Ocal markets and cultural change in Moshi rural district, 1890s – 1950s.

This study examined the extent to which the presence of local markets in Moshi Rural District, especially in Kibosho area, influenced the cultural change of the Chagga from the 1890s to 1950s. Specifically, the study analyzed the presence of local markets as a complex sector of commercial activity among the Chagga. These local markets played an important role in social, economic, political and cultural change of the Chagga communities; which expressed the conceptual association of learning new practices outside the sphere of their families. Data for this study were collected through archival sources, oral interviews and secondary sources. It has drawn on Evolutionary Diffusion Theory to make sense of the extent at which the process of cultural diffusion was responsible for cultural change in Moshi Rural District as the Chagga came into contact with other cultures. The major finding of this study is that local markets had significant meaning in the history of the Chagga because they acted as centres for cultural transformation through diffusion or adaptation.