ABSTRACT
The Tanzanian national census statistics for the Kagera Region appear to confirm Goran Hyden's concept of the "peasant mode of production" and the "uncaptured peasantry".
There is a tiny official commercial infrastructure for a population of one million and the Haya appear to be subsistence farmers who sell coffee to earn cash and might withdraw from the market when prices are low. This is the type of local economy I expected to fmd when I first visited the region in 1987. However, since Independence there have been four clear changes in Haya consumer behaviour: 1) purchase of a greater quantity and variety of local foods; 2) increased reliance on sugar and flour - mainly imported from outside the region; 3) purchase of a greater number of consumer goods as part of the acceptable standard of living; 4) decreased consumption of bottled beer and cigarettes and increased purchases of locally distilled liquor.
