0006 JAN – APR 2018
HORTICULTURE IS EVERYTHING FOR HARD-WORKING MARTHA
SOLAR WATER PUMPS SHINE ON SMALL SCALE FARMS
KEY HORTICULTURE FISCAL REFORMS PROPOSED BY TAHA
OUR PARTNERS
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M ES S A G E F R O M TAHA CEO & CHAIRPERSON TFHL
agriculture sector in Tanzania. We are constantly making adjustments for institutional strengthening, bringing in the required skill sets, especially in marketing, production and communications.
Dear Reader I am delighted to introduce you to the sixth issue of our magazine. I appreciate the support we have received from our members and partners. We have always celebrated together victories, and shared challenges for collective solutions.
This issue will shed some light on some of the progress we have made, and you will read firsthand experiences from farmers on how they have benefited from horticulture. I encourage you to grow into a farmer, and progress into a commercial farmer: it is possible! If you are already a small scale farmer, set your sights on going commercial and TAHA is here to support you!
Since the last issue, we have seen the business environment easing out and gaining a positive momentum. Our relationship with the government is improving, and TAHA has participated in a number of meetings with the government. We have also hosted some high level government officials to our activities. We are taking steps to engage both regional and international spheres, in a bid to improve the business environment and make sure the industry agenda is well mainstreamed at all levels.
Enjoy the reading and if this is your first time reading our magazine, I hope you will find it addictive as others have. Please send us your feedback as we are always keen to find the best ways to get information through to you.
TAHA is zealous in working to improve its efficiency and effectiveness to better serve the horticulture industry and beyond. Our policy efforts go beyond horticulture, regularly impacting on the entire
Ms. Jacqueline Mkindi
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EDITORIAL TEAM MAGAZINE EXECUTIVES Jacqueline Mkindi Anthony Chamanga Amani Temu EDITOR Evelyn Elliseus CONTRIBUTORS David Minja Kelvin Remen Basil Malaki David Wainaina Faraja Nyalandu Likati Thomas Thomas Richard Ruth Vaughan SALES & MARKETING Evelyn Elliseus DISTRIBUTION TAHA Operations Department LAYOUT, DESIGN & PRINT Perfect Printers Ltd sales@perfectprinters.co.tz
PUBLISHER
F ro m t h e Edit o r
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elcome to the sixth issue of Horticulture in Tanzania. We hope you enjoy our selection of stories looking at issues in horticulture and agriculture more broadly around the country. As usual, we feature a number of success stories from our local farmers to inspire you to greater efforts. This issue we feature Martha Ndelekwa, one of Arusha’s hard working farmers and a great promoter of women’s cooperatives. We also talk with Said Salum, a new farmer in Zanzibar who has benefited from TAHA’s expertise and with Shabani Musa from Babati who has been having success with his greenhouse tomatoes.
Fiscal reforms in the sub sector could be a real boon to farmers and TAHA has been promoting the views of members in a range of circles to ensure that voices are heard. Our article of fiscal reform outlines some of the points we have been discussing on with the government. You can also find out the latest on solar water pumps for irrigation and learn how our youth are developing innovative mini solar grid solutions for rural challenges and finding ways to create new businesses at the same time. Enjoy the magazine!
Kanisa Road, House no. 49 P. O. Box 16520 Arusha, Tanzania Tel/Fax: +255 27 254 4568 info@taha.or.tz www.taha.or.tz
Cover photo: TAHA agronomist inspects orange fleshed sweet potato crops at TAHA’s farm at Kifaru, Kilimanjaro (Photo by Robert Hubner)
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Con te n ts HORTICULTURE IS EVERYTHING FOR MARTHA Women work together to secure contracts
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SAFE STARTUP SPACES FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS Shule Direct founder discusses the need
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INCREASE FARM PROFITS WITH SOLAR WATER PUMPS Proven to be financially and environmentally sustainable
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HORTICULTURE SUBSECTOR FISCAL REFORM PROPOSALS FOR FINANCE ACT 2018/19 Taxes hinder growth of the subsector
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TAHA PICTORIAL
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SAID’S FARMING ADVICE: NEVER GIVE UP! Now living a life he only imagined possible
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STRONGER PARTNERSHIPS BOOST AFRICAN VEGETABLE MARKETS Smallholder farmers are the backbone of food security on the continent
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BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR YOUTH WITH SOLAR MINIGRIDS Using electricity productively to improve livelihoods
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SHABANI’S PATH TO FARMING SUCCESS Market price fluctuations a challenge
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CURBING SOIL BORNE DISEASES The trick is to keep the soils in balance
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THE FINTRAC FEED THE FUTURE SPECIAL Enhancing the future of service delivery to smallholders
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HORTICULTURE IS EVERYTHING FOR MARTHA
Creating a women’s group has worked well for Martha (3rd from right)
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artha Ndelekwa is one of the hardest-working farmers around Arusha. Aged 52, she is a mother of seven children and lives with her husband in Midawe Village in Bang’ata in the outskirts of Arusha region. Originally, she worked as a storekeeper at the University of Tengeru, but she quit her job to support her husband’s business, which was flourishing at the time. However bad times fell upon the business and Martha looked for work to support the family.
This time round, she wanted to try something new and farming beckoned. In 1990 Martha joined the throng of women that were setting out as farmers and planted maize, beans, bananas and coffee, some of the most marketable cash crops at that time. This provided her income to cover her basic needs despite the profit margins being relatively small. The hand-to-mouth form of farming was neither efficient nor sustainable in the long term.
