I found this article interesting.
Tanzania's Socialist Revolution: What Went Wrong?
By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
January 18, 2007
Now that Hugo Chavez Frias has not only been sworn in as President of Venezuela for a new six-year tenure but has also adamantly vowed to rebuild Venezuela as a modern socialist nation-state, it is apropos to examine what went wrong with the Mother of all socialist revolutions, namely, Tanzania's Ujamaa/socialist revolution.
Six years after its 1961 independence from British colonial rule, Tanzania embarked on a unique road to development, intending to construct a self-sufficient nation with the Basic Human Needs (BHN) of its people as its top priority. According to President Julius Nyerere's vision, Tanzanian self-reliance would be achieved through a program of rural development, based on communal farming and the democratic input of peasants and workers in the country's political and economic planning. In all, the Arusha Declaration of 1967, the first document to formally lay out the plan begun by Nyerere, had four main goals for Tanzania: egalitarian distribution, self-sufficiency, democracy and the satisfaction of its citizens' basic needs. Combined, these goals reflected a plan based in Ujamaa ("family"), Nyerere's concept of African socialism, which emphasized communal work and communal gains. Ujamaa was to be realized through a massive campaign to galvanize ideological commitment to establishing a better, more equitable society for all citizens. Nyerere attempted to extend his party's fight for liberation from British control to real political and economic freedom for Tanzanian citizens under the new African-run government.
This article seeks to engage in a critical in-depth analysis/examination of what went wrong with Tanzania's socialist revolution.
Plan of Action
As a national program, Ujamaa was ambitious. Egalitarian objectives outlined in the Arusha Declaration and many subsequent writings from Nyerere, intended Ujamaa,"...prevent the accumulation of wealth to an extent which is inconsistent with the existence of a classless society, " eliminating uneven workloads according to sex and erasing racial division within economic control of industry. Socialist development was to have a democratic base of direct involvement from peasants and workers. Illustrating this, elite control of Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), then Tanzania's sole political party, was replaced with peasants in 1967. Civilian control of the civil service was implemented, with citizen-held titles increasing from 25% of public positions in 1961 to 75% in 1967. The 1972 decentralization of the government, that is, dispersing officials to the district and regional levels, was also intended to directly link official people. Public control extended to industry, with massive nationalization of banks, buildings, and industry occurring in the early 1960's. Consistent with Nyerere's non-coercive plan, these industries were compensated for losses taken due to nationalization. Right to land occupancy, taken away during British colonial rule, was also reinstated in 1963.
Development also emphasized self-sufficiency and prioritized provision of basic goods like food, housing and health care, above cash crops and export production. The Tanzania government adopted a cynical stance toward foreign aid arguing that foreign assistance always came with strings attached. To decrease dependency, the nation sought to raise most of its development funding internally. In the first three years after the Arusha Declaration, the foreign share of development funds decreased from 78% to 39%. Nyerere stressed that since repayment of loans would eventually be borne by Tanzanian citizens, "...it would be improper for us to accept such assistance without asking ourselves how this would affect our independence and our survival as a nation." Commitment to civilian well-being was evident in the nation's Second 5-Year Plan, which placed both production of food crops for all and the institution of nutritional education as top priorities. Budget allocations for health care switched from concentrating on large-scale urban hospitals to emphasizing preventative medicine for rural areas.
Nyerere's plan was centered on self-initiative and meeting Tanzania's particular needs. Because of the country's extremely low per capita income ($150/year), capital-intensive development was not an option, particularly since the country elected to maintain a high degree of independence from foreign aid. Nyerere's alternative concentrated on what the country could internally produce: hard work and intelligence. Production was to be increased through efficient farming practices, leadership training, diffusion of technology, maximum labor and land utility, and citizen initiation of development projects. This sensitivity to Tanzanian needs contributed to Nyerere's espousal of African communalism, over socialism or communism. He called these economic systems more suited to large-scale, centralized, industrial nations, while communalism was harmonious with the small-scale, democratic, socialist development Nyerere thought could meet the needs of Tanzanian citizens.
