Becoming wealthy: the life-history of a rural entrepreneur in Tanzania, 1922–80s

Abstract

This paper analyses the life history of a rural entrepreneur in late colonial and post-colonial Tanganyika, Julius Mtenda. Based on oral and archival evidence, including Mtenda's own diaries and private papers, this study examines the historical events that allowed him to move from poverty to relative prosperity, the rationale behind his investments, and the way in which he negotiated the challenges to accumulation that confronted him in the rural environment of Nachingwea. It is argued that the ad hoc convergence between the agenda of Mtenda and that of local government officers (both colonial and post-colonial), evident in many of Mtenda's most significant investments, was the critical factor in his capacity to sustain his accumulation over time.

Keywords:

• Tanzania
• entrepreneurs
• rural development
• Groundnut Scheme
• life history
• retail trade

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for sponsoring my Post-Doctoral Research, and “L'Orientale” and the ESRC for funding my doctoral studies. Fieldwork was sponsored by the Central Research Fund, University of London, SOAS, the British Institute in Eastern Africa, and the Royal Historical Society. The final year of writing the thesis was funded by the Economic History Society and a Tawney Fellowship of the University of London's Institute of Historical Research. In Tanzania, I worked under the auspices of the Commission for Science and Technology. My work has benefited from the advice of my supervisor David Anderson and my examiner Gareth Austin. I wish to thank also Henry Bernstein for extensive comments on previous drafts of this paper. The usual disclaimer applies.

Notes

1. Julius Mtenda was 80 years old at the time of fieldwork in 2002.

2. See Rizzo, “The Groundnut Scheme Revisited,” 139–201, for the life histories of nine men who, like Mtenda, established themselves as entrepreneurs in south-eastern Tanganyika during the late colonial period.

3. For a discussion of the methodological challenges of life history research based on oral sources see van Onselen, “The Reconstruction of a Rural Life.”

4. Quoted in Liebenow, Colonial Rule, 11.

5. For two examples, see Hill, The Migrant Cocoa-farmers, and Kitching, Class and Economic Change.

6. Alpers, Ivory and Slaves.

7. Becker, “A Social History,” 53. Background information presented in the next paragraph, unless otherwise stated, comes from Alpers, Ivory and Slaves . pp. 28–9, 32–3, 36.

8. Kjekshus, Ecology Control, 122.

9. For one example of a wealthy individual in the area, see Ranger, “European Attitudes.” On socio-economic change and local politics in late pre-colonial and early colonial South-Eastern Tanzania, see also Becker, “Traders.”

10. See Iliffe, Tanganyika, 18.

11. Koponen, Development for Exploitation, 449.

12. Information on the transport conditions in the Southern Province has been gathered from Becker, “A Social History,” pp. 154–5.

13. Provincial Agricultural Officer, Southern Province AR [Annual Report], 1945, Tanzania National Archives (TNA) 16/15/44 Vol. 2.

14. Julius Mtenda, interview with author, Stesheni, August 29, 2002. All interviews were carried out in Swahili by the author. The translation of all sources is the author's work.

15. Julius Mtenda, interview with author, Stesheni, August 29, 2002. All interviews were carried out in Swahili by the author. The translation of all sources is the author's work.

16. Julius Mtenda, interview with author, Stesheni, August 29, 2002. All interviews were carried out in Swahili by the author. The translation of all sources is the author's work.

17. J. Mtenda, interview, September 8, 2002.

18. J. Mtenda, interview, August 10, 2002. Wage employment has been identified as a key feature in allowing rural (and urban) entrepreneurs to earn their initial capital throughout Africa. See, for example, Bowden and Moris. “Social Characteristics,” 60; Muntemba, “Regional and Social Differentiation,” 263; Weinrich, African Farmers, 117–37, 205–24; Kitching, Class and Economic Change, 297–311; Hill, The Migrant Cocoa-farmers; Marris and Somerset, African Businessmen, 60; Harriss and Rowe, “Entrepreneurial Patterns”; Beveridge and Oberschall, African Businessmen and Development, 122–6.

19. J. Mtenda, interview, May 7, 2002.

20. Mtenda refused to talk about his army service because he believes military matters to be secret. J. Mtenda, interview, August 10, 2002.

21. Mtenda refused to talk about his army service because he believes military matters to be secret. J. Mtenda, interview, August 10, 2002. Literal translation from biashara ndogo ndogo.

22. For a concise reconstruction of the striking contrast between the scheme's goals and results, see Hogendorn and Scott, “Very Large-scale Agricultural Projects,” 172–4.

23. Rizzo, “What Was Left.”

24. Newala District AR, 1948, TNA 16/11/260.

25. A passage from the 1948 Newala District AR, TNA 16/11/260, states that “goats command a price as high as 100 shillings a head if taken down and hawked to the camps in the Lukuledi Valley [within the groundnut scheme area]; the prices of chickens and eggs are similarly inflated.”

