Abstract:
The 1982 Co-operative Act established the multipurpose production oriented co-operatives in
the country. Prior to 1982 we never had real multipurpose co-operatives although an attempt was
made after 1967 to encourage multi-purpose co-operatives. In 1976 co-operative unions were
dis solved and villages and " Ujamaa Villages” which were deemed multi-purpose production
oriented co—operatives were created. But since most co—operative principles were not
observed, it is unfair to recognize them as “true" co-operatives although some village data has
been used to support some of the arguments in this paper. So, we can rightly say Tanzania - does
not have a long experience with multi-purpose co—operatives.
The paper intends to. create an awareness among individuals and or institutions involved in co operative development and management that there exist potentials for increasing members'
incomesif certain, managerial problems are solved. The paper concentrates mainly on technical
problems and some suggestions for minimizing them.
The concept of multipurpose co—operative; defined in section 1 while section 2 looks at what
multipurpose co-operatives can do in the Tanzanian context Section 3 traces the historical
development of multipurpose co—operatives while section 4 outlines some benefits which co operatives stand to gain. Major technical problems are discussed in section 5 while th
