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Urban Agriculture in Mwanza, Tanzania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Karen Coen Flynn
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Abstract

Many people living in Mwanza, Tanzania, provision themselves through urban agriculture—the planting of crops and raising of animals in urban and peri-urban areas, as well as in the countryside. This article compares Mwanza's urban farmers with those in Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ghana. Like Zimbabwe's urban agriculturalists, more and more of Mwanza's are not among the poorest of the poor. Much like Ghana's urban farmers, those in Mwanza are often middle and upper-class males with access to scarce land and inputs. Urban cultivators in Mwanza differ from those in Kenya and Zambia with regard to gender, socio-economic class and the factors motivating their farming activities. These findings suggest that even though socio-economic differentiation is on the increase in Tanzania it has not reached the levels of divergence found in Kenya and Zambia. Many of Mwanza's wealthier males continue to face enough job/income insecurity to choose to plant crops to support themselves and their household in lean times. They may also engage in urban agriculture because they are unable or unwilling to take advantage of more profitable investment opportunities outside the food market, or because they desire to spread risk across a number of different investments.

Résumé

Une grande partie de la population de Mwanza, en Tanzanie, s'approvisionne par le biais de l'agriculture urbaine—la plantation de cultures et l'élevage d'animaux dans les zones urbaines et péri-urbaines, ainsi qu'en zone rurale. Cet article compare les agriculteurs urbains de Mwanza à ceux du Kenya, de la Zambie, du Zimbabwe et du Ghana. Comme leurs homologues du Zimbabwe, les agriculteurs urbains de Mwanza sont de plus en plus nombreux à figurer parmi les plus pauvres des pauvres. Comme les agriculteurs urbains du Ghana, ceux de Mwanza sont souvent des hommes de classe moyenne ou supérieure qui ont accès à des terres et des ressources limitées. Les cultivateurs urbains de Mwanza se distinguent de ceux du Kenya et de la Zambie au niveau du sexe, de la catégorie socio-économique et des facteurs qui motivent leurs activités agricoles. Ces résultats suggèrent que la différenciation socio-économique, bien qu'en augmentation, n'a pas atteint les niveaux de divergence observés au Kenya et en Zambie. Une grande partie de la population masculine aisée continue de faire face à une précarité de l'emploi suffisamment importante pour qu'ils choisissent de cultiver pour subvenir à leurs besoins et ceux de leur famille pendant les périodes difficiles. Ils se lancent aussi parfois dans l'agriculture parce qu'ils ne peuvent pas ou ne souhaitent pas profiter de possibilités de placements plus rentables en dehors du marché des denrées alimentaires, ou parce qu'ils souhaitent répartir les risques en diversifiant leurs placements.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 71 , Issue 4 , November 2001 , pp. 666 - 691
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2001

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