(introduction...)

The call extended to women by the government and party officials to participate in nation building through economic activities has been heeded. Women have gone beyond the miradi midogo midogo concept. They now mean business! Both internal and external forces and other factors have forced the women to participate in the informal business as a way of life.

The internal forces and factors which have propelled more and more women into informal economic activities include the growing needs for the people to reach certain standards of living. It also involves an acute awareness about the economic crisis among the members of the household which has led members to play a more active role in an attempt to sustain it. Furthermore, the changing status of women in the country and the whole Third World, brought about by spontaneous revolutions, which entail women wanting to control and manage their own affairs, has added impetus to women’s participation in the informal sector. Their participation in the informal business is part of a society-wide process of social change.

The external dynamism and other factors, are also influenced by the world wide economic situation which calls upon people of all age groups to increase their income in order to cope with the ever rising inflation and the continuous devaluation of the Tanzanian shilling. The sky-rocketing prices of essential commodities demand that household budgets be adjusted so that families can survive. The government has encouraged the people to be involved in the “sideline activities” and women have taken up the challenge in order to avoid starvation.