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And so in 2008, she decided to start commercial horticulture farming. “After the collapse of the coffee market, I decided to prune out all the coffee trees as they were occupying the big portion of my land and start afresh with horticulture,” she reminisces. She replaced the coffee trees on her four-acre farm with cabbage, tomatoes and cucumber. It wasn’t easy, recalls Martha but after witnessing a few members of her society succeeding she also
Fish-farming can earn extra money for Martha and her family
thought it was a good idea to venture into something new. She then joined a women’s group called Midawe Mshikamano and started green bean farming, as the group had a supply contract to one of the companies in Arusha. Realizing the group was overcrowded and would not serve her long-term goal, Martha decided to quit. She had learnt a lesson or two on how groups operated and the idea to create a women’s group with a shared common goal to help one another in improving their livelihood had been planted. “I called other women and convinced them to join the group. I outlined some of the benefits that they would get out of it and with time 30 women successfully
joined in 2014” explained Martha. The group started working together in 2015 and they were able to secure a contract with FRIGOKEN for the supply of green beans. “Our contract was not that bad, although we had challenges in the production process as we had limited knowledge on green beans farming, we were able to make profit at the end of the day although it was not that much.” Martha heard about TAHA after she attended a horticultural fair at the World Vegetable Center, where she came across TAHA’s information brochures. After reading through them she thought it would be better to seek support from TAHA. They eventually visited TAHA, joined as members and met agronomists for technical
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agronomic support. “TAHA has been helpful to us since we joined and most of our success counts as a result of our involvement with them. They not only provide us with agronomic services and market linkages for our produce but also advice on arising issues within the industry whenever we reach out to them,” says Martha. Previously, Martha’s farm was largely dominant with coffee trees for the most part, with maize and beans occupying a small portion of the farm. The latter two crops earned her Tsh 500,000 per season and around Tsh 1,000,000 per year, within two cropping seasons. But after she started horticulture activities and using only an acre of her farm, she has seen a big profit and she is now thinking of using
the remaining part of her farm to maximize her profit. “In my first season of farming horticulture crops everything changed as I planted peas and earned Tsh 4.5 million surprisingly. The following season I planted Chinese cabbage and I got an income of Tsh 1.8 million – with a successful market of my produce in Zanzibar and also planted broccoli in which I earned Tsh 1.2 million in profits. In another season I planted onions earning Tsh 1.5 million and constantly I am preparing the farm to grow another crop in hopes of making additional profits.” For Martha, horticulture is everything. She has used her profits gained from this short period to start building her modern house and to construct a fish pond near her house, which gives her relatively good income. She made profits enough to pay her children’s school fees and prepare for the next farming season. Martha is advising other women who are idly dependent on their husbands to bring money home to wake up and join forces, so that collectively they can discuss how to fight poverty and stop living poor while there are so many opportunities in the horticulture arena. Challenges are inevitable in anything that you do and for Martha and her group, their biggest challenge is to meet market demand. “We have challenges with diseases and insects as do many other farmers, but for me and my group members, our biggest challenge is to meet the market demands. The market
Martha's fish pond
Martha built this house with the profits from her farm
is so demanding but what we are producing is not enough, others will cry about market but for us, TAHA has managed to give us a good market where we have also received very good contracts,” she said. “My recommendation to TAHA is that they should increase efforts to meet as many women groups as possible in the country
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and provide them agronomic education that will enable them yield great produce and make profit such as we have done in our group, it will eventually help improve lives and families. Above all, I express gratitude to TAHA for their support thus far as we’ve achieved impeccable success and we are ready to put in more efforts in our work,” Martha concluded.
SAFE STARTUP SPACES FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
Faraja Nyalandu
By Faraja Kotta Nyalandu, Founder and Executive Director of Shule Direct
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ost women engage in economic activities with limited knowledge and minimal information to guide their business choices and growth. They lack the know how to develop their ideas, market their products, grow and scale beyond their community. The information is available but not consolidated in a user friendly and contextual format that bears in mind the access and learning needs of young women in Tanzania. Due to high demand of knowledge, information and capital, most young women join savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOs), village community banks (VICOBA) and participate in Mchezo, a loosely organized VICOBA for a month or weeks, to engage and network with other
women as well as access capital for their enterprises. These groups
Foundation Hubs and not only did I meet my co-founders, we
tend to focus more on capital and still face challenges in addressing the capacity needs of the young women. There is a rapid growth of entrepreneurship seminars for women in urban centers and particularly in universities. The one-time nature of these events is useful for markets exposure and inspiration but does not lead to new behaviors that translate into economic and personal growth. The outreach has also not trickled down to women in low-income communities and particularly with lower levels of education.
launched our ugly first product there. Things are a lot prettier now! Despite my tenacity, I still suffered in other areas as a young woman entrepreneur trying to make it in a then unknown world.
According to USAID, many people, especially young women enrolled in primary school, drop out before completing their education or may not progress to secondary school. Those that drop out usually find work with their family or begin some type of economic activity allowing them to make a living into adulthood. Among many social challenges, significantly they are exposed to this world with minimal sexual reproductive health knowledge and either pushed or forced into risky behaviors. I founded Shule Direct, a not for profit social enterprise that provides local, relevant, digital study platforms to over one million learners in Tanzania and across Africa, out of Hubs. In the first nine months, I was a member of Kinu Innovation and Mara
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With this experience and that of so many other women entrepreneurs, we thought of starting a hub catering to the complex women needs to enable them to successfully start their ventures. So, Ndoto Hub was born, where innovation we believe begins with a dream and we want to nurture them to reality. Ndoto Hub is a marketplace of ideas and opportunities to socially and economically empower young women, bringing them together to access workspace, information, knowledge, markets and networks curated for their business and personal growth. The hub will be supported with a digital learning platform and member led community groups. We aim to empower young women who seek to improve their economic and social welfare through a workspace, knowledge and opportunities between the ages of 19 to 30 years. These women make up over 65 per cent of the informal sector in Tanzania. Their activities – since they are unregistered and most are home based – are often hard to organize,
support and grow, unless driven with a bottom-top approach through networks and highly contextual support programs. Ndoto Hub will not only provide access to a workspace, business development and compliance information and services but
also incorporate information and mentorship support for the young women’s personal growth, which is pertinent to their professional growth. Empowering a woman requires a holistic approach that cannot separate the different dynamics that women face throughout the day to enable
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them to thrive as family members, mothers and business people. Ndoto Hub first cohort will incubate startups by innovative young women entrepreneurs in agribusiness. Special thanks to TAHA for the support.
