Exploring Long-Term Changes in People’s Welfare on the Uporoto Highlands, Mbeya District, Tanzania

Abstract

Changes to villages near to Mbeya in the Uporoto Highlands show a mixture of changing fortunes. New cash crops such as potatoes and trees have arrived. But there has been a decline in pyretheum. And some stands of planted trees make neighbouring lots less productive. There have also been restrictions on access to land in state farms and new conservation areas. Herd growth, whilst there are indications of an improved standard of living in some instances, is patchy. Other domestic units are losing capabilities particular as they age. Poorer households have not been able to build assets easily.