A Socio-Economic History of Coffee Production in Mbinga District, Tanzania, C.1920 – 2015
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A Socio-economic History of Coffee Production in Mbinga District, Tanzania, c.1920 – 2015 by Yustina Samwel Komba Dissertation presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University Supervisor: Dr Anton Ehlers (University of Stellenbosch) Co-supervisor: Dr Hezron Kangalawe (University of Dar es Salaam) March 2021 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Declaration By submitting this dissertation electronically, I declare that the entirety of the work contained therein is my own, original work, that I am the sole author thereof (save to the extent explicitly otherwise stated), that reproduction and publication thereof by Stellenbosch University will not infringe any third party rights and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it for obtaining any qualification. March 2021 Copyright © 2021 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved i Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Abstract The research focused on the foundation, development, fortunes, and socio-economic impact of the coffee industry on smallholder coffee producers in the Mbinga District for the period from 1920 to 2015. Drawing on archival and oral sources, it analysed the historical interactions between the coffee actors in the coffee industry, namely the state, the co-operatives, private coffee enterprises, and smallholder coffee producers. In the process, Gavin Fridell’s “coffee statecraft” and James Scott’s “weapon of the weak” approaches are utilised as theoretical points of departure. While the colonial state laid the foundation for state control of the coffee industry through the co- operative marketing system, the postcolonial state’s interventions shaped the trajectory of the coffee industry between the 1960s and 1990 under the Ujamaa policy. The European Economic Community grant for the coffee-improvement programmes between 1977 and the late 1980s influenced the expansion of the coffee industry in the Mbinga District. From the late 1980s, the Tanzanian government implemented economic liberalisation which marked the end of Ujamaa principles and the transition from state monopoly to the free-market system. The research demonstrates how the transition from the state monopoly of coffee production under co-operative societies to co-existence with the private enterprises has resulted in entrenched hegemonic and exploitative practices at the expense of smallholder coffee producers between the 1990s and 2015. There is also a focus on the role of women in coffee production and marketing in the Mbinga District over time. While coffee has been regarded as “man’s crop”, the complexity of women’s participation in coffee production and marketing is revealed in the findings. This thesis argues that the history of the coffee industry in the Mbinga District evolved through the interaction between the state, the coffee producers, co-operatives and later private coffee enterprises, all of which have impacted on the socio-economic livelihood and fortunes of the smallholder coffee producers in a variety of ways. Keywords: Tanzania; Mbinga; coffee; co-operatives; state; Matengo Highlands; Ngaka; Ujamaa; villagisation; MBICU; smallholder coffee producers; women. ii Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Opsomming Die navorsing het gefokus op die ontstaan, ontwikkeling, wedervaringe en sosio-ekonomiese impak van die koffie-industrie op die kleinboer-koffieprodusente in die Mbinga-distrik van 1920 tot 2015. Die historiese interaksie tussen die rolspelers in die koffie-industrie, naamlik die staat, die koöperatiewe verenigings, privaat koffiemaatskappye en die kleinboer-koffieprodusente is ontleed met behulp van argivale en mondelinge bronne. In die proses is Gavin Fridell se “coffee statecraft” en James Scott se “weapons of the weak” as teoretiese vertrekpunte gebruik. Die grondslag vir die staatsbeheer van die koffie-industrie in Tanzanië deur middel van die koöperatiewe bemarkingstelsel is tydens die koloniale tydperk gelê. In die post-koloniale tydperk, dit is van die 1960’s tot 1990, het staatsinmenging die koffie-industrie deur middel van die Ujamaa- beleid beïnvloed en gevorm. Die Europese Ekonomiese Gemeenskap se skenking vir die finansiering van koffie-verbeteringsprogramme tussen 1977 en die laat 1980’s het die uitbreiding van die koffie-industrie in die Mbinga-distrik beïnvloed. Sedert die laat 1980’s het die regering van Tanzanië ʼn beleid van ekonomiese liberalisering ingevoer. Dit het die Ujamaa-beginsels vervang en ʼn oorgang van staatsmonopolie tot ʼn vryemarkstelsel ingelui. Die navorsing het aangetoon dat hierdie oorgang van staatsmonopolie oor koffieproduksie onder koöperatiewe verenigings tot ʼn stelsel van medebestaan met nuwe privaat