Abstract:
Underdevelopment is a badge of colonial ism. A state emerging from a colonial environment
has development as one of its objectives, as no true development can be achieved under foreign
domination. For Tanzania true development is that of the people and not things or according to
President Nyerere: “The creation of conditions, both material and spiritual, which enable man
an individual and man the specie, to become his best”. It is one thing to define the goal and
quite another to attain that goal and the methods employed in the attainment of that goal, we
shall call “strategy” and this is usually embodied in the policy. Tanzania’s policy for
development is that of socialism and self reliance and the strategy has been that of rural
development. This strategy has been adopted mainly because most of the citizens are rural
based and since agriculture accounts for a greater part of the country's economy it remains
the backbone of our economy. The article begins by examining the background to the Act,
briefly looking at various efforts in rural development and later on concentrates on the Act itself
and finally mention is made of some of the problems inherent in the Act.
