Supporting Women Pre-Cooperative Groups in Tanzania Through Credit Is This a Strategy for Development?

Abstract

In the development discourse, what is said about women has changed significantly during the past two decades. The rhetoric has moved from a welfare-oriented approach, perceiving women as passive recipients of aid and focusing on their reproductive role; to economic-oriented approaches emphasising women's role as producers and active participants in the development process; and finally, to an empowerment approach. However, planning instruments and methodologies have undergone remarkably little alteration so as to accommodate these new approaches. Basically, the rational comprehensive planning methodology developed in the 1950's continues to be used in modified forms by institutional structures as diverse as governments, donor agencies and NGOs (Moser i 993:85). Based on a study of women's pre-cooperative groups and Special Credit Schemes to women found in Kilimanjaro, Northern Tanzania we shall here demonstrate in this paper how this mismatch between development rhetoric and approaches on the one hand and actual planning and implementation procedures on the other has had devastating effects on women. We haye (hosen to look at credit schemes because