Trapped in decline? Reassessing agrarian change and economic diversification on the Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania
Trapped in decline? Reassessing agrarian change and economic diversification on the Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania
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陷入衰退？
DOI：
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发表时间：
2001
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影响因子：
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通讯作者：
S. Ponte
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
S. Ponte
分析土地变化和经济多样化的动态对于理解非洲国家目前在市场改革下的转变至关重要。本文探讨了坦桑尼亚人口稠密的乌卢古鲁山区发生的复杂变化，并将乌卢古鲁案例置于市场自由化、经济多样化、贫困和不平等等更广泛辩论的背景下。它认为，农村家庭并没有像以前的文献中所描述的那样，在乌卢古鲁山区“陷入衰落”。在这一地区耕作的严峻现实下，家庭可以通过三种方式改善生计-除了移民和依靠汇款。这些措施是扩大周边平原的耕地，试验替代耕作制度，增加非农业收入。乌卢古鲁家庭正在做上述所有事情，并取得了一定程度的成功。因此，经济多样化可以在改善坦桑尼亚及其他地区的农村生计方面发挥重要作用，但这一进程更有可能发生在经济联系牢固、进入主要市场的机会相对较好的地方。
Analysing the dynamics of agrarian change and economic diversification is central for understanding the current transformation of African countries under market reforms. This article examines the complex changes taking place in the densely populated Uluguru Mountains of Tanzania, and places the Uluguru case in the context of wider debates dealing with market liberalisation, economic diversification, poverty, and inequality. It argues that rural households are not ‘trapped in decline’ on the Uluguru Mountains, as depicted in previous literature. Under the harsh realities of farming in this area, households can improve their livelihoods in three ways – short of migrating and in addition to relying on remittances. These are to expand land cultivated in the surrounding plains, to experiment with alternative farming systems, and to increase non-farm income. Uluguru households are doing all of the above, with a certain degree of success. Economic diversification can thus play an important role in improving rural livelihoods in Tanzania and beyond, but this process is more likely to take place in locations with well-established economic ties and relatively good access to major markets.