Increase farm profits with solar water pumps
By Thomas Richard, Managing Director, Photons Energy
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illions of people around the world live with limited access to water. In many communities, ground water is extracted through electric water pumps, which use diesel to fuel their systems. However, these systems not only require costly, regular servicing and purchasing of fuel, they emit carbon dioxide, polluting the atmosphere.
On the other hand, most smallscale farmers across the world, particularly in Africa, rely on rain water for their farming. Relying on rain leads to unpredictable production and low agricultural yields. For those few farmers who deploy irrigation, most rely on diesel pumps and grid electricity for pumping water from boreholes, rivers, dams or lakes. These systems are costly
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in the long run and are not environmentally friendly. Solar water pumping, or photovoltaic water pumping (PWP), provides an alternative. After years of research and technological advances, it has proven to be operationally, financially, and environmentally sustainable. In recent years, the cost of solar technology has dropped tremendously. Prices
for the solar panels used in these systems have dropped up to 80 per cent. In addition, these panels last around 25 years and require little maintenance. These factors have made solar water pumping an extremely viable way to expand energy access across developing countries and communities, while creating a strong resistance to shifts in rainfall caused by climate change or unreliable seasonable patterns. Even though solar water pumping is ready for mainstreaming and has started to take off in some parts of the world, its benefits remain largely unknown to communities, governments, organizations and institutions. With full realization of this, Photons Energy Ltd, a registered renewable energy company based in Arusha, has recently begun creating awareness about the benefits of solar water pumping compared to using grid electricity and diesel generators. Photons Energy Ltd has been providing renewable energy services, including tailormade solar power systems, solar water heating systems and solar water pumping systems since its establishment in 2012. Recently their focus shifted to solar water pumping, particularly for irrigation, which they believe will increase profitability for farmers around Tanzania. The main reason why Photons Energy Ltd is encouraging farmers to start using solar powered pumps is its economic viability. The initial cost may be slightly higher when compared to diesel generators and grid electricity
powered pumps, but the fact that solar powered pumps do not have any operational costs make them the cheapest of all. Once installed, the solar water pumping system is capable of providing water reliably for up to 15 years before the pump requires replacement. Solar panels last for up to 30 years. With grid electricity, a farmer will pay monthly bills or frequently purchase LUKU vouchers. With diesel generators, a farmer must supply diesel to his or her farm constantly, regardless of how far the farm is and the rising cost of diesel.
option, the farmer must invest Tsh 70 million. The solar pump once installed will not have any running costs, while the diesel generator will have running costs of Tsh 96,000 a day to pay for six liters of diesel per hour. Assuming the pump is used for eight hours a day for eight months in a year, this is Tsh 23 million annually or Tsh 109 million over three years.
A vivid example of the advantage of using solar power pump comes from a farmer who is currently seeking a pumping system for his farm. The water requirement estimated for pumping water from a borehole through a head of 60m for irrigation per day is 200,000 liters (200m3). This particular farmer has two options: a pump powered by a diesel generator or a solar powered pump. For the diesel option, the farmer must invest Tsh 40 million for the pump and the generator. For the solar
Christer Anderson, of Ibis International, is one of the beneficiaries of solar water pumping system designed, supplied and installed by Photons Energy Ltd. Christer believes that in order to have sustainable and profitable farming, the source of power for pumping water should be solar, because in the long run, the system is very cost effective. Ibis International farm is a 600acre farm in Same Kilimanjaro which cultivates different crops. The solar water pumping system
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The payback period for solar water pumping project ranges from two to four years depending on the size of the system and the alternative source of power.
keen to see that the technology is embraced by different farmers, as he believes that solar energy is the cheapest source of energy to make irrigated farming sustainable. His company has put in place strategies that will ensure that there is sufficient awareness for farmers about the benefits of solar pumping.
“Many farmers tend to shy away because of the initial cost for implementing solar water pumping project but what they don’t understand is that with PWP systems, one does not have to incur operational costs. We understand this well and we are now working on enhancing awareness on this” --Thomas Richard (MD – Photons Energy Ltd) consists of a surface pump that uses solar power solar to pump water from Ruvu River about 400 meters to the farm. The pump has a 14.6kWp solar array capable of pumping up to 900,000 liters of water per day. Solar water pumping systems are easy to operate if they are designed well and installed in a professional manner adhering to operational and safety standards. Photons Energy Ltd have welltrained engineers and technicians and ensure there is a focus on the design phase to get the correct pump and size of solar array to meet demands. The photovoltaic water pumping system (PWP) consists of a solar array, which converts sunlight into electricity. A pump controller runs the pump at the correct speed to
maximize the use of energy to pump water. PWP operates during the day for six to eight hours and is therefore very suitable for irrigation, which is usually done during the day. Where water is required at night, the storage tank should be elevated so that water can be supplied by gravity. Small PWP systems can include batteries as part of the system to provide daytime water pumping, but the use of batteries is not economical for larger systems. Tanzania and Africa in general have been blessed with abundant sunlight throughout the year. In Arusha region, a 300W solar module with a surface area of two square meters can generate 11.14kWh a day. Managing Director of Photons Energy Ltd, Thomas Richard, is
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Solar powered pumps can also be blended with other source of energy in cases where the requirements cannot be met by solar alone. With a special power conversion device, a solar powered pump can also run on grid electricity or diesel generator electricity. This enhances reliability especially on months with very little solar radiation or where water is required during the night. Unlike diesel generator and grid electricity, which is mostly generated from fossil fuels, solar water pumping systems are environmentally friendly as the energy source does not emit any harmful substances to the atmosphere. Generating electricity by solar panels does not involve any mechanical movement and thus there is no sound pollution. Photons Energy Ltd was formed by four young Tanzanians. They are striving not only to grow the company but to ensure that the benefits of the use of solar, especially for pumping water, are enjoyed by everyone. They provide excellent after sales support including training to users, maintenance services and immediate response to call-outs.
SOLAR WATER PUMPING SYSTEMS
Economical — Durable — reliable Both surface and submersible pumps Suitable for drinking water, livestock, irrigation and industrial water needs
We also provide the design, supply and installation of Solar Power Systems, Solar Water Heating Systems and Electrical Backup Systems and provision of Energy Efficiency Services Contacts Web: www.photonsenergy.com Tel: +255762067467/+255783061448 Email: info@photonsenergy.com
WHERE NATURE TURNS TO ENERGY
Horticulture subsector fiscal reform proposals for finance act 2018/19
In the future, horticulture farms may be exempt from the Fire Levy.
