Economic growth, rural assets and prosperity: exploring the implications of a 20-year record of asset growth in Tanzania

Brockington, Dan; Howland, Olivia; Loiske, Vesa-Matti; Mnzava, Moses; Noe, Christine

Abstract

Measures of poverty based on consumption suggest that recent economic growth in many African countries has not been inclusive, particularly in rural areas. We argue that measures of poverty using assets may provide a different picture. We present data based on recent re-surveys of Tanzanian households first visited in the early 1990s. These demonstrate a marked increase in prosperity from high levels of poverty. It does not, however, follow that these improvements derive from GDP growth. We consider the implications of this research for further explorations of the relationship between economic growth and agricultural policy in rural areas.

Citation

Brockington, D., Howland, O., Loiske, V.-M., Mnzava, M., & Noe, C. (2018). Economic growth, rural assets and prosperity: exploring the implications of a 20-year record of asset growth in Tanzania. Journal of Modern African Studies, 56(2), 217-243. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022278x18000186

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: May 11, 2018
• Publication Date: 2018-06
• Deposit Date: Jan 8, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 18, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Modern African Studies
• Print ISSN: 0022-278X
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-7777
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 56
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 217-243
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022278x18000186
• Keywords: Sociology and Political Science; Geography, Planning and Development
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/15718695
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/economic-growth-rural-assets-and-prosperity-exploring-the-implications-of-a-20year-record-of-asset-growth-in-tanzania/EC093EC4DBDE081B588EA04DF7A4E11B
• Additional Information: License: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.