Coffee, liberalization and democratic development in Tanzania: A study in the politics of agriculture and development in transitional states

Throughout the 1990s proponents of the 'Good Governance Agenda' argued that implementing the Agenda's recommendations would contribute to sustained economic development through holding leaders accountable for their policy choices and holding periodic elections. This research critically evaluates this argument by analyzing the local, national and international forces involved in developing the Tanzania Coffee Industry Act, 2001. To accomplish this, I propose an empirical model based on a domestic theory of political economy which views institutional outcomes as a result of conflicts between powerful institutional actors as they realign, incorporate and accommodate new institutional arrangements and relationships during a period of change. I argue that the changes in the laws governing the coffee industry were encouraged by (1) the state bureaucracy, particularly the Ministry of Agriculture and the Tanzania Coffee Board; (2) Regional Cooperative bureaucracy; in conjunction with (3) Foreign exporters and international financial donors. While the primary justification for the policy changes were to improve the coffee industry as a whole, in reality the statues in the coffee act intended to strengthen the position of the regional cooperative unions, local exporters and local estate owners vis a via and foreign exporters and private coffee buyers, and the ruling party. Thus, this research treats the process of market liberalization and democratic politics in the coffee sector as a symptom of broader changes in Tanzania's domestic political economy. This study will shed light on the impact of market liberalization on democratic development, the origins of the present economic structure and political regime, the divided character of the ruling elite, and the agrarian basis of power.