By Kelvin Remen, TAHA Over the years, during the preparations of National Budget and Finance Act for the forthcoming fiscal year, the Government through the Ministry of Finance and Planning has always invited stakeholders to present their fiscal reforms proposals to the Taskforce on Tax Reforms.
to be considered during the preparation of Finance Act 2018/19. The Proposals submitted are solutions to most of the taxation challenges faced by the industry stakeholders which hinder the growth of horticulture subsector due to the unfavorable business environment. The reform proposals that will be adopted by the Ministry of Finance and Planning will be included in the Finance Bill 2018/19 to be tabled in the Parliament during the Budget Parliamentary Session.
TAHA, as a voicing platform for the horticulture subsector customarily uses this opportunity and platform, to address before the Government, all tax related constraint issues affecting horticultural businesses in the country. The essence of leveraging on this platform is because most challenges on taxation being faced by the horticulture stakeholders are backed by respective taxation laws and regulations, and therefore for one to ably address them thoroughly, amendments in the respective laws is paramount.
The matrix below consists of the key fiscal reform proposals from the horticulture subsector submitted by TAHA to the Government for consideration during the preparations of Finance Bill 2018/19, expected to be tabled in the Parliament on 27 June 2018 for discussion and approval. Should the proposals be accepted it will be a good fortune for the horticulture subsector otherwise TAHA will continue to advocate for them through other policy dialogue platforms.
In March 2018, TAHA presented before the Taskforce on Tax Reform at the Ministry of Finance and Planning, a number of fiscal reform proposals
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Issue Value Added Tax (VAT) Act 2014
Current Situation VAT now applies to several important agricultural inputs and implements which were exempted under the repealed law.
Proposed Changes Items like plant protection substances (i.e. Biological Control Agents), storage, post-harvest and cooling facilities and equipment such as packaging materials, refrigerated containers, growing medium (peat moss) agro-nets be added to exemption list.
Reasons for Proposals These are important items and equipment in modern farming (agriculture transformation) therefore exempting them will make them affordable to farmers, reduce post-harvest losses and increase productivity in agriculture.
Spare parts for technologies like greenhouse and irrigation systems should be included in the exemption list. Other agricultural equipment (dam liners, pipes for irrigation etc.) with multiple uses should be considered for exemption when proved they are to be used for farm activities. Import Duty on packaging materials
Packaging materials for horticultural produce are charged import duty of 25% and 10% for printed and unprinted labels respectively
Exempt import duty on packaging materials for horticultural produce
Packaging materials are essential elements for preserving the quality of agricultural products and produce hence availability of affordable packaging materials ensure customers of good quality products. Most quality packaging materials meeting international standards are not available locally. Cost of packaging materials is reflected in the final price of products, as a result horticultural products become less competitive in the markets.
Excise Duty on plastic packaging materials for export markets
Plastic packaging materials for exported horticultural produce are charged excise duty during importation into Tanzania.
Plastic packaging materials for horticultural produce be waived from paying excise duty as they are for packing export products only, with no alternative uses.
The packaging materials designs are as recommended by the international markets and therefore Tanzanian exporters have to comply accordingly. The plastic packaging materials are for export products therefore are not consumed in Tanzania but rather in regional and international markets. These plastic materials are for wrapping horticultural produce and cannot be used for other purposes as they are open both sides. The excise duty on packaging materials makes Tanzanian produce more expensive and less competitive in the international markets.
Import value uplifts by Customs
Fire Levy
TRA Customs have been uplifting the value of imports during their assessments. The uplifts are done despite submission of all supporting documents to justify the declared import value.
TRA Customs department to give fair assessments on import documents logged to them.
The horticultural farms are charged between Tsh 500,000 to 2,000,000 per annum depending on the size of the farm.
Horticultural farms be exempted from paying the levy.
The importers of horticultural inputs and equipment are forced to pay very high and unfair taxes during importation because the tax assessments are done based on the uplifted import values by Customs. This has made the horticultural companies incur significant losses during importation to the extent that some have stopped importing even the very important agricultural inputs to support their farm operations. The Fire and Rescue Force is not equipped enough to offer services to farms because the Force is located in urban areas and most of the farms are located out of towns, therefore making this levy to have no value for money to the payers. Farms are also incurring costs to set up for their own fire control equipment and mechanisms therefore charging them fire levy is an added cost to business
Regulatory Agencies Fees
There are over 42 forms of payments (taxes, fees and levies) paid by registered agricultural businesses.
Rationalize regulatory fees and charges charged by regulatory authorities (i.e. TFRA, TFDA, OSHA, TBS, Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC) etc.)
Most of the inspections done by Regulatory Authorities are the same and often seem to overlap hence increase unnecessary costs and bureaucracies in doing business.
Multiplicity of regulatory agents and extent of fees and levies on locally produced products renders them less competitive to imported products. Agricultural businesses spend over 20% of their gross revenue on levies and fees. This increases cost of doing business and thus becoming less competitive.
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TAHA PICTORIAL
The Chairman of the Agricultural Council of Tanzania (ACT) Dr. Sinare Y. Sinare (Center) paying a courtesy visit to TAHA offices in Arusha, accompanied by ACT’s Executive Director, Janet Bitegeko (Left) welcomed by TAHA CEO Jacqueline Mkindi (Right).
TAHA CEO, Jacqueline Mkindi addresses the gathering of associate members from Arusha and Moshi during a meeting held at Golden rose, Arusha.
Programme Manager European Union (EU), Liesl Inglis (2nd Left) with TAHA management officials during her visit to the organization for a brief on Horticulture sector in Tanzania.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Thomas Kashililah handing over the Agricultural Sector Development Programme (ASDP2) manual to TAHA's CEO, Jacqueline Mkindi
Nutrition and Gender coordinator from TAHA, Salome Stephen training local residents in Southern Pemba on how to cook vegetables without losing nutrients.
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During his official visit to TAHA, the Ambassador of Finland to Tanzania, Pekka Hukka explains a point to TAHA CEO, Jacqueline Mkindi as they exchanged a conversation
TAHA Director, Jacqueline Mkindi with PASS Director, Nicomed Bohay after signing a MoU agreement that will enable the horticulture industry stakeholders to integrate with financial institutions.
Deputy Minister Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Mary Mwanjelwa (center) during a visit to Serengeti Fresh.
TAHA's CEO, Jacqueline Mkindi, a panelist speaker at the 23rd Annual Research Workshop organised by REPOA
Deputy Minister Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Mary Mwanjelwa (center) receiving explanation from TAHA comprehensive member, Alfonsos Nijenhuis, MD of VASO Agroventures during her visit to Arusha
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SAID’S FARMING ADVICE: Never give up! By David Minja, TAHA
Z
anzibar is famous around the world as a tourist attraction, due to the beauty of the island and the presence of ancient historical sites. When you link agriculture with an island of Zanzibar, many will think of the clove plantations and varieties of spices with which their land is richly endowed with. But slowly, with the introduction of horticulture, new avenues of knowledge have sparked interest in the agriculture sector and its activities seen to have paved way to improvements in the sector with recent reduction in amount of horticulture crops imported from mainland Tanzania and other places. Zanzibar has a fertile land and horticulture crops production is slowly taking over in most places of the island. One such place is Fuoni and there
we meet Said Salum, a 43 year old man with two households. He owns a public transport bus which carries people around Zanzibar town, but he also has a poultry farm. Nevertheless he says his income is never enough to sustain his family with provision of needs requirements. “I started agricultural activities three years ago and at that time I relied on basic knowledge obtained from my engagement with people around the community as I didn’t have any background on farming,” Said said. “This didn’t bring me any profit and left me very disappointed, simply because every crop I tried I ended up getting a loss, in comparison with some of my friends who were also involved in agriculture
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TAHA agronomist Mrisho Yusuf talks with Said Salum's workers
but succeeded somehow. This experience disturbed me very much and I reached a point where I wanted to quit as I tried a couple of times without any profit attained.”
He began preparations for his first season by planting tomatoes in his small farm at Fuoni. TAHA‘s agronomist provided farming advice and the CBF visited weekly and whenever Said faced a problem. Through TAHA, Said was able to get discounted prices on different agriculture inputs and had access to TAHA Information System (TIS) to find out crop prices in different markets in Zanzibar and on the mainland, Tanzania. “Izack Lyimo, who is the marketing advisor for TAHA in Zanzibar, continually makes effort in providing market linkages for our produce with ease and even better and for that case we don’t have any market problems around here as we sell our produces on time and at a reasonable price,’’ Said explained.
In one occasion, someone informed Said about a member-based organization known as TAHA that provides agronomic technical support seeing that he would get the needed knowledge on good agricultural practices, nevertheless Said was still in quest for more information about the organization to be convinced to join. “After asking other people and personally interviewing representatives of the organization then I managed to visit their offices here in Zanzibar. There I met Khalfan Nassoro (TAHA Regional Agronomist, formerly in Zanzibar) who introduced TAHA to me while discussing the challenges I was facing and made an assurance that I was in the right place thereby requesting to see my land so that they can advise on what to do with it.” Said was introduced to the TAHA community based facilitator (CBF) who began to change his farming experience. By 2016, Said had joined TAHA.
Said now advises fellow farmers in Zanzibar to be careful when seeking for technical advice on farming such that with limited and wrong information they receive it may frustrate them leading them to giveup on farming. “When I started farming activities – that is before I joined TAHA – I was not making any profit and this was because I would listen to random
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Said Salum on his farm
advice from people.” He wasted a lot of money on unnecessary inputs for the farm, which swallowed up potential profits that could have been achieved.
the casual labourers in the farm from time to time poses as a challenge since they cannot guarantee their stay, they disappear, something that can also affect operations of the farm activities”.
“For my first season I used almost Tsh 1.8 million in expenses, being costs for farm preparation, seed planting, and crop management and paying the farm workers who work in my farm. After applying the knowledge received from TAHA, the next season turned out pleasant for me as I got about Tsh 15 million in gains from the yields, something that left me astonished. This in turn triggered more efforts in increase of land previously used and now my net harvest is never the same,” Said explained confidently.
Commercial farming seemed like a very complex activity to Said with a perception that only a few people can master very well until he was convinced otherwise after taking an initiative to improve his activities aiming to better his livelihood. With the support from TAHA, Said is now living a life he only imagined possible. His advice to aspiring and young horticulturalist, is that farming is a matter of a timely decision one makes and the engagement in horticultural crops is quite promising with returns obtained in short cropping season. “Never regret or give up, try harder!” Said concludes.
Said’s biggest challenge is tackling crop diseases which affect the yields. “The crops are frequently affected by the disease and often have a negative outcome on the overall harvest.” Also having to train
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STRONGER PARTNERSHIPS BOOST AFRICAN VEGETABLE MARKETS By David Wainaina, East-West Se ed Despite their crucial role in feeding a vast and diverse continent, however, smallholder farmers still face several challenges to unlocking their true potential. The FAO even goes so far as to predict that “their [smallholder farmers] fate is either to disappear and become purely self-subsistence
competitive, he believes it is time to create deeper connections that leverage the expertise of various roleplayers. “The best approach to me would be for private companies, governments, seed associations and other stakeholders to look at
breeder to farmer should not be treated with fear, instead it could be facilitated with an urgency similar to the transportation of essential medication.” Wainaina says the seed associations’ role could be most effective in active support of government participation to listen to the needs of farmers and the industry of farmers’ needs. This approach could provide these officials with reliable data to deliver back to their relevant departments and simultaneously help them learn from best practices across other countries and associations.
East-West Seed’s African footprint producers, or to grow into larger units that can compete with large industrialized farms.”
the challenges farmers are facing in terms of access and quality of seeds,” he says.
