Book Reviews Ulafit; Vol. V/l No.2, 'Y85, Journal .J( the !'acu.'ty of Arts ana Social Sc-Ien<'t';, Ul1Iverst(v of Oar es Sulaalll. A.G.M. Ishumi, THE URBAN JOBI,ESS IN EASTERN AFRICA. Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, 1984. (1I2p) K.J. Mchombu THE problem of urban joblessness is an old and thorny issue in the socio-economic development strategy of most Third World countries, :ranzania being a very typical example. Attempts to solve this problem started III the late sixties. The solution was based on the simplistic assumption that if the Jobless wer~ repatriated to the rural areas they would stay put, and the problem would have been solved. However, the reality has proved otherwise; not only have the repatrees returned to their "jobless corners" in the towns, but other jobless peopk have been streaming into the towns in ever-increasing numbers. What had started as a trickle in the colonial days, has turned into an alarming flood after Uhuru. The conspicuous failure of the government in Tanzania to find a lasting . solution to this problem of urban unemployment can partly be attributed to the inadequate information on the basic causes, and the interrelated issues linked with urban unemployment. It has become evident to many concerned parties that urban unemployment is just the tip' of an otherwise huge socio-economic problem. It. does no good to attempt to solve the urban unemployment problem in isolation, while doing very little to uproot the source and major cause of urban joblessness .• In the light of Nguvu Kazi (the latest in a series of similar past slogans), the present book The Urban lobless in Eastern Africa (1984) by Professor Ishumi, therefore,is both welcome and timely because it provides the necessary research-based data. and reveals the different options available, which are often ignored pre-conditions for intelligent decision-making. "The purpose of this study," writes Prof. Ishumi, "is to address itself to these questions: ... how big is this unemployed population, and what is its nature? What are the geographic and community backgrounds of the individuals involved? What are their social and economic characteristics? How do they liv.ein this environment and what activities do they engage in? j What: difficulties do they face and how do they sunno~t ~~m?L.(P30) The book i,s divided into six chapters, each focussing on specific aspects of the theme of urban joblessness. In chapter one,lshumi provides a historical background to urbanisation, .reviews the scantily available research documents on this subject. A point of 87 popular interest raised here is that contrary to what one would expect, Oar es Salaam was not an important town until fairly recently. The most important towns, historically dating from the 15th century, are Lindi.. Kilwa, and BagaiIuyo., ' ThISchapter also provides data which reveals the rapid population growth in East I\frica as a whole, and the explosive populationgtowth in all major urban centres. In Tanzania, for example, it is pointed out that the population was 7.4 million in 1948, which had shot"upto 11.9 million by 1967, and was estimated to'be 19.1 million by 1982. The rate of growth has increased from 1.8 per cent in the 1950's to the present figure of over 35 per cent. Kenya's population growth is even more alarming than Tanzania's. By 1969Kenya had 10.9 million people-a figure which shot up to 14.3 million by , 1977, and the estimate for 1982was 17million. The current population growth rate for Kenya is 4 per cent-one of the highest in the world. ' It is pointed out that, although the population has been increasing rapidly in all the 'East African states, it is in the major urban centres that a dramatic . and potentially explosive' population growth has occurred, especially after independence. A deeper analysis of these urban jobless people is conducted in chapter three in which the author enum~rates the jobless population as a percentage of . the town's population, their distdbution by age, sex, geographical and ethnic background, and their social and educational backgrounds., ' This chaptet i~ of major significance because it explores the social conditions and contexts which have created and perpetuated the problem of urban joblessness. The analysis is based on interviews and observations carried out in the towns of Oar es Salaam, Arusha, Mwanza and"Tabora in 1978. The' research method employed has one obvious limitation: that the urban jobless will be always moving from one jobless comer to another. This has excluded large numbers of the jobless people who stay. at home most of the time-especially women, and' no uQubt a substantial number of men as well. It is this limitation which partly explains why, for example, in Oar' ~ Salaam only 4,791 were identified as jobless, Arusha 510, Mwanza,l ...Ul an~_ Taboral,145. In Percentage terms, this means in Oar es SalaamO.56 per cent .. and in Arusha 0.66 per ceQt of the