tanzania; Use, Misuse and Abuse” by J.V.D. Jones (Tanzania Publishing House, Dar es Salaam, 1983). He writes:

The most common starting point for discussions of industrialisation is markets: if a market for a product can be identified, then a project to manufacture it is proposed. The industrial process is usually based on imported raw materials and equipment and all too often the proposal itself is made by someone who has a vested interest in selling either industrial inputs, or – more likely – machinery. It is not surprising that so many projects created in this way turn out badly. They give a bad taste to the whole process of industrialisation in countries such as Tanzania.

The strength of this book is that it starts not from markets, but from the raw materials available, and describes how they could be used to develop a self-reliant industrialisation in Tanzania. Both large-scale and small-scale processes are discussed, without any vested interests.

The author was a lecturer in chemistry at the University of Dar es Salaam, who subsequently moved to Development Studies and worked with the university students and contacts in the parastatals to assemble the mass of information assembled in this book.

Obviously what can be developed in the future depends on what exists already. The book therefore describes the processes used in existing Tanzanian factories. But it also recognises that these are determined to a large extent by the historical origins and ownership of the companies who made the investments. A theme which occurs many times is the interrelationship between industries. If coal is to be mined, a variety of the industries are needed to use both the coal and its by-products. If a rural industry is to use hydroelectricity, then the planners need several years’ warning. If salt is to be electrolysed to make caustic soda for the soap and glass industries, then uses for chlorine must also be found, e.g., to make hydrochloric acid, PVC, or insecticides. A self-reliant industrialisation is too big and complex to happen spontaneously {n a country with markets as small as those in Tanzania. It therefore has to be planned around a small number of key industries, as the experience of socialist countries teaches us.

This is therefore a uniquely valuable book, not just one for specialists. It includes many positive suggestions and should be available for reference by anyone concerned with developing projects in Tanzania. I hope it gets the distribution it deserves both inside and outside the country. It would be tragic if shortage of a basic raw material (paper) and industrial capacity (printing) prevented widespread use of this handbook, which points to the only way in which in the long term Tanzania can avoid its present cruel dependence on imports.

Andrew Coulson

Professor Royston Jones has sent us the following review of a recent book: “Problems and Contradictions in the Development of Ox Cultivation in Tanzania” by Finn Kjaerby Research Report No.66, Centre for Development Research, Copenhagen and Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, 1983.

The message of Kjaerby’s report may be summarised as follows. The Government has given verbal encouragement to the use of oxen for cultivation, but financial aid has still gone to tractors, although the use of tractors has failed because of lack of expertise and servicing facilities. Agricultural development plans have paid insufficient regard for the peasant farmers’ customs and their intimate knowledge of their local conditions. Oxen and ox ploughs are in demand in some areas and efforts are needed to meet present demand. Demand in other areas is hampered by lack of funds and lack of knowledge about the advantages of ox-ploughing. There is still room for much field experiment in the development of the most appropriate agricultural tools for the different Regions, although much of the past experimental work away from the realities of true site conditions has not been of great value.

The report examines the development of animal traction for smallholder peasant farmers against a background of failures of more capital intensive technology in relation to the present energy and production crisis in under-developed countries. It is pointed out that the slow and uneven success of the ‘green revolution’ has resulted in an increasing acknowledgment of ‘the need for increasing the source of farm power in agricultural systems dependent on hoe cultivation and human energy … ‘ The report examines in detail the potential of animal traction, which is stressed in a growing body of literature. A review is made of the agricultural mechanisation policies of the Tanzanian Government during the 1960’s and 1970’s. Despite the failures of cooperative tractor mechanisation and emphasis on animal traction given in political statements, the lion’s share of funds and efforts continued to be concentrated on tractor mechanisation for the villages.

Ox ploughing by African farmers in Tanzania has had a history of only some 50 years and has depended almost entirely on the single furrow mouldboard steel plough, whereas in Ethiopia a locally made wooden scratch plough (the ‘ard’) with a horizontal fitted iron blade has been widely used for more than a thousand years. A rough estimate gives a number of some 70-80 thousand ox ploughs in Tanzania at the end of the colonial period.

Among the socio-economic factors in colonial times determining the spread of ox ploughs were the development of a profitable cash crop and the growth of wage labour, whether migrant labour in mines, employment on settler farms, or salaried employment. Savings from cash crop production and wage employment rather than credit constituted the main source of investment capital for the purchase of oxen and ploughs. Government extension and trial work played virtually no role in the spread of ox ploughing. The process arid pattern of adoption was one where the initial innovators had the opportunity to learn about profitability and skills from settlers and missionaries. They succeeded with ox ploughing in their villages, where others became interested and could learn the skills.

