ABSTRACT
Tanzania has had a food security policy as such only since the formulation of the national food strategy in 1984. However, a number of measures taken and policies pursued since Tanzania’s independence have had domestic self-sufficiency and an adequate supply of food to the urban population as their goal. Many of these measures led to institutional and structural changes and influenced socio-economic structures and the attitude of the rural population towards government and its institutions. The resulting structures are therefore not only of historical interest when it comes to assessing the effectiveness of the action taken to achieve food security in the first two decades after independence: they also formed an important basis for the effectiveness of food security policies in the 1980s.
