The Social Services Crisis of the 1990's

The papers making up this volume offer a comprehensive analysis and evaluation of the social welfare system in Tanzania by Tanzanian academics. Taken together, the papers provide in-depth analysis of the historical developments of the social welfare system, from its roots in the nationalist campaign to its implementation under the Tanzanian government's philosophy of socialism and self-reliance. The studies discuss the initial success of social development in Tanzania and its subsequent decline in the 1980s, analyzing the causes of the current crises and evaluating strategies to reinvigorate the social sectors in question: for example the water sector and food security, while others discuss sectoral developments in the wider context of social and economic development in Tanzania. The common focus among the papers is on strategies for sectoral reform in the context of declining government expenditure on the social sectors. The Second Convocation Seminar formed the basis for the Tanzanian government's Priority Social Action Programme.