The distribution of ox ploughing until very recently has remained uneven and has depended upon a variety of factors, including infrastructure facilities for marketing, transport and repair services, soil conditions and the availability of grazing access for cattle, the possibility of growing suitable crops like cotton, rice, maize, wheat and coffee and the presence of settler farms and missionaries. It is probably safe to conclude that even in areas where ox ploughing has become fairly common, the ratio of those who acquired ploughs remains low in relation to the number of households. The main reason is the unequal ownership of cattle, which determines access to draught oxen.

It is rather difficult to assess the impact which the development of ox farming has had on the rural economy. It seems that the concern about lower yields has been somewhat exaggerated. In the long run the only way to overcome this problem is to intensify production through the development of ox powered comprehensive mechanisation spread more evenly over the farming population in relevant areas. Of even greater importance is the fact that comprehensive ox cultivation can relieve one of the most immediately pertinent constraints on agricultural productivity, namely, the excessive workload on the women in weeding and transport.

Recent plans for the increased production of ox equipment are criticised in terms of the choice of appropriate equipment. One of the most needed items in addition to the ox cart is an inter-row weeder, or cultivator for relieving the critical weeding bottleneck. Kjaerby suggests that the production of a tool bar should be planned, such as the proven light weight ‘houe sine’ made in Dakar, to which can be attached a single plough share, a ridger share, chisels, tines, a groundnut lifter and even an eco-seeder. Other alternatives are also considered.

The author reviews in detail the problems of research, design and production of a comprehensive range of appropriate equipment. There is criticism of the value of tests made in rather favourable experimental environments. If peasant agriculture is to benefit from the Tanzanian research institutes, it must be based on the actual conditions of peasant farming, viz., sloping fields, stone and weed problems, undersized oxen, problems of seed quality, etc.. Given the present shortage of mouldboard ploughs and the crying demand, the time would seem ripe to introduce the Ethiopian ‘ard’, which pushes its way through the soil without inverting or overturning the topsoil, especially in semi-arid areas. It is cheap, easily made and easily operated.

The author discusses the changes in land use brought about by villagisation and population growth and suggests various possible developments and modifications of ox drawn implements appropriate to the new situation based on applied research. The most serious constraints on production, he believes, are weeding and transport, pointing to the importance of ox carts and inter-row weeding equipment. As many implements as possible, including ox carts, should be capable of manufacture and repair in small village workshops.

Mr. Kjaerby concludes his book with suggestions about the use of agricultural credit and with speculations about the changes in social relationships that may be brought about by a growing use of ox technology, particularly with respect to the role and influence of women. He comments on the past tendency in design work to draw uncritically on European concepts and to go for solutions which cannot be realised under peasant farming conditions. He recommends two levels of research, which must be closely coordinated:

(1) Farming systems research to identify major constraints and adaptive testing of implements on individual peasant farms.

(2) Adaptive design and testing work at research stations simulating peasant farming conditions.

There is a great variety of peasant farming systems and agro-economic zones in Tanzania, which necessitate local specific solutions to technological problems and constraints. Mr. Kjaerby repeatedly emphasises the need for the closest possible attention to realistic feasibility studies in the field in order to avoid a continuation of past failures and the application of inappropriate technology.

Royston Jones

TANZANIA’S WATER SUPPLIES

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In 1971 Tanzania declared its intention to supply the entire population with clean piped water within a walking distance of 400 metres by 1991. During the first decade of the programme it is estimated that 7.7 million people received piped water for the first time and that some 45% of the population of 19.4 million now enjoys access to clean water. But only 38% of rural dwellers are served, compared with 80% of those in urban areas. Thus Tanzania still has a long way to go.

Dr. Allen Armstrong of the University of Dar es Salaam Department of Geography has been writing in the Daily News about some interesting recent developments as follows:

“The completion of regional water master plans during 1983, covering 17 of its 20 Regions over a 12 year period, represents a major advance towards its target. The plans now provide authorities with basic information previously lacking – a comprehensive water resources inventory, an appraisal of demand and socio-economic issues surrounding water issues and concrete proposals for water supply schemes in a regional, and frequently in a village, context.

The plans, representing a major investment in obtaining water-related knowledge, have been undertaken by eight international consulting firms financed by nine different overseas donors.

Two major lessons have been learned in the process of producing the regional master plans. The first is the need for designing the simplest technologically appropriate solution, stressing ease of construction and operation, low costs and which obviate the need for imported skills and equipment. Early water schemes and development projects in many other fields have failed because they failed to respect these basic criteria.

As a result of experience, recent master plans have suggested an appropriate technological mix, obviously dependent on local conditions, would be 15% gravity water supplies, 20%, surface water pumped, 15% boreholes, 50% shallow wells.

