Why dealing with hawkers requires long term strategy

Dar es Salaam. The exponential increase in the number of hawkers in Tanzania is caused by three major problems: unemployment, rural-urban migration and a weak economy. All three are interlinked. Unemployment is a global problem. The problem is worse in some countries and approaches to deal with it can differ from one country to another.

The unemployment rate in Tanzania is 10.3 per cent, according to latest data released in 2014 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Dar es Salaam has the highest unemployment rate of 21.5 per cent and rural areas have the least unemployment rate of 8.4 per cent. Actual figures, however, show that the number of unemployed persons aged 15 years and above in Tanzania is about 2.3 million. About 1.2 million among these live in rural areas, according to the NBS.

But the problem of unemployment in Tanzania is bigger if one considers the underemployed in sectors such as agriculture, which have stagnated for years. And this has been the main trigger for the increase in rural-urban migration as thousands of Tanzanians move to major cities in search of employment and better life. Agricultural growth has been stagnating for decades now, growing at below 4 per cent in the last 20 years.

Rural areas have also remained underdeveloped for a long time lacking good roads, inadequate electricity supply and with poor health and education services. All these factors have fueled rural-urban migration. The Tanzanian economy, as it is the case with other African economies are not very well developed enough to provide mass employments to job market entrants every year in the industrial sector.

Street vending is outlawed because it denies the government the much needed revenue. The Business Licensing Act of 2003 abolished the Nguvu Kazi licences making hawking illegal. Street vending had been legalized by the Human Resources Development Act of 1983 which provided for the issuance of the nguvu kazi licences. The assumption was that the informal sector formalisations programmes would reduce street vending and other informal businesses. However, a study conducted by Mr Nasib Rajab Mramba of the College of Business Education in Mwanza has found that reforms have failed to address fully the needs of street vending.

But with no immediate solution to the problem of unemployment hawking should be taken as a blessing in disguise to the country. What would all the one million Tanzanians who enter the job market annually do? If it was not for hawking would crime no increase twofold? In fact it is because of its capability to make the millions of unemployed youth economically active that the issue of hawking has become highly politicised; it offers a temporary solution to the problem of unemployment. Moreover, hawkers are voters that politicians would like to capitalise on.

And despite the fact that street vending is illegal it is not synonymous with armed robbery. It is the fear of losing votes during elections that led President John Magufuli issue a directive, in August last year, that requires local authorities to stop harassing hawkers but deal with them in a civilized manner.



Industrialisation is the way to go

Reducing street vending requires a long term strategy. Part of the solution is to encourage industrialise Tanzania. The industrialisation should focus on agro-processing which will not only boost agriculture by ensuring higher prices to produces it will also provided the much needed employment to the idle youth in rural areas. The high end industries that would feed on raw materials from agro-processors would also be a source of employment to the people. The government has revived the industrialisation move but experts say that any such moves should be biased towards agro-processing. But development agro-processing will have to go hand with overhauling the agricultural sector by, specifically, investing in irrigation. Long spells of drought brought about by climate change has been the largest culprit b