Effectiveness of the existing sisal-based industries in reducing the market dependence of the sisal industry in Tanzania: a case study of Tanga region industries

The developing countries have been a source of raw materials for the metropolitan countries, For instance until 1964 sisal was the main export crop in Tanzania. In that year alone it contributed about thirty one per cent of the total export earnings in the country. As a source of wage employment the sisal industry contributed about thirty four per cent of the total wage employment in the country in the same year. However, from 1965 sisal began to lose its leading position as an export earner in the economy. This was a result of competition with Brazilian sisal and synthetic fibres. Brazilian sisal is sold cheaply in the world market because the Brazilian government subsidizes the production costsy; while industrialized countries are turning and giving preference to the use of synthetics. In order to save the sisal industry from its declining position in terms of production and demand several suggestions have been put forward, These include government subsidisation of the industry with respect to its production costs and the establishment of sisal-based industries which would process the sisal fibre into various products which might have wider market outlets both in internally and externally than the raw fibre. This study concentrated on the of the effectiveness of establishing sisal - based industries, The investigation was made by looking at the input - output structure of the existing sisal - based industries in Tanzania. The purpose was to see if these industries have managed to reduce the external dependence character of the sisal industry in Tanzania and to examine the potentialities of developing an internal market for the sisal industry and associated industries given the local availability of the necessary inputs besides the sisal fibre. It was also the purpose of this study to look at the prospects of Tanzania's Third Five Year Plan (1975-1980) to establish a producer goods industrial base to produce locally the currently imported inputs for 'the country's industrial and agricultural development. These inputs include machinery, equipment and chemicals. The data were obtained through interviews and documentation. The main problems encountered were lack of cooperation from some of the people interviewed, and from those requested to provide the relevant data for the study. For instance, certain important documents were nat made accessible and some questions were not fully anwered. Another problem was lack of current data and inconsistcnce of data.from the different documents examined. The major findings as shown in chapter three are that most of the existing sisal - based industries in Tanzania are foreign owned and that their input and output structures are externally determined. From this it was concluded that these industries are not a solution to the market dependence of sisal industry in Tanzania. In chapter four it was found that the internal consumption of sisal and sisal made products is increasing. This means that given the local availability of the currently imported inputs Tanzania could develop an internal market for her sisal and associated products. It was further seen that for this to succeed the envisaged producer goods industries in the Third Five Year Plan should be developed in a manner consistent with their backwards and forwards linkages in order to make Tanzania self-reliant in terms of producer goods. In conclusion, in chapter five, it was suggested that the success of reducing the dependence of the sisal industry on the external market by establishing sisal - based industries that are locally dependent will depend on full nationalization and centralization of all sisal - based industries by the government followed by good management and administration under the guidance of the Party