David Wainaina, East-West Seed’s (EWS) Business Development Manager for Africa, says the continent cannot afford for smallholder farmers to disappear. In order for them to become more
“The private companies have the resources to develop better seeds and, in turn, governments are able to ensure distribution channels are well-facilitated and seamless. The movement of quality seeds from
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EWS is dedicated to providing quality vegetable seeds on the continent of Africa. We have distributors in over 15 African countries that ensure quality seeds reach farmers across the continent. The company was also ranked Number 1 in 2016 by Access to Seeds in the global index for vegetable seeds and the regional index for East Africa.
To achieve this, he says EWS is recruiting more commercial and product development support teams and creating new connections with like-minded distributors and partners.
Better skills for better yield Wainaina states that the supply and use of quality seeds needs to be accompanied by training to increase the competitiveness of smallholder farmers in Africa.
In order to develop crops that are well-suited to local conditions, EWS has two research stations (one in East Africa and another in West Africa) to focus on key crops such as amaranth, African eggplant and local leafy vegetables.
“There needs to be an investment in life-long education so that the farmers are also empowered with knowledge to even help them adopt good farming practices such as use of good seeds and optimal land use,” he says.
example, EWS-KT is part of the SEVIA project. SEVIA is a private sector-driven project, funded by two world leaders in vegetable seeds: East-West Seed and Rijk Zwaan (partners in the breeding programme Afrisem), and by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Wageningen University - Applied Plant Research is the Dutch knowledge partner. In addition to its presence in Tanzania, EWS-KT established a project in Lira, Uganda in 2017 and plans to expand into Nigeria and Ivory Coast in the near future. Expanding such projects is crucial in Africa, according to Wainaina, who adds that he has noted a decline in the number of extension workers on the continent in recent years. He believes that strengthening connections between the private and public sectors is again the best approach to improved farming knowledge on the continent. “The seed industry and associations can support governments and educational institutions to develop more extension workers. These can be lead farmers in local areas who can then in turn support the other farmers, further expanding the pool of knowledge,” Wainaina concludes.
“Our ambitions are to significantly increase our reputation and reach as a market leader in the vegetable industry in Africa, especially in tropical zones where our seeds are better suited to conditions,” says Wainaina.
East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer (EWS-KT) is doing just that. EWS-KT equips farmers with the knowledge and skills necessary to improve their productivity through tried-and-tested farming practises. In Tanzania, for
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Brighter future for youth with solar mini-grids
Participants were divided over five groups, each group working on its own case with an assigned coach (Photo: Energy Change Lab)
By Basil Malaki, Energy Change Lab Ketumbeine and Komolo villages are two distant communities in the Northern Zone of Tanzania. They were in the dark before Power Corner and Rafiki Power installed solar powered mini-grid stations in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The arrival of these decentralised energy sources has led to a gradual start-up of new businesses, such as welding, car washing and cafes selling cooled soda drinks. However, the villages still have a lot of untapped potential for using the newly available energy source and generating income.
Including youth as innovators
The Energy Change Lab has gathered thirty bright young Tanzanians to think of ways to spur emergence of new income-generating activities in Ketumbeine and Komolo.
Participants were divided into five groups, each group worked on their case with a coach. Throughout the week, they were assisted through the Lab’s problem-solving process, moving from co-initiation and team building to problem analysis, ideas networking, prototyping and finally presenting probable solutions around productive uses of energy to an external audience.
The Lab conducted a six-day workshop, an ‘Energy Safari’, in Arusha, focusing on productive uses of energy to add value for rural communities receiving solar power for the first time. More than 200 people applied for the program, from Arusha region, Tanzania and even other African countries. Thirty people were selected to take part, aged between 18 to 35 years and from a range of disciplines.
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Nuria Mshare (center) engaging future leaders during the Energy Safari (Photo: Energy Change Lab)
Leaving no one behind
idea for a solution to their case and converted that idea into a tangible prototype.
The Energy Safari Workshop was opened by Mr Ezra Mbogori, Executive Director at MS-TCDC Arusha and an active champion of green living. He told the gathering that change is possible if we succeed in persuading communities to embrace green living, which includes uptake of decentralised solar solutions that derive clean energy from the sun. In the light of these remarks, participants were determined to leave no one behind and set out to develop 'people centred' solutions, which result from closely working with local communities.
On the fifth day of the Safari, groups returned to the field trips again, so end-users and actors in the productive use of energy value chain could interact with the prototype and provide feedback. This information allowed them to rethink their solution, before presenting it to an expert panel of experienced energy stakeholders on the final day. And since the Energy Safari is also about having fun, we wrapped up the 2018 edition with a celebration!
Problem cases and solutions
The Energy Safari kicked off with an orientation day, introducing participants to our problem-solving process and to matters concerning productive uses of energy. Next, participants entered the exploration phase of the Safari. This entailed stepping out of the room and embarking on a 'sensing journey' to various energy stakeholders (such as mini-grid companies) and to rural communities to identify their daily challenges. This deep sensing into daily lives and practices resulted in a rich body of knowledge for participants to digest.
All five cases participants worked on dealt with the numerous opportunities presented by the arrival of mini-grids in Ketumbeine and Komolo villages. One group looked into the issue of availability and affordability of equipment for productive activities in Komolo. They proposed a strategic partnership approach with financial, technical and mini-grid companies to train and empower indigenous technicians to repair and maintain electrical equipment in the village. Another group worked on establishing an enabling environment for uptake of energy for productive uses
It provided the basis for a new phase: idea generation and prototyping. Participants selected a concrete
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during the Safari, I realise I can do better if I work together with stakeholders; training my community on best practises of beekeeping and processing”.
Participants also went for ‘sensing’ journeys to learn the energy landscape during the 2018 Energy Safari (Photo: Energy Change Lab)
by demonstrating the viability of a business case for egg incubators in Ketumbeine. Another proposed a water-saving system to boost ongoing agricultural activities in that same village. Yet another group brainstormed creating business opportunities for village youth. They looked into the potential for value-adding to livestock activities of Maasai. The fifth group looked into beekeeping businesses in Komolo village and how using the minigrid’s electricity could accelerate this. They proposed to setup a beekeeping and processing centre where services such as marketing, packaging, equipment and finance can be accessed.
