Upgrading trajectories in domestic value chains: experience from non-industrial private forestry in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania
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Date
2025
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Mkuki na Nyota Publishers Ltd.
Abstract
For many years, investing in the agricultural sector has been regarded as
a key to poverty alleviation in developing countries. In Tanzania, a!er
independence and until Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), the
investment focused on cash crop production (i.e. sugar, co"ee, sisal, tea
and cotton) for export (Gibbon, 2011) giving little attention to forestry
production by smallholder farmers. However, timber production by
smallholders (referred to as non-industrial private forestry in this paper)
is gaining economic importance in di"erent parts of Africa (Arvola
et al., 2019). In Tanzania, this timber production is largely occurring
in the Southern highlands. In fact, some studies (for example, Asiad,
2016; Pedersen, 2017; Lusasi et al., 2019) suggest that the forest area
under smallholder tree growers in the Southern highlands in Tanzania
has surpassed the industrial forestry which is owned and managed by the government and corporate companies. In addition, as observed by
Harrison et al. (2004) and Malkamäki et al. (2018), issues of indigenous
land rights and land claims also constrain expansion of the industrial
forestry in developing countries, including Tanzania. Empirical evidence
shows that the current consumption of wood in Tanzania exceeds
the supply, leading to a de#cit of 19.5 million m3 and this situation is
expected to persist for many years to come (MNRT, 2015). $is needed
timber, we argue, will depend to a large extent on the supply from nonindustrial private forestry, implying that there is a huge potential for
smallholder tree growers to expand their woodlots and hence improve
their household income.
Description
Book Chapter (pp. 165–190)
Keywords
Upgrading trajectories, Domestic value chains, Non-industrial private forestry, Timber Rush, Southern Highlands, Tanzania