“Coffee is ours, but the future is uncertain”: youth aspirations, institutional trust, and livelihood decisions in Tanzania’s coffee heartland
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Date
2026-01-08
Authors
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The sub Saharan Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (SJSSH)
Abstract
This study examines how youth in Mbinga District, Tanzania, navigate their engagement with coffee farming
amid shifting institutional, economic, and climatic conditions. Coffee serves as both a livelihood foundation and a marker of
Matengo identity, yet generational participation is declining as youth increasingly perceive it as high-risk and low-reward.
Drawing on six focus group discussions and four key informant interviews across four villages, and guided by Aspirations
Theory and the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, we find that youth aspirations are institutionally mediated: while coffee
is valued for its cultural and intergenerational significance, engagement is constrained by delayed payments, opaque
cooperative governance, limited access to land and finance, and climate-related risks. These conditions narrow youth
aspiration windows, prompting informal pre-harvest sales “magoma” and livelihood diversification. Youth express
conditional optimism, noting that coffee could remain viable with improved institutional transparency, timely payments,
gender-inclusive governance, and climate-resilient support. The study concludes that revitalizing youth engagement requires
simultaneous structural and aspirational reforms—strengthening cooperative accountability, enhancing asset access, and
integrating climate adaptation into livelihood strategies. These findings contribute to debates on intergenerational renewal,
rural youth livelihoods, and institutional trust in African smallholder economies.
Description
Journal Article pp. 90-100
Keywords
Youth Aspirations, Coffee Value Chains, Institutional Trust, Cooperative Governance, Livelihood Diversification, Tanzania