Tanzania in Transition

This book is the first comprehensive contribution to understanding the
character of important societal transitions in Tanzania during
Benjamin Mkapa's presidency (1995 2005). The analyses of the
trajectory of these transitions are conducted against the background
of the development model of Tanzanian's first president, Julius
Nyerere (1961 1985), a model with lasting influence on the country.
This approach enables an understanding of continuities and
discontinuities in Tanzania over time in areas such as development
strategy an ideology, agrarian-land, gender and forestry issues,
economic liberalization, development assistance, corruption and
political change. The period of Mkapa's presidency is particularly
important because it represents the first phase of Tanzania's multi-
party political system. Mkapa's government initially faced a gloomy
economic situation. Although Mkapa's crusade against corruption lost
direction, his presidency was characterised by relatively high growth
rates and a stable macro-economy. Rural and agrarian transitions were
dominated by diversification rather than productivity growth and
transformation. Rural attitudes in favour of land markets emerged only
slowly but formal land disputes showed more respect for women's
rights. Some space emerged for widening local participation in forest
management, but rural dynamics was mainly found in trading settlements
feeding on economic liberalization and artisanal mining. The
transitions documented and analysed of Mkapa's presidency, however,
indicate only limited transformational change. Rural poverty is
therefore likely to remain deep and the sustainability of economic
development to be at risk in the future. Mkapa was, however, able to
protect the legacy of peace and political stability of Nyerere, but
there were nevertheless important challenges to the first multiparty
elections and governance, and particularly in Zanzibar. The post-
script (covering 2005 2010), indicates that the incumbent president,
Jakaya Kikwete, has yet to prove that he can change this legacy of
Mkapa. The contributions to the eleven chapters of this book are
evenly shared between Tanzanian, Nordic and other European researchers
with a long-term commitment to Tanzanian development research. The
book is dedicated to the youth of Tanzania.