IS TANZANIA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH PRO-POOR?

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51594/ijae.v1i1.42

Keywords:

Economic growth, poverty, income inequality, trickle down, pro-poor policies

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate if the Tanzania’s economic growth is pro-poor or not. The information for this study was obtained from secondary data. The study found that for the 1991/91 - 2007 period, while economic growth made a notable positive change, reduction in poverty and inequality has not been significant. This was because the growth of the economy was driven by capital intensive sectors which were unable to absorb a good number of job seeker nor did they provide markets for the agriculture produce. In contrast, for the 2007 - 2011/12 period, poverty and inequality declined though disproportionately as economic growth expanded. The reduction in poverty and inequality was attributed to increased education levels, ownership of land and other assets, and access to employment opportunities and basic services and the returns from the endowments. The disproportionate benefits were related to rural status, family size, education level, wage employment and non-farm businesses, access to public infrastracture and internal migration. This study suggest that conscious efforts should be made to ensure that the emerged signs of pro-poor are spread to the majority poor. The study, therefore, recommends policies such as land reforms and strategies to improve land productivity, improve provision and access by the poor to social and economic services, promote off-farm activities, government redistributive measures, adoption of labour intensive techniques particularly for the activities undertaken by the poor and in areas where the majority poor live, and the introduction of safety net programmes.

Published

2019-09-05 — Updated on 2020-06-22

Issue

Section

Articles