Exponential increase in number.

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 behind the fall in agricultural productivity in Tanzania. This is because rain is the first input in any agricultural activity. Helping people employ themselves through entrepreneurial ventures is another solution to ending unemployment and by extension hawking. Tanzania has so many opportunities. Its geographical location and its access to the sea give it an added advantage that if well utilised could boost the country’s development quite significantly. Regulate street vending There were about 700,000 street vendors in Dar es Salaam alone according to Prof Collins Msoka from the University of Dar es Salaam. This number rose to more than 1 million by 2014 according to Mr Mramba. Tanzanian policy makers must, therefore, understand that street hawking is here to stay. The best way is to stop stigmatizing them and embrace them and in invest in them. President John Magufuli’s statement at the State House on December 6, 2016 in defence of hawkers should serve as a policy guide. In that speech President Magufuli said that even as it is alright to relocate hawkers from the city centre to designated areas local authorities must understand that some levels of street vending in city centres and in major business intersections will have to be tolerated. “There is no law that says only big traders should stay at the city centres. City centres should be for all, from micro to big businesses,” President Magufuli said. But to be able to invest effectively in street vending the following steps be taken; Legalise hawking; The first step should be to legalise street vending. Continuing to keep street vending illegal is to play with the unemployment time bomb. In this the government could borrow a leaf from India. In March 2014 India passed the Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending Act that provided for the issuance of vending licenses. Formalise street vending; the next step should be to finding ways of, at least, partially formalizing them. This could help enroll them in the tax system. The Ilala municipality has shown an example in this direction by creating a data base of hakwers in the municipality. Hawkers are registered and issued with identity cards that identify them as hawkers. The municipality wants to use database when allocating spaces in designated areas. Various informal sector formalization programme such as the Property and Business Formalisation Programme (Mkurabita) left out hawkers because, as experts point out, street vendors are not expect to survive formalization because of the nature of their activities