Problems of Agricultural and Social Development in Kitembe Scheme, North Mara, Tanzania

Report Introduction: This report is an expanded and revised version of the section entitled "The People, The Society, The Culture" of the US/AID report concerning the Kitembe Project in North Mara, Tanzania. The present report was undertaken a) to verify the tentative conclusions of the above-mentioned section of the initial report (see Appendix on Methodology); b) to provide additional background information on Kuria agricultural practices and their relation to the social system; c) to anticipate problems of development arising from social factors; d) and finally to make recommendations for a successful program of agricultural development among the Kuria people. The scope of the initial report was almost exclusively the area known as "the Kitembe Scheme". This is roughly 1700 acres of land marked out for a development project; it includes approximately 83 compounds or homesteads, some of which are polygamous, and some monogamous; it is located about five miles east of Tarime town. Although the present report concentrates on the same location, it is concerned with a wider area as well for the following reasons: a) economic development cannot encompass a small area in isolation--it must rather relate to the whole nation, and beyond; b) the social system of the Kuria extends far beyond the Kitembe area, and this must be taken into account if success is to be achieved; c) there are important ecological variations in North Mara that are adapted to differentially and this assures that Kitembe is tied to surrounding areas in mutual interdependence.