ABSTRACT
This chapter examines agricultural change through the use of state coercion and ill-informed agrarian policies. Tanzanian party ideology accepts the desirability of an egalitarian society, with public control of productive resources and also with a national program of education and community service. The chapter provides the descriptions of the recent agricultural and social history of Iringa Region, including the farming system, sources of migrant labor, economic and political barriers to agricultural innovation, and the ujamaa policy. It analyzes the direction of change and the costs of administrative error and its consequence in a specific area—Iringa District, historically a “breadbasket” of Tanzania. Agricultural development was hindered at the point by the limited number of known cash crops available to African growers. An expansion of maize production occurred in all parts of the district that had access to markets, resulting in land shortage in some parts, and a decline in soil fertility.
