Tanzania`s cotton and textile sectors, which are traditionally known to be labour intensive, are seen to be intransition towards becoming a little more mechanised, new study indicates.
The trend has been identified in a recent research, partly citing mounting labour costs vis-à¶is decreasing cost of capital as key reasons which are twisting the country?s cotton and textile sectors towards employing less and less manpower.
As social scientist researchers, experts were looking at links between trade development and poverty reduction (TDP) in the cotton and textile sectors over the past few years.
Contents are the work of two researchers, George Kabelwa and Josephat Kweka and were presented on their behalf by Hussein Nassoro, lecturer of the Institute of Finance Management (IFM) at the recent Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF`s) researchers` assembly in Dar es Salaam.
Their findings imply that cotton and textile sub-sectors have very weak labour unions and job insecurity was alarming, to the extent that most employers are interestingly in favour of short-term contracts and casual labour, contrary to the laws of the land.
The overall observation coming from the study hints that wage employment in the cotton and textile processing industries is not particularly rewarding as ``wages have remained rather constant``.
As a result, workers are leaving pay rolls of the cotton and textile industries, creating for themselves new jobs in the informal sector.
Likewise, the importation of cheap textile imports and second-hand apparels is also said to be squeezing the market previously enjoyed by domestic textile manufacturers.
``In the non-wage employment, and cotton farming in particular, the incomes received by farmers have not improved.
In order to improve their incomes, farmers have been trying to increase the sales of their cotton by resorting to more quantity and less quality,`` Nassoro said.
Study also notes that cotton farmers believe are getting fairer prices for their cotton sales relative to the export market prices, though they lack adequate information about world cotton price movements.
Research team has suggested that complimentary policies on infrastructural development, fiscal support, credit markets development, and human capacity building are important if trade has to produce better results on poverty reduction in the sector.
They specifically suggest basic areas for policy interventions to focus on human and physical capital formation, strengthening of regulatory institutions and effective implementation of various policies which are now in the books.
It is also suggested that fresh tax incentives be considered by the government because almost all industry stakeholders complained about prohibitive taxes and levies.
In addition, some of the surveyed companies felt that tax relief given to some textile companies has brought about unfair competition, adding that there have been a number of fiscal incentives for investment in the textile industry such as tax holidays on importation of textile machinery, spare parts and chemicals to some of the newly privatised textile mills.
The trend has been identified in a recent research, partly citing mounting labour costs vis-à¶is decreasing cost of capital as key reasons which are twisting the country?s cotton and textile sectors towards employing less and less manpower.
As social scientist researchers, experts were looking at links between trade development and poverty reduction (TDP) in the cotton and textile sectors over the past few years.
Contents are the work of two researchers, George Kabelwa and Josephat Kweka and were presented on their behalf by Hussein Nassoro, lecturer of the Institute of Finance Management (IFM) at the recent Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF`s) researchers` assembly in Dar es Salaam.
Their findings imply that cotton and textile sub-sectors have very weak labour unions and job insecurity was alarming, to the extent that most employers are interestingly in favour of short-term contracts and casual labour, contrary to the laws of the land.
The overall observation coming from the study hints that wage employment in the cotton and textile processing industries is not particularly rewarding as ``wages have remained rather constant``.
As a result, workers are leaving pay rolls of the cotton and textile industries, creating for themselves new jobs in the informal sector.
Likewise, the importation of cheap textile imports and second-hand apparels is also said to be squeezing the market previously enjoyed by domestic textile manufacturers.
``In the non-wage employment, and cotton farming in particular, the incomes received by farmers have not improved.
In order to improve their incomes, farmers have been trying to increase the sales of their cotton by resorting to more quantity and less quality,`` Nassoro said.
Study also notes that cotton farmers believe are getting fairer prices for their cotton sales relative to the export market prices, though they lack adequate information about world cotton price movements.
Research team has suggested that complimentary policies on infrastructural development, fiscal support, credit markets development, and human capacity building are important if trade has to produce better results on poverty reduction in the sector.
They specifically suggest basic areas for policy interventions to focus on human and physical capital formation, strengthening of regulatory institutions and effective implementation of various policies which are now in the books.
It is also suggested that fresh tax incentives be considered by the government because almost all industry stakeholders complained about prohibitive taxes and levies.
In addition, some of the surveyed companies felt that tax relief given to some textile companies has brought about unfair competition, adding that there have been a number of fiscal incentives for investment in the textile industry such as tax holidays on importation of textile machinery, spare parts and chemicals to some of the newly privatised textile mills.
