Economic policy and household welfare during crisis and adjustment in Tanzania

Following an introduction, Chapter 2 overviews the structure of the economy, emphasizing the recent years. In Chapter 3, the authors examine macroeconomic developments and policies, and present an analysis of Tanzania"s substantial informal sector, demonstrating in the process that official statistics have failed abysmally to reflect the whole story of the country"s economy. Chapter 4, based on analysis of several household surveys, provides a detailed structural profile of households in Tanzania, showing a degree of poverty much larger than previously thought, but also a very equitable pattern of income distribution. Agriculture, the country"s most important sector, is examined in Chapter 5; the analysis demonstrates that (contrary to official reports) food production has not increased over the past decade. Finally, Chapter 6 shows, again contrary to what is generally believed, that the rural and urban poor have hardly been affected by structural adjustment. The only groups that seem to have suffered real income decline are the rural middle income and richer households, and the urban rich. The policy implications of this are explored. Includes 7-page bibliography.