Mboga economies: food social values and markets in agro-pastoral communities in Central Tanzania

The paper deepens the analysis of the local food systems and leafy vegetable value chains through an anthropological study that puts local perspectives and practices at the centre. The research, carried out in an agro-pastoral area in the Dodoma region, investigates the economic, social and cultural aspects of mboga, a term that indicates a dressing of cooked green leafy vegetables that, together with ugali (a stiff, white porridge) accompanies the daily meals in rural households. The author finds that the use of dried leafy vegetables is part of a well-established and historical coping strategy of agro-pastoral populations of semi-arid areas characterised by recurrent droughts and frequent periods of food shortages. Increasingly, the commercialisation of fresh leafy vegetables is becoming popular and is characterised by a short-range trade network, with many exchanges taking place without established organisations of producers or traders. At the same time, ancient institutions of moral economy persist, giving sometimes life to hybrid exchanges between the monetary and trust forms. Unlike the sun-dried vegetables, fresh mboga are not available throughout the year, which means that the use of dried and fresh vegetables alternates or overlaps, depending on the season and market availability. Based on this analysis, the author suggests that, while promoting a transition towards smallholder commercialisation, national and local food policies should not limit the extent of the moral economy and the knowledge of self-production and self-consumption of sun-dried mboga at the household and the village level, acknowledging them as an important part of local resilience strategies.