Abstract

The country’s economic development usually occurs at a local level where interactions between economic elements are highly dense. Even though economic development processes are highly localized; economic growth in the country is due to concentration in growth in a limited number of locations with unique comparative advantages. Lake zone of Tanzania is one of the potential economic areas in the country with unique natural resources (fisheries and forests) features. This study uses cross-sectional data in the lake zone of Tanzania to determine the impact of the fishery resources (which are highly abundant) and forest resources (which are least abundant) on the local councils’ economic performance, admitting other control variables. Multiple linear Regression analysis results indicate that fishery resources negatively affect the councils’ economic performance, with insignificant economic value. Forest resources in the area have a significant positive impact on the economic performance. This paper concludes that despite the abundant fishery resources in the area, they have an insignificant contribution to the local councils’ economic performance. Moreover, the least forest resources have a very low economic impact on local economic performance. Which therefore indicate the needy of reforming available strategies, policies and legal framework accordingly.

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