The Political Economy of Structural Adjustment. The Case of Cotton, Coffee and Maize Production in Arumeru and Geita District, Tanzania

Abstract: This licensiate thesis is based on a number of fieldworks in Arumeru and Geita district during the years 1992-1996, as well as on national level in Tanzania. The aim was to study how the SAPs have affected local level economies, with a specific focus on cash crop (coffee and cotton) vs food crop production, as well as social service provision on local level with a focus on the quantity and quality of health and education. The study conclude that the SAP had have a negative impact on both cash and food crop production - and social service provision. The main argument of the thesis is that the neo-liberal framework fail to understand the pre-conditions for economic development on local level in Africa. Instead a broader international political economy and development theory approach in needed to analyse the context for economic reforms - beyond neoliberal economics - to better understand the preconditions for a broader inclusive economic and social development on local level, in particular for poorer areas and poor people.