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Urban-Rural Linkages in East
African Mountains: The Role of
Secondary Towns
‘Global Change and the World's Mountains’
Perth, Scotland, 26-30 September 2010
H. MAINET
JC. EDOUARD
Hypothesis : intermediate towns play a key role in polarising
their mountain surroundings
• Central places in local and regional economies (through
flows of people and resources) and redistribution points
(between rural areas and within urban networks)
• More complex urban-rural linkages
• Analysis focused on markets and services to farmers
offered by and through intermediate towns (small and
medium towns)
• Analysis based on 2 fieldworks : Uganda (Mbale,
Kapchorwa) and Tanzania (Mbeya, Tukuyu), 2008-2009
Mbale : at the foot of Mount Elgon, 30 000 inhabitants
200 km from Kampala
small town of Kapchorwa
close to the border with Kenya
Kenya
Mbeya : at the foot of Mbeya Range, near Uporoto mountains
and Rungwe, 200 000 inhabitants
680 km from Dar es Salam (TAZARA)
small town of Tukuyu
Close to the borders with Zambia and Malawi
I- Intermediate towns, hubs for flows of resources at the
local scale
From mountain areas to urban centres
Market function, redistribution of farm goods
Central market, Mbale Mbeya market
A selective geography of urban-rural linkages : specialized
markets in Mbeya
Uyole/Manjelwa :
largest markets, located on main road and crossroad, dispatching function
Uhindini :
Central market, old one, upper-class market
Specialized in beef meat
Sokomatola :
Former central market, lower-class market
Specialized in fresh fish
I- Intermediate towns, hubs for flows of resources
From urban centres to mountain areas
Redistribution of manufactured and « imported » goods
Agro-input shops in Mbale and Kapchorwa
I- Intermediate towns, hubs for flows of resources
From urban centres to mountain areas
Services to farmers
Micro-credit and farmers’ association in Mbeya
II- Intermediate towns, connected to wider networks
Regional polarisation
Mbeya markets : produces coming
from regional surroundings
III- Intermediate towns are facing paradoxical trends
• Increase in mobility/development of communication
networks = easier direct access from rural areas to
Metropolises
• Lack of local transformation for farm products
• Questions about national policies (ex. decentralisation
in Uganda)