In this paper I examine African peasant problems from the perspective of the moral economy, focusing on the Gogo, an agro-pastoral society of East Africa. In analyzing the rapidly changing African peasant world, I focus on the relationship between the kibarua (wage labor) phenomenon and the moral economy. In conclusion, I point out that, in order to fully understand the contemporary problems of African peasants, it is necessary to create a new concept of “subsistence” that is wide enough to include the cash economy.