Farmers & Markets in Tanzania How Policy Reforms Affect Rural Livelihoods in Africa

Ponte (Centre for Developmental Research, Denmark) analyzes farmers' livelihood strategies during the upheavals of economic policy reforms in Tanzania. He argues that much of the debate on deregulation and market liberalization has been on a macro-level bases and has been based on aggregate data of dubious value, thus missing the realities of the farmer on the ground. He relates continent-wide information to the specificities of agricultural change, exploring agricultural change from colonial rule to the current day. Agricultural input and credit distributions systems at the district level are investigated and the implementation of liberalization policies are explored at the regional and district levels. Finally, the impact of liberalization on livelihood diversification, poverty, and inequality are portrayed. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR