Abstract:
This paper has extensively utilised primary evidences obtained from Tanzania National Archives (TNA) to
provide examine the post-war policies on the co-operative development and its implementation in Tanzania.
Historically, the growth and development of the co-operative movement footprint among the natives in Tanzania
before the outbreak of WWII was confined within some few geographical areas. This was so owing to the
colonial hesitancy policy in promoting the policy based on political and personal interest. A policy shift was
evident in the post-war years due to the intervention from the United Nation Organisation, ILO and Fabian
Colonial Bureau that prompted the British colonial power to expand of co-operative movement footprint in
Tanzania largely for its own economic and political interests. The intervention of the British colonial power in
promoting the co-operative movement was based on the modernisation policy. However, the co-operative
movement was top-down demonstrating a desire to control not only the co-operatives but also agricultural
exports.
