Gendered Migrant Labour: Marriage and the Political Economy of Wage Labour and Cash Crops in Late Colonial and Post‐Independence Southern Tanzania

The Curse or Fertility of Land Clearing: How Migrant Labour Modified Gender-Based Division of Labour in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania

“…In an interview held in Makete, Mr Cheche, an old man who had been a migrant labourer, explained that some households rejoiced and celebrated whereas others witnessed family conflicts over laziness, misuse of resources and infidelity, which were resolved by separation. Similar accounts were noted by Lovett (1996b) and Dinani (2019) in western and southern Tanzania respectively. Some husbands were unhappy upon realising that their wives had not effectively discharged their obligations, amongst other things, compared with other women in their villages.…”

“…Although it was not true in all circumstances, often, children brought up by hard-working women on their own were better at performing activities than others. Therefore, while we do not disregard arguments by Graham (1970), Giblin (2000), Lovett (1996aLovett ( , 1996b and Dinani (2019) on Tanzania, and other studies elsewhere (Gordon 1981;De Haas and Van Rooij 2010), that the removal of men and young men during the colonial period doubled duties at home, in the context of the region in question, we accentuate the significance of women who performed male duties in gaining recognition for their ability and as powerful individuals in society even in the absence of men.…”

“…A study by Giblin (2000) from the same locality, apart from giving a detailed analysis of the state of affairs that victimised women in Njombe, pointed out roles played by women to compensate for the absence of male labour in Njombe. Dinani (2019), who carried out a study in Southern Tanzania, reveals that the notion of a social institution, i.e. marriage, was reconsidered during the migrant labour system.…”

“Bananas are for Women, Coffee is for Men”: Gendered Narratives of Agricultural Histories on Mount Meru, Tanzania

“…In Rita's version of the coffee story, there were profits but no "good life," as coffee served only to reproduce and strengthen gender inequality in Meru families. Her explanation echoes scholarship on other Tanzanian regions where male dominance of cash income increased marital tensions and contributed to a particularly gendered experience of insecurity (Dinani 2019).…”

“…Colonial officials' association of cash crops with males and food crops with females contributed to the marginalization of women in development across much of Africa (Mbilinyi 2016;Boserup 1970). Studies of gender and agricultural labor across Africa have argued that investment in cash economies reduces collaborative production within families, prompts men to leverage their control over land to expand cash crops at the expense of subsistence crops, changes the balance of power within households, and strains relationships between spouses (Dinani 2019;Sachs 2019;Konings 2012).…”