Poverty Politics in Local Government in Tanzania: A Rural Development Perspectiv

Abstract

This article directs development to concrete practical issues in a rural society, using Iramba District in Singida Region as a case study. It deals with three issues. Firstly, it examines how the global level development ideology has affected the local level and how the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have formulated the vocabulary in which development has been phrased. The critique is directed to the dominating concept of "poverty" measured by dollars. Secondly, attention is drawn to the dominating role of women in rural development, especially in agriculture, and the dismissing of this fact in the agricultural planning in "Kilimo Kwanza" i.e. the Agricultural Sector Development Programme (ASDP). The third aspect relates to practical issues, which have been neglected particularly education.