Social differentiation and the politics of land: Sugar cane outgrowing in Kilombero, Tanzania
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Date
2017
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Abstract
The privatisation of formerly state-owned sugar cane estates and mills in the late 1990s led to
the reconfiguration of the ownership structure and production of the Tanzanian sugar industry.
This included the decentralisation of sugar cane production operations to outgrowers and
their associations. Based on an investigation of sugar cane outgrowers of the Kilombero
Sugar Company, this article explores the outcomes of this transformation and the dynamics
of social differentiation, and the ways in which this is shaped by Tanzania’s institutional and
legal framework governing the sugar industry. While increased sugar cane production has
created jobs and income for some outgrower households, it has also been associated with
several adverse impacts. Large-scale outgrowers have rapidly captured the most lucrative
business opportunities and the land they require, marginalising smaller outgrowers. This
is further exacerbated by heightened competition among farmers and patronage relations
affecting the distribution of harvest quotas and cheap sugar imports. The outgrower model is
central to national development initiatives such as the Southern Agriculture Growth Corridor
of Tanzania and ‘Big Results Now’. Despite the grand ambitions of large-scale agricultural
commercialisation, who wins and who loses out depends more on the local political economy,
where the sugar industry, local business, political elites and local communities compete for
the benefits of expanded sugar production.
Description
Keywords
Tanzanian sugar industry, Land, Decentralisation, Sugar cane, Production
Citation
Sulle, E. (2017). Social differentiation and the politics of land: Sugar cane outgrowing in Kilombero, Tanzania. Journal of Southern African Studies, 43(3): 517-533.