Transport cooperatives and organizational integration in Tanzania

Abstract

Co-operatives are both democratic business enterprises and defensive organizational mechanisms for the poor against capitalist exploitation in the market. They are also institutional mechanisms for facilitating access to livelihood assets against poverty. Although there is ample evidence of the historical performance of co-operatives in Tanzania, such history has been biased on the internationally-tradable commodities, such as cotton, coffee and tobacco. This bias marginalized other types of co-operatives which would have equally touched poor peoples’ economic lives.

One of the marginalized co-operative enterprises in Tanzania is the transportbusiness organised in a co-operative form. Although there were isolated historical antecedents of transport co-operatives in Tanzania, they did not flourish. What we have, currently, are transport co-operatives organized behind Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies.

The challenges posed by national and global market liberalization and competition policies, demand organizational innovations by the co-operative enterprise. In that context, transport co-operatives offer a real opportunity for enhancing co-operative integration as an upfront innovation, to harness the cooperative effect against poverty and marginalization in Tanzania.

This paper examines the various scenarios and experiences in Tanzania, and beyond, which would make transport co-operatives an integral component in the fruitful functioning of all other types of co-operative organisations. After the introduction, this presentation has the fallowing issues: First, we look at the theoretical aspects of co-operation. This is followed by an outline of basic organisational designs of transport co-operatives. Thirdly, we look at three international experiences of transport co-operatives in Africa; manly Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa. Then we look at a brief history of transport co operatives in Tanzania. Finally, we introduce a discussion on transport co operatives in the context of the integrated co-operative model (IDRC/CCA, 2015)