Empowering the next generation Participant Zubery Msemo, who recently graduated from high school, resides in a community that effectively uses biogas energy. However, he now believes that solar energy could provide better alternatives and more opportunities for his village, if
productively used. Zubery feels motivated to go back to his community to share his learnings from the Energy Safari by engaging them in the practices around solar energy and green living. He thinks youth groups will be especially willing to take on the challenge of using electricity productively to improve their livelihoods. Neema Meremo, a participant and activist, believes it is possible to minimise rural-urban migration of youth if business support structures are put in place to encourage them to tap into business opportunities, especially when electricity is available. She is concerned about youth migrating from rural areas who end up staying idle or are forced to engage in informal activities. Participant Reginald Saria is a beekeeper. The Energy Safari program helped him realise he needed to do more with his community to excel in setting up a beekeeping and honey processing venture. “Initially, I thought I would do good on my own but after engaging the community
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As Reginald is already beekeeping in Arusha region, he was fortunate to be able to join the team working in Komolo to build a beekeeping business case to foster productive uses of energy. Together with his new team, he plans to apply the learnings and feedback acquired during the Safari to enhance his beekeeping business and continue work to strengthen businesses in Komolo.
Way forward All groups are determined to take forward their proposed solutions together with the communities and mini-grid operators, Rafiki Power and Power Corner. The Lab is mentoring participants and connecting them to energy experts and partners in our network. We track and support progress of the ideas generated during the Safari and are happy to see various companies and organisations expressing interest to work with these young innovators. The Energy Safari shows us that with a small group of dedicated, young change-makers, you can plant seeds to transform communities. We look forward to continue to empower these future leaders to create jobs for their country and to inspire others to grasp opportunities surfacing while energy poses as a promising factor to boost industries’ performance.
SHABANI’S PATH TO FARMING SUCCESS
By David Minja, TAHA Manyara is among the new regions in Tanzania where most of the residents are farmers. The region is richly blessed with fertile soil, which enables the growth of a variety of crops, including horticultural crops, which are the source of income for many of the families residing in the region. The capital of Manyara is Babati town, one of Tanzania’s fastest growing commercial towns. Meet a prominent farmer, Shabani Musa who lives in Bonga Dawari
in Babati. The 52 year old has two wives and 13 children, of whom two are at university, two in Form One and six in primary school, with the rest not yet started schooling. His farming background goes back to 1995 when he started by planting tomatoes. He used the profit to build his first house, buy land and marry his first wife. After this success in only his first season, Shabani saw that this was the only work that he could do, given that he didn’t go to school and there
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were not many job options for him. At first, he had no one to guide him on good farming practices. He simply copied what his neighbors did and took advice from other successful farmers. “The experience from other farmers and also copying their ways made me succeed for about 60 to 75 per cent, something that was very okay for me,” he said. He began modern horticultural farming in 2016, first with another company and then with TAHA,
which he joined in June 2017. “I met TAHA’s agronomist for Manyara who introduced me to the organization and how they support farmers. He then came to my farm and promised to assist me and improve my farming methods but mostly maximizing my profit, something that I have proved in the short time I have worked with him.” TAHA has provided further agronomic support and has linked him with different markets to sell his crops. Musa is still a new member in the TAHA family but he has already seen massive changes in his farming. “Although it’s my first season I have seen great changes. In my open field I have 400 seedlings of tomato and in the greenhouse about 300 seedlings. Until now I have harvested 12
crates of tomatoes, which I sold for Tsh 360,000. I expect to harvest about 90 crates until the season ends which will give me not less than Tsh 2.7 million,” he smiled. “I also have a small nursery at my house which I use to produce tomato seedlings for my use, but I am also helping my fellow farmers to produce seedlings. Later I plan to commercialize the nursery,” he said. Shabani uses the money he gets from farming to pay school fees for his children and to provide basic needs for his family. His biggest challenge is price fluctuations in the market. “Sometimes you can have good prices and other times the prices are not convincing and that decreases our profit
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in one way or another. There are also bad people who come and steal our crops in the farms during the night,” Shabani said. He advised young people and the unemployed to make the decision that he made some years ago. “They should not complain about the economic situation, they should rather make a decision on what they want to do. I made a decision but I was pushed with the fact that I did not go to school. That gave a push and I thought horticulture was the only way I could be successful and after five years from now I see myself in a better position.”
CURBING SOIL BORNE DISEASES By Ruth Vaughan, Technical Director, CropNuts In intensive horticulture, soil borne diseases cause yield and quality loss, and if left unchecked can result in complete project failure, as we have seen happen many times. All soils, unless completely dead, have a large and diverse microbial population, some good and some bad. The trick is to keep the soils in balance so as to completely avoid a takeover by bad microbial populations that damage crops and hinder their growth. Some of the ways a healthy soil balance can be achieved are discussed below.
Pre-emergence damping off Pre-emergence damping off happens when seeds rot in the ground and do not germinate. The condition may occur right at the beginning when seeds are planted and can easily be mistaken for bad seed quality. Pre-emergence damping off occurs when conditions are poor: too cold, too hot, too wet, too dry, poor drainage, undecayed organic matter, high soil salts or compacted soil.
Post-emergence damping off If the seeds germinate and grow out of the soil, then suddenly die off, this is called post-emergence damping off. Stressed plants or weak plants are attacked leaving their roots below the soil and their tender stems susceptible to disease attacks and sudden ‘fall over’ death. This can also be caused by overfeeding plants with nitrogen from too much manure or fertilizer, causing very soft leggy growth. Damping off diseases are caused by a number of funguses, like Pythium, Fusarium, Rhizoctonia and Phytophthora. It is always a good idea before you embark on a costly venture to have a pathology check on your soil before planting, to make sure that these pathogens are not present in the soil.