town's population is unemployed. The author, however, admits (p. 36) that the correct figure of all thelQlemployed people in urban areas in Tanzania is around 20 per cent of the town's pOp. l'1.tions. - .' . In terms of age, the study discovered that most of the urban jobless, i.e. 80 per cent, are young people between the ages of to add 35 years;,those above ,36 years are a minority-making up only 16 per cent. In terms of sex, the researchers discovered that the urban jobless are mostly males, i.e. 75 per cent while females make up 25 per cent. The study also discovered that in the majority of cases, the jobless come from the immediate surrounding area. In._.myestigating the economic background of the jobless, the study found that 91.4percentof them come from'jioor homes, those earning ,1000/-' or'less per year. In the saine section the study reveals that 77.1 per cent of the jobless £ome directly from a backgrQund of peasant farming. In analysingthe educatiomiI background of the urban jobless the study -fouild out that most of them are educated up to Or sli~tiy beyond primary scbool~i.e. 80 per cent, out of which 54 per cent are primary school.graduateS who froled to secure the few secondary school places. Those who have received . ,. no school educs.tion make up 18.6 -per cent of the total population of the jo~less•. ' .. . In chapter foUr and five the study concentrates on how the jobless manage to. survive in the towns. According to the~ replies, the means of subsistance are: depend on relatives (34.8 per cent); petty business (24.2 per cent); depend on friends (15.2 per cent); just depend on luck (12.1 per cent); and other {unspecified)-13.6percent .. In further investigation, the study analyses the problem of pupils who run .away from schools in urbarl schools. AccQrdingto the findings, the two most influential factors are: poverty of parents and a discouraging teachingl learning environment (p. 86) . In highlighting the discouraging learning .environment, the study points out that such schools are characterised by the following keywords: Authoritarianism and punitive atmosphere, laxity and negligence, disorder and lack of orientation in the whole school, oversize classes (up to SS pupils . per class.),no essential textbooks, overworked, half~trained and disillusioned teachers. The study arrl.ves at' a. number of conclusions, and makes a number of suggestions inrelation to the urban jobless• . The rural-to-utban. exodus is increasing steadily, and it is mainly the . ..YOUllgex-primaryschoolleavers who migrate; that agriculture in Tanzania has . nofbeen a profitable occupation and that it has not improved rural life and thus,to the young people, "it is a flight from poverty to anticipated wealth in '. towns"; .. the author concludes that contrary to the government's rural development statements, it is the urban areas which have obtained the main benefits and assistance from the government'. Underlying his conclusion that .the government has done very little to develop agriculture, the study points out thilt the tural areas haye been neglected to the point of d~priv;ation•. . Agriculture has.been a sad ease connected with ruralpoverty. The sector, Inilolvillg more than 90 per cent of. the national population, has In practice suffered from official negleCt, not only in terms of adequate and flficlent delivery offarm inputs as w-ellasprofessional advice to farmers, but also In terms of tiin#lyeollectlon of farmers' market crops... so laboriously produced .•. These negatlv,j.actors.(have) led to a dangerous . ..-..vici0ll!'cycle of effects: frustration and apathy, . little production ... reduced income, dlinlnlshed purchasing power ... degeneration 01 incentives ... (p~95) : ,- Tru: study refutes, convincingly, claims that there is something basicallY': wrong with the agricultural extension services; it is the government's policy and practice which need to be changed. It is argued that: ... the extension stafl Will not take over the hoe from the ftU71lN'Shands . and begin tocultlvOJe kmdfor him if the farmer does not want to becfIIiM ..of dlscourq,ginglylow priceN for his. cotton, .malu, co/lee, pyrethrum, etc. 0' ~. his... house is .over-stocked With bags of the product which. has. never.been .~ught for'.the J1lISI one or two seoson9. 89 Agricultural training and extension staff have no influence on 'or control 'over these things. (p. 96) The study also concludes that the parastatal crop authorities have done serious harm in their exploitative, repressive, patronising and bureaucratic attitude to fanners. 