Institute of Development Study

Education remains a key for the development of nations. Girls and boys education is critical if families and societies have to move out of perpetual under development. In some African communities and indeed in Malawi, girls education is less valued owing to various socio-cultural reasons. There are practices and norms related to early marriage, negative stereotypes on girls, girls lack of esteem, weaker implementation of laws and policies to protect girls in schools that have affected girls more than boys to remain in school. This has resulted in girls less likely being ready for adult life than boys. Collaborated efforts are needed to address these challenges in our societies.

The author argues that the introduction of Private Higher Education (PHE) institutions in Tanzania has brought back what the Arusha Declaration tried to avoid, which is the challenge of access and equity. PHE institutions have made education a commodity for sale without care for access, equity and quality. Though the PHE institutions in Tanzania outnumber public ones, they enrol only 21.5 percent of the total number of students in a year, this is because majority of people in the country are poor thus cannot finance their education and that of their children.
The paper looks at the history of education in Tanzania from colonial time, independence time (with Arusha declaration as a landmark) which introduced education for self and national reliance to the present time of quasi-capitalism. The paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of higher education during the time of Ujamaa vis a vis present time of mushrooming of PHE institutions focusing on access and equity. The paper uses different documents, books, journal papers and conference papers to analyse higher education in Tanzania. The author finds that though PHE institutions are good and needed, they however are increasing the gap of those who have and those who do not have which threatens peace and security of the country. In addition, while no one wants to talk about it, it is evident that considerable public subsidy for higher education in Tanzania benefit the already socio-economically well to do families.
It is argued that in the Tanzanian context it is almost impossible to propose a viable model or framework for financing higher education because of intense and deliberate politicization of the issue and because of the entrenched mindset of “free higher education” among the majority of Tanzanians. The author proposes that financing higher education in both public and private institutions in Tanzania lies in collection of the debts from those who paid their fees through the loan board and this can only work if the loan is paid according to the income one earns (those who earn more to pay more) and if there is clear mechanism in collection of loan, just like the one that exists for Pay as you earn.

Mitigating HIV and AIDS among youth has been a major policy agenda both internationally and nationally, within Tanzania. Two concerns associated with mitigation efforts are increasing sexual activity at young ages and a burgeoning population of out-of-school youth whom poverty, lack of supervision, and unemployment seem to push into alternative life patterns that present risks to their health. This situation poses a serious challenge for Tanzania, where half the population is categorised as young. This study was set out to understand the sexual behaviours youth engage in that increase their risk of acquiring HIV and influence the HIV epidemic, assess youths’ knowledge about HIV and AIDS and sexual and reproductive health (SRH), investigate how gatekeepers and health service providers are positioned to address risky sexual behaviours among youth, and analyse the social, cultural, economic, and legal challenges to addressing these behaviours in youth in the rural and urban areas of Mbeya Region in Tanzania The study focused on 54 individuals (27 males and 27 females) from three identified categories: youth ages 15–24 years old (30 respondents); gatekeepers (16 respondents); and health service providers (8 respondents). Data collection involved qualitative techniques: in-depth interviews (IDIs), focus group discussions (FGDs), and document review. The study found out that majority of youth studied had heard about HIV and its related effects; however, condom use, and attendance at SRH services is very low among this population. The government, parents, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), religious institutions, and health service providers play a role in addressing risky sexual behaviours among youth. Parents have some responsibility for engagement by youth in risky sexual practices: poor marital relationships and instability in the home, supervising their children poorly, failing to communicate with their children about HIV and prevention, and putting their children in unsafe and vulnerable situations. However, many other factors contribute to participation by youth in risky sexual practices, such as the lack of education about HIV and SRH by schools and other institutions, lack of decision-making power, drug and alcohol abuse, household poverty, desire for material goods, lack of appropriate income-generating activities for youths and poor implementation of policies and laws that have the potential to decrease HIV transmission. The study concludes that despite increased government and NGO measures against HIV and attempts to minimise youths’ vulnerability to the disease, the community still does not fully support these efforts, and youth behaviour change remains a challenge. The study recommends that the Tanzanian government remain engaged and demonstrate leadership by effectively contributing to initiatives that address the HIV epidemic and create an environment supportive of access and use by youth to SRH services.

This paper outlines the flows of private capital that lie behind the growth of the for-profit pharmaceutical sector in Tanzania, and analyses the policy, access and equity challenges posed by the shift to increasing private sector participation in medicine provision. The study was implemented within the Regional Network for Equity in Health in East and Southern Africa (EQUINET) by the Institute of Development Studies, University of Dar es Salaam, in a regional programme co-ordinated by the Institute for Social and Economic Research, South Africa. Case studies of three Tanzanian public-private partnerships (PPPs) were undertaken, focussing on the policy and legal terrain of the pharmaceutical industry and the impact on distribution of and access to medicines in Tanzania. The study established the types of production taking place in Tanzania and the distribution of resultant products for internal use and for export. Access to medicines is affected by many factors, including the qualit...

East African countries are growing and the economic cooperation and integration of these countries is a matter of necessity. Urbanization is increasing and consequently, regional economic cooperation and integration that aims at political union in East Africa needs to work on the future regional cities that are planned as most cities in the region and African as a whole just spring up and unplanned. These cities need to face the challenges of urbanization such as unemployment, sewage system, crime, noises, social and economic polarization, traffic, terrorism and segregation. This paper therefore looks at the future of the East African regional cities and the possible role of Corporate Social Responsibility in shaping these cities as the countries strive to economic cooperation and integration. The paper uses secondary sources to analyse the present cities and project the future cities. Corporations have varying experiences and are more innovative, and thus they can shape the cities better than national states. Besides, the future of the cities is the future of the corporations, since these future cities open up myriad of economic possibilities. It concludes that corporations can play their part in development better if they start to influence these future cities in a positive way for sustainable economic development of the countries involved.

The author argues that the major change in the world history in the 1980s brought with it what Friedrich Nietzsche prophesized as the death of God and the rise of Superman. While in the era of the reign of God, values were created, bargained, vetted, accepted and instituted in the society, the author argues that in the recent few decades under globalization, with man becoming " god " (Homo-Deus), anyone can produce values and live or throw them to the society without the vetting process;it is what the author calls the user-oriented value production system. However, values should be bargained, vetted, accepted and instituted by those who have the knowledge, the philosophers. The philosophers were and still should be the producers and the gatekeepers of the values production system. However, with the death of God being replaced by ICT under liberal democracy, anybody is a producer and gatekeeper of values. This deteriorates and ultimately destroys, not only community values but also the concept of universal value. The author therefore, recommends going back to the drawing board and start to consult, listen and trust the professionals than the user-oriented knowledge and values because values should be a result of systematic, organized and thoroughreasoning process. Lastly, the author concludes that despite of the shortcomings, if it is well directed and nurtured, the Homo-Deus value production system has a potency of coming up with a new value on environment and possibly religion on Green God.

This paper examines the role of women’s micro-enterprises (WMEs) in enhancing rural households’ access to basic needs and services. A case study was carried out among women’s micro-enterprises involved in fish selling business in Kilwa District. The sample was selected from two fish selling markets namely Nangurukuru and Somanga. From the target population of 210 women entrepreneurs, 86 respondents were sampled for this study through stratified and random sampling. A mixed methodology was employed whereby quantitative and qualitative data were collected concurrently by use of questionnaires (both structured and unstructured) and interviews, hence analyzed concurrently. The study findings suggest that women’s micro enterprises play a crucial role in enhancing rural households’ access to basic needs including food, clothing and housing as well as access to basic services including education and health care.