Finally, Ujamaa integrated Pan-African global linkage and self-reliance into Tanzanian development strategy. Nyerere's policy explicitly placed Tanzania in the context of the Pan-African struggle for political, economic and social liberation. A basic goal of the Arusha Declaration was, "...to see that the government cooperates with other States in Africa to bring about African Unity." Such unity, as Nyerere made explicit after the 1974 6th Pan-African Congress in Dar es Salaam, was crucial to achieve the liberation of colonized states, a solidified understanding of African potential, and economic associations which transcended shared oppression, and maximized African peoples' resources. Pan-Africanism, in Nyerere's view, had to have the establishment of justice as its main objective. For this reason, he condemned neo-colonial African rulers who instituted oppressive regimes or perpetuated Euro- centric structures ill-suited to African values. He stated: "We must ask ourselves whether there is evidence that Black people wherever they are self-governing are everywhere trying to establish just societies". Parallel to his emphasis on domestic democracy, he also applauded the inclusion of ordinary citizens of African descent from around the world in the 6th Pan-African Congress, calling their political participation a clearer reflection of the needs of African peoples than the demands of many state representatives.
Ujamaa Villages
A nation predominantly populated by geographically-dispersed agricultural homesteads, Tanzania's economic base laid in cash crops. Its manufacturing sector at independence constituted 4% of its GNP. For this reason, Nyerere's development plan was centered around rural development, presuming that industrial growth would build upon the success of Tanzanian farming, both in providing food crops for the country and cash crops for export.
Nyerere initiated rural development through his plan to create Ujamaa villages. Consolidating diffused populations of settlers into optimal groups of 250 families, these villages would engage in community-based farming, each member contributing his/her work and receiving proportional benefit. Physical consolidation would allow for technological and social service diffusion, as well as communally-shared tools and labor, intended to increase production. Villages would be tied to district and national party representatives to ensure that villagers had input in the allocation of resources. Village assemblies included all members over 18 years of age and were meant to be forums for open discussion and criticism of village operations. Nyerere anticipated that through education and the slow integration of more community-based farming into daily routines, citizens would openly adopt communal farming as an efficient method of production.
Education System
Villagization was meant to occur without using force. For this reason, educational measures were essential to Nyerere's socialist agenda. In his essay, "Education for Self-Reliance", Nyerere called for reform of the Tanzanian educational system, calling the British colonial system inappropriate for producing leaders in tune with socialist development. In its place, he implemented a curriculum that addressed African history, in general, but Tanzanian culture, civic responsibility and practical/functional communal forming skills, in particular, that would serve as the bedrock of a more holistic, Afri-centric and complete primary education.
The educational plan closely reflected general Ujamaa principles. After nationalization of private schools in 1969, recognition of the limited available capital for investment mandated that schools become self-sufficient units. This prerequisite was used by Nyerere to advocate schoolchildren's participation in communal farming, agricultural planning, and maintenance of facilities, as a vital component of primary education. Consistent with egalitarianism, dividing students from the rest of society was denounced by Nyerere as both a counter-productive legacy of Euro-British colonial education and a misuse of potential contributors to development. In fact, students enrolled in secondary school were called upon to build social service infrastructures as part of their vacation periods, rather than remaining separate from their communities. Nyerere also encouraged critical thinking/analysis as a prime objective of primary education so as to lay the foundation for worthwhile democratic participation of all the informed citizenry. As a reflection of Tanzania's delicate attempted balance between internal and foreign relations, classes were taught completely in Swahili, the post-colonial national language, but some English was also taught to ensure that students could participate in foreign affairs.
Educational measures also targeted adult literacy, nutritional skills and technological diffusion. The adult literacy rate increased from 33% in 1967 to 73% in 1978. Night classes were offered to encourage adult participation in agricultural skills, water storage, food preservation and craft. Campaigns to encourage good nutrition, as well as training seminars and pamphlets to teach how to construct intermediate technological innovations like wheelbarrows were also successfully undertaken. The variety of educational methods employed reflected Nyerere's minimal regulation of educational measures, a good illustration of his tendency to encourage flexible policy that could be adapted to regional circumstances.
...to be continued.