'In the meantime, ,these parasitic parastatals have been growing in size in paper functions and they have steadily distanced themselves from the fanners to the extent that they have become,insensitive to their needs, their complaints, their ideas and their agricultural requirements. , The study also arrives at .a number of conclusions and suggestions to repair the damaged education system in Tanzania. It starts by revealing that the quantitative achievement of Universal Primary Education (UPE) is less of an achievement because it has not been accompanied by any qualitative achievement. The fact that most of the urban jobless are products of the education system" ... means that the specifically intended goals of equipping children with the basic literacy skills, of providing them with the necessary knowledge scope and critical ... productive skills for a self-reliant rural life, and'hence of making primary school education complete initself,~have not yet been fully attained ... " The study further argues that the policy of Education for Self-Reliance (ESR) has not been successfulJ,yintegrated into the education system. Schools which have been successful in ESR activities have shown very poor academic results, and academic results have proved to be poor in ESR activities. The author points out that the problem is not that ESR is not good, but rather that it has never been properly worked out how ESR programme is to be fitted into the tight and crowded school programme. ' The suggestion made is that the curriculum should be streamlined, giving adequate time to learning and grasping school subjects, and lengthening the primary school number of years to give enough time for learning the productive and practical skills envisaged in ESR. It is suggested that two more years should be added to primary education for this purpose as it has already been done by Kenya's polytechnic education system and Botswana's Swaneng- Brigades system. The study also points to the relevant curriculum offered under the British colonial days-the middle school days (1952-1960's)-which was more appropriate to the present education requirements. It 'is suggested that, specialised teachers should be tr.ained in agriculture, handicrafts, and other' practical skill areas .. There is little doubt that this study is a'valuable tool. to the intelligent :\?Olley makers dealing with the twin problems of urban unemployment and .rural under-development. This, however, is not 'to say that this book has po weak points. ". , Itwo.uld have b~en verY helpful, for example, if the author had traced the problem of. urban jo~les_snessto i~s rural~ng!nS iri order to fii?-dout what percentage of the ex-pnmary leavers have feft foi' urban centres. How have those left in the rural areas fared vis-a-vis their contemporaries who left for the urban centres? Secondly, this study represents the actions of pollcy makers and their nega~ve consequence on a particular section of the country's population. 90 Based on these fmdings, the author suggests corrective actions. There is very little participation and mvolvement by the victims themselves in articulating how they ,feel and their per.ception of how they can be helped to help themselves • .There is an elitist assumption that the a(titude and perception of the unemployed is not a critical part of the whole equation. This is a problem which can only be solved if the unemployed are active participants in the search forits,solution .. These last few remarks notwithstanding, Professor Ishumi deserves to be congratulated for this in-depth study of a chronic problem. Z.E.Lawuo. EdIu:titIonfl1Jd SodtIl au"".IIRurtdCo1lUlUllilty. Dar es SaItI•• Ulllvedity Preu, ~ es SaluDa (n.d. but 1984) (I67pp) A.MI G.M.lshumi Deptll'tment 0/ Education UnivRsity 01»ar es Sa1flam. This.book, published in.1984, is an historical account of the beginnings and development of Western formal education in a local community of what was then Tanganyika in East Africa. The,area in focus is Chaggaland on M~unt Kilimanjaro, a community that became an interesting "exchange market" yet .a progressive "battleground" between the outside world as represented by European explorers, Christian missionaries and the colonial administrations and the indigenous forces from Within. The study takes a look at the nature and pattern of the external thrust on Chagga country. Chapter 1 thus not only sketches the locale and the initial informal contacts such as those by Rev. Johannes Rebmann, Henry HanuJton Johnston, Baron CarLClaus Von de Decken, Richard Thornton, Rev Charles New and Joseph Thomson, but also describes in detail more permanent and impacting forces. Three initial external forces include German CQlonial influ~ce that unfolded after the formation of the Gtwllsclwft fur IHutachtt Kolonblriion in 1884, the establishment of mission stations, the Leipzig Lutheran society stamping itself in 1893 as the first on the district map after the ill-fated English CMS, and the ~tablishment of economic activities • . Chapter 2 throbgh 4 delve into the laying-down of British rule after World War. I, which went hand. in hand with the establishment, by the colonial acbninistration of Native Authorities fonowing a framework of "indirect ru1~" as wen as an active revitaIisation: of coffee cropping that had been introduced 91