Trading centres and development in a remote district in Tanzania

Abstract

As a contribution to the ongoing debate about how to counteract the centralising tendencies of large urban centres, this article looks at the impact and role of small rural trading centres in Tanzania. It is shown that significant intra‐district trade and labour migration takes place but that this remains limited in the more peripheral areas. The lack of wholesale outlets is a particular handicap in all areas. Tension between administrative or political decisions regarding location of various agencies and local business rivalries combine with regional ethnic differences to define the arena in which various contenders for class power are clashing, with the occasional arbitration, when necessary, of the more centralised agencies such as the Regional Development Associations, thus exemplifying the ultimate dominance of the centre, despite policies attempting the contrary.