Tanzanian Agricultural Institutions in Flux: Lessons from Cotton and Coffee-growing Villages Hannah Bargawi September 2008 SOAS, University of London

Overview 1.Institutions and agriculture 2.The stylised marketing and institutional set-up for cotton and coffee today 3.The reality of the marketing and institutional set-up today – results from 6 villages 4.Explaining the realities 5.Concluding remarks

Institutions and Agriculture Defining the nature and role of institutions in agriculture Institutional change in Tanzanian agriculture (limited introduction of new institutional structures; persistence of existing institutions; and uneven outcomes from institutional change) Acknowledging the socio-historic nature of rural institutions and the role of power in markets and institutions.

The Post-Liberalisation Marketing and Institutional Systems (1) Purchasing and processing: -From monopoly to open competition -Limited regulation of domestic and export buying (coffee auction and licenses versus limited regulation of cotton buyers) -Continued role for cooperatives in the coffee market but not in cotton Input distribution: -Collapse of input supply through cooperative structures -Replacement through a voucher system for coffee (now defunct) and the CDF for cotton

The Post-Liberalisation Marketing and Institutional Systems (2) Pricing system: -Closer link between producer and world prices -Elimination of pan-seasonal and pan-territorial prices for cotton -Role of cooperatives in maintaining price stability for coffee Research and extension: -Decrease in state support for research and extension in favour of non-state actors (private, donor-funded) -Cooperative as providers of information for coffee sector

Introducing the Fieldwork Mixture of semi-structured interviews and focus groups with producers, stakeholders and private companies Total of 6 villages and 69 producers plus additional 40 interviews with other stakeholders. Producer respondents selected with help of local researchers and aid of focus groups Assessment of wealth and power by considering livestock and land assets, house characteristics, village leadership and institutional positions and use of non-family labour.

Realities of the Institutional and Marketing Set-up (1) Purchasing and processing: -Uneven purchasing competition across time and space -Varied role and influence of cooperative societies -Wealth and power as determinants of market access Input distribution: -Cotton and the failings of the CDF: misinformation; exploitation; access -Coffee and the open input market: lack of market provision; input price differences; detrimental cost-sharing solutions -Wealth and power as determinants of input access

Realities of the Institutional and Marketing Set-up (2) Pricing system: -Uneven producer prices between and within villages for cotton and coffee and unstable seasonal prices for cotton. -The relationship between producer wealth or position and producer prices and payment timing. Research and extension: -Continued research but failure to translate into practice -Piece-meal and ad-hoc extension services, including donor and NGO involvement in cotton and coffee sectors. -Benefits to those least in need.

Explaining our Observations History of relations between producers, traders and the state Coercion and control of the cooperative movement over time Understanding old and new institutional structures with history in mind

Concluding Remarks Dramatic changes in the institutional and marketing systems for cotton and coffee over a relatively short period of time. Large institutional vacuum left by liberalisation of cotton and coffee sectors some existing institutions have often been retained (at least formally) Replacement of some structures by ad-hoc and informal institutional arrangements. Within existing and new institutional structures, benefits and losses have been uneven. Existing relations of power and wealth are reflected in the accessing and exploitation of current institutional arrangements for cotton and coffee. The historic nature of institutional structures in Tanzanian agriculture can help explain current phenomena.