maatskappye tussen die 1990’s en 2015 gelei het tot die verskansing van bestaande uitbuitende en dominerende praktyke tot nadeel van die koffie- kleinboere. Die rol van vroue in koffieproduksie en bemarking in die Mbinga-distrik en hoe dit mettertyd verander het, kom ook onder bespreking. Navorsing het getoon dat, ten spyte van die feit dat koffie as ʼn “man’s crop” beskou is, vroue se aandeel in koffieproduksie en bemarking baie meer kompleks is as wat algemeen aanvaar is. Die proefskrif argumenteer dus dat die geskiedenis van die koffie- industrie in Mbinga-distrik ontwikkel het deur ʼn interaksie tussen die staat, koffieprodusente, koöperatiewe en later ook privaat koffiemaatskappye wat die bestaansmoontlikhede en ervarings van koffie-kleinboere op verskeie maniere beïnvloed en bepaal het. Sleutelwoorde: Tanzanië; Mbinga; koöperatiewe verenigings; staat; Matengo Hoogland; Ngaka; Ujamaa; hervestiging van mense in nuwe dorpe (“vigilisation”); kleinboer-koffieprodusente; vroue. iii Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za Acknowledgements The writing of this thesis was made possible with support from supervisors, individual people and institutions. I pursued this study with a Lisa Maskell Fellowship under the Gerda Henkel Foundation at the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences of Stellenbosch University. I want to acknowledge their funding support through the Partnership for Africa’s Next Generation of Academics (PANGeA). I would like to express my enormous gratitude to my two supervisors, firstly Dr Anton Ehlers, who tirelessly gave his guidance, mentorship, encouragement, and support throughout my study period at Stellenbosch University. I sincerely appreciate his role in encouraging me to participate in various seminars and workshops within and outside Stellenbosch University, where I presented my papers which form substantive parts of this thesis. I will always be indebted to him for his guidance. A very special thank you for the support from my second supervisor, Dr Hezron Kangalawe, from the University of Dar es Salaam, for his guidance during my study. His familiarity with Tanzanian archival documentation helped me to obtain as much as possible from the archives. I thankfully acknowledge the assistance I got from the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), my working station. The UDSM supported me with a three-year study leave that enabled me to pursue my studies in South Africa. Financially, the university supported me to conclude my six months of field-work in Tanzania. It also assisted me in finding permits for my research in the Tanzania National Archives (TNA) in Dar es Salaam, Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operative Development in Dodoma, Kilimanjaro, and the Ruvuma regions. I acknowledge the role played by senior scholars of the University of Dar es Salaam to get the scholarships, especially Dr Rose Upor (a Principal of the College of Humanities) and Dr Oswald Masebo (a former Head of the Department of History). Many thanks for the support of the staff members at TNA where I collected much of the archival data about coffee production in the Mbinga District during the colonial period. My gratitude to the Director of the Archives for the permits and support in redirecting me to the National Record Centre (NRC) in Dodoma, where I obtained more of the post-colonial archival data. At the NRC, I want to iv Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za acknowledge the support I received from all staff members during my research in Dodoma. At the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operative Development, Mr Kanuth Komba (an Assistant Director of the Crop Development Division) was very useful in facilitating my permits to the Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) in Kilimanjaro and the Tanzania Coffee Research Institutes (TaCRI) in Lyamungu Station, the Hai District in Kilimanjaro and the Ugano Sub-station in the Mbinga District, Ruvuma region. A heartfelt thank you for the support from the coffee enterprises in the Mbinga District, Dan and Associate Enterprises Limited, Coffee Management Services and Mbinga Coffee Curing Company Limited. Moreover, I am deeply grateful to the coffee producers in the Mbinga District for the time they sacrificed to talk to me during my field-work. I appreciate their hospitality, their trust and all the gifts I received during my visit. I want to acknowledge the invaluable support from members of the postgraduate students in the Department of History at Stellenbosch University. Through the History Friday Morning Seminar (HFM) series, I was able to present drafts of my chapters and get feedback from the members. My special thanks to the members of HFM led by Prof. Sandra Swart and the team, consisting of Dr E. Doro, Dr Dande, Lloyd Maphosa, Bryan Kauma, Tinashe Takuva