Cooperative Cotton Marketing, Liberalization and ‘Civil Society’ in Tanzania

Abstract

This paper describes developments in marketing cooperatives in Tanzania's major cotton‐growing area between 1991 and 1997, when they underwent voluntarization, lost state and donor financial support, and (from 1995) faced strong competition from private cotton buyers/ginners. After summarizing the history of marketing cooperatives in the country, the paper distinguishes the main dimensions of the current changes and sums up their outcomes. It then examines the main socio‐economic and political dimensions of these outcomes before exploring current developments with reference to broader changes in ‘civil society’ and organizational life in rural Tanzania.