Recent plans have also carried socio-economic studies as an integral component, recognising that community participation is a vital element in installing and, even more so, in operating and maintaining them …. Indeed, the very nature of water supplies implies that it is almost impossible for a centralised official body to construct and run schemes throughout the country and is, therefore, most effectively handled at local level …

Despite clearly defined targets, generous foreign aid and competent technical documents, (Tanzania) is experiencing many problems, which typically and increasingly beset basic needs strategies. In line with the country’s other faltering development programmes, it is beginning to realise that a wide gap remains to be bridged between successful planning and effective implementation.

Allen Armstrong

TANZANIA’S CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

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Introduction
The latest constitutional reforms in Tanzania, which were adopted by the National Assembly in Dodoma in October, 1984, have been seen as a step towards the consolidation of democracy and the building of socialism in Tanzania.

In order to appreciate the various major changes which have been introduced, it is proper to look at the political and legal background of this constitutional process, which marks a big historical milestone in the history of Tanzania. Post-independence constitutional structures have largely responded to the political evolution which the nation has gone through since 1961. These are best illustrated by the 1962 Republic of Tanzania Constitution and the 1965 Interim Constitution, which formalised the United Republic of Tanzania following the 1964 Act of Union with Zanzibar. In the aftermath of the merger of the political parties in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar, which led eventually to the formation of Chama cha Mapinduzi in 1977, the political structure was again reflected in the 1977 Constitution of the United Republic. This Constitution was further amended in 1980 to take account of a significant evolutionary process in Zanzaibar, where the government had introduced a more representative government structure by the adoption of the 1979 Zanzibar Constitution, whose positive contribution was the introduction of a House of Representatives. This House took over the legislative powers hitherto exercised by the Zanzibar Revolutionary Council, which had ruled by decree since the 1964 revolution. The Council has, however, remained until now the executive organ of the Zanzibar government.

1984 Fourth Amendment
The amendments which were adopted by the National Assembly were known as the Fourth Constitutional Amendment Act, 1984. This constitutional measure replaces the 1977 Constitution subject to the retention of some of its provisions and others carried forward from previous Constitutions. The present amendments were based on the 1983 proposals drawn up by the Executive Committee of Chama cha Mapinduzi in order to correct certain anomalies, and shortcomings highlighted in the Party’s 1981 guidelines.

The National Executive Committee looked at the political situation in Tanzania and the need to provide for democratic safeguards within the context of a one-party democracy and also to guarantee the socialist goals to which Tanzania is committed. There were three main areas which were pointed out for analysis and possible reform, namely:

– The powers of the Presidency
– The supremacy of Parliament
– A participatory democracy

When these proposals were eventually released to the public, the National Executive Committee had also considered it appropriate to find ways of consolidating the Union in view of certain areas which needed greater clarity, such as the unique structure of government, which was neither federal, nor completely united. Also, Significantly, the question of sharing and dividing national resources and responsibilities needed also to be clarified, so that future governments would have clear guidelines in running Union affairs.

Following the release of the Party’s proposals there ensued widespread public debate and it was a result of this debate that two major political and constitutional achievements have become well established and reflect the political maturity of Tanzania.

First, the free and widespread public debate, which preceded and influenced these constitutional changes did much to arouse constitutional and political awareness in many spheres of life in Tanzania. The second major achievement in the new Constitution was the inclusion of a chapter on human rights. A major criticism of Tanzania had formerly been the lack of a legal basis for its respect of human rights. The Fourth Amendment brings these out in full in Chapter 3, which defines the rights and duties of individuals, provides safeguards against the abuse of state power and outlines the limitations on individual rights when they infringe the rights of others. It may rightly be said that the public debates convinced the Party and Government that the constitutional exercise would be incomplete without a Bill of Rights in the Constitution.

The Constitution
As any other constitution, the 1984 Act has provided for the division of power within the state and has defined the powers of the Party, the Presidency, the Executive, the Parliament and the Judiciary. The Constitution also clearly defines the areas which apply to the Union Government and those which apply to the Zanzibar Government. It underscores the political fact of having two governments in Tanzania, in which the Union Government covers concurrently the union and mainland jurisdictions. Article 4 of the Constitution establishes a structure consisting of two governments and forms the basis of the 1st. Schedule, which enumerates the matters subject to Union jurisdiction. There are 21 items which now appear on the list of Union matters. There were 17 items in the 1977 Constitution and therefore it is worth noting that the following have been added as new Union subjects:

1. Communications and Civil Aviation
2. Research
3. Meteorology
4. Central Statistical Data Collection
5. the Court of Appeal

One provision, relating to East African Community affairs, was of course dropped. All non-Union matters relating to the mainland fall under the Union Government, while non-Union matters relating to the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba come under the Zanzibar Government.

