The Agrarian Question in Tanzania? : A State of the Art Paper

Abstract

The Mwalimu Nyerere Professorial Chair in Pan-African Studies was established at the University of Dar es Salaam in 2008. The main objective of the chair is to reinvigorate intellectual debate on the campus and stimulate basic research on burning issues facing the country and the continent from a pan-African perspective. This is the first state of the art paper published by the chair. The Agrarian Question in Tanzania. There are about four million peasant families in Tanzania. They farm on the smallest scale, the average farm being two acres in size. The principal agricultural equipmentis the hand hoe. Since the onset of the colonial era, those in authority have pursued policies to dominate the peasantry. It is argued that the small scale of operations has contributed to the widespread poverty among farmers. There is still good agricultural land that is not farmed, but the current land tenure of peasants reproduces itself on new farmland. The conclusion is that in order to accelerate agricultural development, land tenure must be institutionalized.

<p>Contents: Part A: Conceptual and Theoretical Issues - The Agrarian Question: Conceptual Issues - Theoretical Issues - Part B: African Perspectives on the Agrarian Question - Agrarian Change and Socioeconomic Transformation in Africa - The Dynamics of Land Tenure Systems in Africa - Part C: The Agrarian Question in Tanzania - Historical Perspectives on the Agrarian Question - Contemporary Perspectives on the Agrarian Question - Forms of Accumulation and the Agrarian Question - Accumulation by Dispossession and the Agrarian Question - Agro-fuels, Large-Scale Food Production and New Land Grabs - Land Tenure, Land Reform and Peasant Agriculture - Selected Cases Reflecting the Agrarian Question in Tanzania - Conclusion and Recommendations</p>