A history of the co-operative movement in Mara region 1945-1976

This study attempts to analyse a history of the co-operative movement in Mara region 1945 - 1976. The institution of co-operatives in Tanganyika came into existence as a result of struggle against the attempt by the European settlers to have a monopoly in coffee production and the dominance of Asian merchants in marketing of peasant export crops. In Mara region the struggle was centred over the dominance of Asian merchants in marketing of cotton. Co-operatives were supported by both colonial and post-colonial states. For the colonial state, co-operatives were perceived as a necessary arrangement for increasing production of agricultural raw materials which were needed by metropolitan industries. The post-colonial state, on the other hand, conceived co-operatives as a necessary instrument for rural development. Chapter one attempts to examine the process of transition from primitive communalism and the emergence of the peasantry in Tanzania. The post-war colonial economy is discussed in chapter two under three sub-headings. First, the "dollar-crisis" in Britain and its impact on colonial Tanzania. Secondly, cotton production during the post-war period. Thirdly, peasant cotton production in Mara Region. Chapter three concentrates on cotton marketing before the institution of co-operatives. Two central issues are discussed here: the dominance of Asian merchants in marketing of cotton and the emergence of independent cotton weighers. Chapter four identifies struggles and class alliances which led to the establishment of cooperatives. Chapter five deals with the co-operative movement during the post-colonial period. The period was characterized by centralization and bureaucratization of co-operatives which essentially led to inefficiency and corruption. Much of the work is based on both archival and field researches conducted between April and June 1984. Tanganyika united with Zanzibar and became Tanzania on 26 April 1964. In this study Tanganyika and Tanzania are used interchangeably