This report is organized in three volumes as follows: Volumes I and II examines Poverty Escape
Routes and Factors Affecting Mobility in Singida and Dodoma regions respectively, whereas Volume
III focuses on the Coping Strategies used in Singida and Dodoma regions. The series provide an
overview of poverty status in the respective regions, objectives of the study, the methodology used in
carrying out the study, including the data collection and analysis techniques. The findings of this
study focus on Singida region and are divided into community and household factors affecting
mobility.
Data on these volumes complement each other in the final analysis and therefore the conclusions and
policy implications are combined and should be read in conjunction to reflect a comprehensive picture
of poverty escape routes in the Central Zone of Tanzania. Conclusion and policy recommendations
provided accentuate the importance of agriculture for both income and food poverty escape routes as it
was observed that households in the study area rely on planting of sunflower, groundnuts, and
tobacco as cash crops and maize, millet, sorghum, and cassava as main food crops. Production of cash
crops that have reliable market such as tobacco contributes to households’ upward mobility. On the
other hand, the role of the private sector in providing agricultural inputs, extension services, and
reliable market for cash crops has been vividly portrayed as the perfect poverty escape route. In
addition, formal organizations such as Primary Cooperative Societies are instrumental in providing
loans for investing in agriculture.