From pyramid to pointed egg? A 20-year perspective on poverty, prosperity, and rural transformation in Tanzania

Abstract

Abstract This article analyses the patterns of poverty, prosperity, and rural transformation in Tanzania through longitudinal research examining livelihoods and asset change in a 20-year period. We argue that some current measures of rural transformation are inadequate for capturing forms of change that matter to rural Africans. We consider in detail some of the processes that lie behind such change in selected locations in Morogoro region, noting the importance of improvements that are taking place through smallholder agriculture. In conclusion, the article discusses the implications of these findings for agricultural policy while also cautioning about the blindness of our methods to other forms of poverty.