The main research question is: what effect has privatisation of Kilombero Sugar Company had on its operations and surrounding communities? The paper
contributes to the debate on large-scale land acquisition and agricultural commercialisation in sub-Saharan Africa,
as well as providing insights for Tanzanian agricultural policymaking and giving a history of the company and
local area. The following section introduces the study area and methodology. Section 3 describes the situation
up to 1998. Section 4 discusses the main changes made by the company since privatisation and their consequences. Section 5 considers the wider impacts on
nearby communities. Concluding remarks are presented in section 6. Two appendices containing detailed information are available at the end of this paper.