26. J. Mtenda, interview, September 8, 2002.

27. Ugali is the Tanzanian staple, made with (maize or cassava) flour and water.

28. J. Mtenda, interview, May 7, 2002.

29. J. Mtenda, interview, September 8, 2002.

30. J. Mtenda, interview, May 7, 2002. Literal translation from percenti ilikuwa haisimami.

31. J. Mtenda, interview, May 7, 2002.

32. J. Mtenda, August 10, 2002.

33. Literal translation from pointi kwa pointi.

34. J. Mtenda, interview, May 7, 2002. Literal translation from mtaji wa kutisha.

35. J. Mtenda, interview, May 7, 2002. Literal translation from mtaji wa kutisha.

36. Julius Mtenda, “Daftari ya duka Nachingwea” (Book of the shop in Nachingwea), no. 1, 1.

37. £1.00 sterling was worth 20 shillings in 1950, making the initial intake of the shop worth £137 sterling.

38. Mtenda, “Daftari ya duka Nachingwea,” 2. The relative weight of stock bought with his own finances – not on credit – can be discerned from the fact that the first entry in the diary says “we closed the stock from Lindi 440/35 shillings.” This is followed by a list of all the goods he bought with his own resources.

39. McCarthy, Colonial Bureaucracy, 36.

40. Further research is needed to fully investigate Mtenda's link with Asian traders and the broader relationship between Asian and African traders in the area.

41. In 1951 Julius Mtenda's goods were worth approximately £5,000.00 sterling.

42. Evidence of the game problem can be found in the Swahili News sheet of Nachingwea: “Lion (Very good news),” “Habari za Nachingwea katika Kiswahili” (Nachingwea News in Swahili), no.11/52, stamp of Provincial Office, February 28, 1952, TNA 16/32/35 Vol. 2; and three short reports entitled “Snake Danger,” two in “Habari za Nachingwea katika Kiswahili” (Nachingwea News in Swahili), no. 1, date received June 4, 1952, TNA 16/32/35 Vol. 2; and one in “Habari za Nachingwea katika Kiswahili” (Nachingwea News in Swahili), no. 73, 26 March 1953, TNA 16/32/35 Vol. 2.

43. J. Mtenda, interview, August 29, 2002.

44. Chapati is a type of bread. Maandazi are sweet pastries similar to donuts.

45. J. Mtenda, interview, September 8, 2002.

46. This section based on J. Mtenda, interview, August 24, 2002.

47. See Rizzo, “What was Left,” 221–8 on the politics of labour market regulation and the scramble for workers by employer. One of the strategies adopted by employers to attract labourers was to reduce the daily output expected from them.

48. J. Mtenda, interview, August 24, 2002.

49. Coulson, Tanzania, 50–9.

50. Government of Tanganyika, “Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture 1956,” 1, quoted in Coulson, Tanzania, 55.

51. Diary entries with the heading “cash,” meaning that he received cash from the Asian traders, appear from mid-1953 onwards. However, in an interview (NLH 1/1/2) Mtenda stated that “this [business of purchasing agricultural produce] is what allowed me to buy lorries.” His first lorry was purchased on December 13, 1952, suggesting he did not initially record cash from Asian traders. Once the volume of money he managed rose, it seems that he wrote entries in his accounts regularly.

52. Mtenda could not recall the exact moment of diversification. Until 1954 diary entries refer to merchandise for the Nachingwea shop only. From 1954 onwards, merchandise for other outlets are reported. On March 6, 1953, despite reporting only under the “Nachingwea” heading, Mtenda listed three additional retail outlets – Lukuledi, Kibutuka, and Lionja (see Mtenda, “Daftari ya duka,” no.1, p.78). In the early 1950s, Mtenda may simply have moved some of his goods from Nachingwea to rural areas in the district without recording the transfer.

53. This can be seen in Figure 1.

54. J. Mtenda, interview, August 10, 2002. The only place outside the district in this list was Lukuledi, situated just inside Masasi District, not far from the border with Nachingwea border.

55. J. Mtenda, interview, August 10, 2002. The only place outside the district in this list was Lukuledi, situated just inside Masasi District, not far from the border with Nachingwea border.

56. Kennedy, African Capitalism, 188.

57. Kennedy, African Capitalism, 188.

58. Aidano Lali, interview, Mbondo, September 1, 2002: the population in Mbondo still remembers the European officer who attempted to convince people of the benefit of resettlement as Bwana Kukaa (Mr To-Live-Together) – a reference to his persuasion of households to form villages.

