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In the 1960s, when most African nations gained their independence after the age of colonialism, several theories and strategies emerged with the goal of "developing" these apparently "underdeveloped" territories. One of the most influential approaches for this task was represented in Julius K. Nyerere´s idea of Ujamaa, the Tanzanian version of African socialism.
Even before the Arusha Declaration established Ujamaa as a national development strategy in 1967, several groups of politicized young farmers took to the empty countryside of Tanzania to implement their own version of cooperative development. From one of these attempts emerged the Ruvuma Development Association (RDA), which organized up to 18 villages in southwestern Tanzania. The RDA became the inspiration for Nyerere´s concretization of Ujamaa and its implementation on national level. Yet, the central state could not replicate the success of the peasants, which was based on voluntariness and intrinsic motivation.
In 2015, this exploratory study has revisited the Region of Ruvuma. Through a case study approach, relying mostly on qualitative methods, new insights into the local history of Ujamaa and its perception have been gathered. In particular, narrative interviews with contemporary witnesses and group interviews with the present-day farmers’ groups have been conducted. Furthermore, NGOs active within the region, as well as regional and local government institutions were among the key stakeholders identified to concretize the local narrative of Ujamaa development. All interviews were analyzed according to the principles of qualitative content analysis. Additionally, individual villager questionnaires were used to achieve a more holistic picture of the local perception of development, challenges and the Ujamaa era.
None of the original Ujamaa groups of the times of the RDA was still operational at the time of research and no case of village-wide organization of collective agriculture could be observed. Nevertheless, in all of the three case study villages, several farmers’ groups (vikundi) were active in organizing development activities for their members. Furthermore, the perception of the Ujamaa era was generally positive throughout all of the case study sites. Yet, there have been significant differences in this perception, based on the village, age, gender and field size of the recipients. Overall, the period of Ujamaa was seen as an inspiration for present-day group activities, and the idea of such activities as a remedy for the developmental challenges of these villages was common among all stakeholders.
This thesis concludes that the positive perception of group activities as a vehicle for village development and the perception of Ujamaa history as a positive asset for the inception and organization of farmers’ groups would be highly beneficial to further attempts to support such development activities. However, the limitations in market access and capital availability for these highly-motivated group members have to be addressed by public and private development institutions. Otherwise, "the smell of Ujamaa" will be of little use for the progress of these villages.
In den letzten drei Jahrzehnten expandierten Supermarktketten aus dem Globalen Norden in Länder des Globalen Südens. Insbesondere Länder mit einem raschen wirtschaftlichen Wachstum und damit neuen Marktpotentialen waren dabei Expansionsziele. Zugleich zeigt sich innerhalb der Länder des Globalen Südens eine Ausbreitung von regionalen Supermarktketten. Mittlerweile gehört frisches Obst und Gemüse fast immer zum Sortiment dieser Einzelhandelsunternehmen.
Bisher untersuchte eine Reihe von Studien die Auswirkungen der Kooperation mit den Einzelhändlern auf die landwirtschaftlichen Produzierenden. Weniger ist dagegen bekannt, welche Liefersysteme und Intermediäre für die Verbindung zwischen landwirtschaftlichen Produzierenden und Supermarktketten in Ländern des Globalen Südens bestehen und sich entwickeln. Insbesondere für leicht verderbliche Frischeprodukte (Obst und Gemüse) ist die Herausbildung dieser Intermediäre eine große Herausforderung. Die vorliegende Studie betrachtet den Zusammenhang zwischen der räumlichen und zeitlichen Ausbreitung von Supermärkten und der Etablierung von Liefersystemen sowie Intermediären am Beispiel von Kenia und Tansania.