The Constitution provides for the office of President, who is to be elected for a maximum period of two terms. This is a new provision, but it does not preclude a person who has served as President of Zanzibar being elected as President of the United Republic (Article 40(2) and (3)). For the Vice-Presidency, the Constitution has introduced a system of two Vice-Presidents, whereby at any time one shall be the President of Zanzibar and the other the Prime Minister of the Union. Their order of seniority is determined by Article 47 so as to ensure that the President and the First Vice-President come from the Islands and the Mainland respectively, or vice versa.

The office of Prime Minister again appears in the Constitution and while, as indicated above, he will be one of the Vice-Presidents, he will first and foremost be the leader of government business in the National Assembly (Article 52) and also be responsible for the day to day government business of the United Republic. Therefore the office of the Prime Minister is also a Union office.

As for Parliament, this has been endowed with powers under Article 63 whereby its primary responsibility is to ensure the accountability of the Government for its activities. Parliament has also the responsibility for legislation in Union matters and for Tanzania mainland, while the primary legislative function for all Zanzibar affairs is vested in the Zanzibar House of Representatives.

Article 63(e) gives as one of the functions of Parliament the duty to prepare, or direct the preparation, of reports on any of its functions for submission to the Party. This is a fundamental provision, for it recognises the concept of the supremacy of the Party, which has also been enshrined in Article 10 of the Constitution. The Constitution provides in Article 97 for the privileges and freedoms of Parliament.

Zanzibar
As regards Zanzibar, the House of Representatives has met and adopted amendments to the 1979 Zanzibar Constitution. These amendments have also had a far-reaching impact in view of the constitutional process which has taken root there. It is imperative to note that for the first time Zanzibar will have an elected House of Representatives. The House will also have the supervisory and legislative role over the Zanzibar Government, which has already been described in the case of the Union Government. There are other significant changes which the House adopted, such as the introduction of a legal system, which finds its source both in legislation and in the adversary legal system common also to the mainland.

Conclusion
This brief summary does not exhaust the changes brought about in the new Constitutions of the Union and of Zanzibar. There is, for example, a severe restriction on the number of nominated members of Parliament as compared with the 1977 Constitution, ensuring that a substantial majority are elected constituency members. It is hoped in a future issue of The Bulletin to give some further details of the Bill of Rights enshrined in the Union Constitution. Both of these new Constitutions are due to come into force in January, 1985.

B.T.M. Nyanduga

Note: The views expressed in the above article are those of the author and do not in any way represent the official views of the Tanzania High Commission, or of the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania.

WHO’S WHO AT THE TANZANIA HIGH COMMISSION

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His Excellency Anthony B. Nyakyi – Head of Mission
Ndugu A. V. Magere – First Counsellor and Head of Chancery
Ndugu C.N.B. Mwakang’ata – Counsellor (Political) and Information
Ndugu J. Lugandu – Counsellor (Protocol)
Col. Ndugu B.N. Msuya – Defence Adviser
Ndugu G. Mkocha – Counsellor (Trade)
Ndugu B.T.M. Nyanduga – First Secretary (Economic and Legal)
Ndugu J. Ameir – First Secretary (Consular)
Mrs. S. Nyanduga – Third Secretary (Political) and Information
Ndugu B. Rweyendera – Administrative Attache
Ndugu F. Lweshabura – Financial Attache

Ndugu M.K. Nathani – Tourist Representative
Ndugu E.E. Khilamile – Assistant Tourist Representative

RESUMPTION OF RAIL TRAFFIC

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The November 1984 issue of ‘Railway Gazette International’ reports that at a meeting in Nairobi in October the chief executives of the Kenya Railways and Tanzania Railways Corporation signed an agreement covering the resumption of rail traffic between them. Both form part of the metre gauge system, which formerly comprised, with Uganda, East African Railways. The Tanzania Railways Corporation general manager, Tom Mmari, announced that repairs of the 32km. section across the frontier between Kahe and Taveta stations had already been completed and through freight traffic was expected to begin almost immediately. A passenger service would be resumed when sufficient coaching stock became available.

On Lake Victoria, the train ferries ‘Victoria’ and ‘Umoja’ would start to ply between Mwanza in Tanzania and Kisumu in Kenya as soon as repairs had been completed. It is ten years since the break-up of the East African Railways system. In due course, the railways may be able to benefit from an exchange of staff for training and other purposes. The Railway Gazette also reports that, following a visit by Transport Minister John Malecela to Bruxelles, the Tanzania Railways Corporation is to receive shs.15 million worth of wagons from Belgian manufacturers. Following the recent completion of a study by Pakistan Railways into the proposed Musoma – Arusha line, the Government is to investigate sources of funding for the scheme.

P.H. White

THE MACHINE AGE
Construction of phase 1 of the Kilimanjaro Machine Tools Manufacturing Company has been completed and production has started. It will manufacture machinery and machinery spares that will be used for both metal and wood working activities in agriculture and industry. – Shihata