59. Nachingwea District AR, 1953, 14, TNA 492/GEN/38.

60. Nachingwea District AR, 1954, 1, TNA 492/GEN/38.

61. Lukuledi was the only other place until this point at which he farmed as well as traded, although the scale of his agricultural undertaking was much smaller than in Mbondo.

62. NLH 1/1/4.

63. Nachingwea District AR, 1956, p.4, TNA 492/GEN/38.

64. In Julius Mtenda's words “Watu walikuwa wanakaa mmoja mmoja.”

65. J. Mtenda, interview, May 7, 2002.

66. J. Mtenda, interview, August 10, 2002. Mtenda's statement should be read with a degree of scepticism, as his claim that his farm was the main factor in Mbondo's growth was possibly driven by a desire to overemphasise his influence on the history of the area. However, the very words porini kabisa “completely bush,” were used by several other informants when asked about Mbondo history. See Swalehe Mnango, interview, Mbondo, September 1, 2002; A. Lali, interview, September 1, 2002; Ali bin Saidi Maundu, interview, Mbondo, September 2, 2002; and Vincent Ibrahim Lipunju, interview, Mbondo, September 2, 2002.

67. Bi Mbelenje, interview, Mbondo, September 2, 2002.

68. V. I. Lipunju, interview, September 2, 2002.

69. The history of the expansion of his land holdings and of cropping patterns draws on two interviews with J. Mtenda, August 24 and 30, 2002. He sometimes visited the area two or three times a week, but might then be absent for weeks on end.

70. “Taarifa ya habari za wilaya ya Nachingwea. Kuanzia tarehe 16/06/1957-30/06/57” (News of Nachingwea District from July 16, 1957 until July 30, 1957), TNA 492/B.2/1.

71. 1954 was the first year in which cashew nuts were marketed in the district, suggesting that plantings took place no later than 1952. The colonial state distributed seeds to promote cultivation. See Field Officer (Agriculture), Nachingwea District AR 1954, TNA 492/GEN/38.

72. J. Mtenda, interview, August 30, 2002. On the rationale behind intercropping see Belshaw and Hall, “The Analysis and Use.”

73. J. Mtenda, interview, August 24, 2002.

74. The claim was confirmed by interviews with S. Mnango, and A. Lali, both from nearby Mnyambe.

75. A. b. S. Maundu, interview, September 2, 2002.

76. J. Mtenda, interview, May 7, 2002.

77. The further expansion of his farm was accompanied by an important change in his cropping strategy which included perennial crops. In 1957, or shortly afterwards, the widespread planting of cashew nut trees on Mtenda's land began. Mtenda erroneously stated that the planting of cashew trees started in 1954 (see J. Mtenda, interview, August 30, 2002), but he was then in Noli not Mbondo and the description of his farm in the Senior Agricultural Officer's report quoted above does not mention cashew nut trees. John Matayo, a relative who first visited Mbondo in 1962, recalled the presence of mature cashew nut trees (see John Matayo, interview, Mbondo, September 2, 2002). Given that cashew trees mature in 3 to 5 years, we may conclude that planting started between 1957 and 1959.

78. Julius Mtenda, “Historia ya Tanu, Wilaya ya Nachingwea” (History of TANU, Nachingwea District), 1955. Handwritten one page document in author's possession.

79. See Nachingwea Life History (NLH) 1/1/2.

80. Maguire, Towards Uhuru, 217, quoted in Iliffe, A Modern History, 523.

81. Iliffe, A Modern History, 542.

82. NLH 1/1/2.

83. J. Mtenda, interview, August 24, 2002.

84. J. Mtenda, interview, August 24, 2002. Here “oil” is used as a metaphor for good land, fit for agricultural purposes. The land was also termed “oil” because it had been cleared by TAC. The analysis of how TANU took roots in Nachingwea is beyond the scope of this paper. However the presence of the TAC was crucial to TANU's spread and leadership recruitment. Mtenda wrote a one page history of the initial days of TANU in the district, kept in his private archive (photocopy in author's possession). All 13 TANU cardholders, with the exception of Mtenda, were TAC employees. See Mtenda, “Historia ya Tanu, Wilaya ya Nachingwea” (History of TANU, Nachingwea District), 1955.

85. Mtenda, “Personal Diary,” March 16, 1965. The entry contains the signature of the District Commissioner who sold his house to Mtenda. This entry records information on a transaction which took place in 1962, yet is found within a 1965 diary.

86. See note 18.

87. Kennedy, African Capitalism, 55.

88. Kennedy, African Capitalism, 55, p.188.

89. Kennedy, African Capitalism, 55, p.188.

90. This section draws on Bernstein, “Agrarian Classes,” especially 50–2. The quotation is from p. 51.

91. Kitching, Class and Economic Change, 408.