Informal trader associations in Tanzania: providing limited but much needed informal social protection

Public understandings of informality as a transitionary state on the way to formalization connects with a general lack of recognition of people in the informal economy as collective political actors and more specifically a lack of institutionalized spaces where informal traders can represent themselves for example in discussions about the use of public space or the design of Social Protection (SP) policies. Although the micro-trade sector is poorly coordinated, recently, a few attempts at broader coalitions and cooperation has taken place perhaps pointing towards a future strengthening of representational power. Meanwhile, informal trader associations provide a range of SP services in a system based on reciprocity. While these measures extend only limited coverage, they nonetheless provide services which for most informal micro-traders are difficult or impossible to access elsewhere.