All soils, unless completely dead, have a large and diverse microbial population, some good and some bad
Vascular wilts Other diseases that are the bain of many farmers are the vascular wilts. They can come in at any time during the crop growth cycle when plants are under stress and attack the crops through the roots. Unfortunately, very often, they come in just before harvest, after a farmer has invested a lot of resources. Plant wilting and discoloration of the vascular system inside the stems characterize vascular wilts. Evidence may be seen through a gradual loss of vigor in the plant, followed by wilting starting at the growing point; yellowing; twig dieback; leaf, flower, bud and fruit drop and eventual plant death. Vascular wilts can be fungal or bacterial. Bacterial wilts include Ralstonia, Erwinia, Curtobacterium, Clavibacter, Pseudomonas and Xanthomonas. Bacteria breed up in the stem, blocking vascular tissue and preventing uptake of water and nutrients. They penetrate easily and quickly kill the crop. Vascular wilts can be locally tested by cutting and placing stems in a
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clean glass of water. If positive, you will see a cloudy bacterial stream oozing out of the bottom of the stem. Plants already infected cannot be cured and the effects can be catastrophic, with the only possible remedy being the complete removal and burning of the plants and the soil that they are growing in. Similar to damping off, fungal bacterial wilts are caused by soil-borne fungi and include Verticillium, Fusarium, Rhizoctonia, Pythium and others. If fungal vascular wilts are caught early, plants may be saved by using a systemic fungicide, although some fungal wilts are incurable (always check the label and make sure the fungicide is approved for your crop and adhere to the post-harvest interval recommendations.) Generally fungal wilts cause a discoloration inside the vascular bundle and they can all look pretty similar. It is important to send a plant sample for pathology to identify the causal agent and problem for the treatment possibilities of the current crop, but also forecast planning the next crop. Often a plant may have a disease complex, which
treat the nematodes if they are there. The combination of disease spores and bad nematodes in the soil will give any farmer endless problems. Salinity – high sodium and high electrical conductivity (EC) causes problems with soil and root structure and water infiltration, which is a major cause of damping off diseases. A complete soil analysis will let you know what salts are in the soil. Very often the sodium will come from the irrigation water, so it’s always a good idea to have that checked too. Soil pH – should be optimum as very high or low pH can encourage different diseases.
Fungal bacterial wilts are caused by soil-borne fungi, including Fusarium consists of more than one pathogen. These are very hard to treat.
How to prevent soil-borne diseases Crop rotation – this is very important, some diseases affect one plant type and not the other, if you rotate your crop, the pathogens do not build up in the soil. Even roses can have a ‘break’ crop; for example, Calientes mustard seed is a great short-term break crop that will rejuvenate your soil big time. Seeds are readily available in Kenya search http://shambaza.com/seeds.
conditions, so you get more of a bad pathogen buildup rather than the good. The plant roots need oxygen to take up water and nutrients. They can’t do this in wet soil and become weak and prone to disease. Dry soil is just as bad, the plants get stressed and weak and start to wilt, which causes breakages in the roots and stems and entry points for pathogens. ‘Catch-up watering’, also known as flooding dry soil, is the biggest cause of late onset vascular wilts. Striking a balance is key and you must dig down to the roots to really look at the soil moisture and understand its state. Smell the soil!
Soil health – make sure that your soil has a good structure and cation balance, with plenty of well-rotted compost. Send your soil to the laboratory for a complete soil analysis with lime/gypsum recommendations before planting – this will reward you with a good healthy productive crop for many years to come.
Avoid soil compaction in the root zone dig some soil pits in your fields to look at the soil profile and root structure. Compaction limits root volume causing stressed weak plants that are susceptible to disease. It is much better to build raised beds to improve aeration and drainage in the soil.
Soil moisture control – very wet soils really, really do cause disease. Some fungal pathogens remain dormant in the soil until the soil becomes too wet when you over irrigate. Wet soil is anaerobic (has no oxygen in it), and many pathogens like anaerobic
Nematodes – are not a soil borne disease, however, pathogenic nematodes feed on plant roots and weaken the plants as well as creating entry points for soil-borne diseases. Very often nematodes are associated with vascular wilts and damping off. It is important to check your soil and
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High nitrogen – over-application of manure, compost and fertilizer at bed preparation and planting is one of the main causes of damping off disease. Too much of a good thing can be bad. Check the soil and follow the guidelines. Soil temperatures – some soil diseases take hold at very high or low temperatures. Over-watering can reduce soil temperatures and mulching can improve them. A happy, diverse and active soil can ‘warm’ itself up. Beneficial micro-organisms – having a lot more of the good than the bad micro-organisms in the soil can make a huge difference to disease pressure. The beneficial microbes work in many varied ways, feeding and out-competing the bad microbes by strangling them and recycling plant nutrients to make them more available, thus creating a stronger healthier plant. Beneficial microbes are easily available and spending money on these at the planting stage will save you chemical bills and pesticide residue problems later on. If you have a problem with persistent plant diseases or want to get your project off to a good, sustainable, disease and risk-free start, contact our agents at TAHA or our agronomists on support@cronuts.com and see what we can do to help you!
The Fintrac Feed the Future Special farming technologies, poor logistical support, and limited communication between farmers and local extension workers.
FTFT-MnM agronomist Zephania Semkogo (R) installs a drip irrigation system with local government extension officer, Godfrey Mkongwa, in Nundwe village, Mufindi Photo by Fintrac Inc.
Enhancing the future of service delivery to smallholders In Nundwe, a village in the mountainous district of Mufindi in Iringa region, farmers are transplanting Irish potato seedlings into their demonstration plot. In this training session, facilitated by the Feed the Future Tanzania Mboga na Matunda (FTFTMnM), farmers are putting into practice some of the knowledge acquired two months ago.
FTFT-MnM is working with 50 government extension officers in five regions to increase the outreach and quality of services. promoting modern technologies to increase production, productivity, and profitability in the agriculture sector, which is a key driver for Tanzania’s economic development. Despite its importance, the delivery of these services faces challenges, including lack of technical knowledge of new
However, every challenge comes with a solution, and smallholder farmers are now benefiting from the new collaboration between FTFT-MnM agronomists and local government extension officers. The relationship is mutually beneficial. Government extension officers have provided valuable assistance in helping agronomists identify farmer groups in each district of implementation. They also take part in the weekly visits and provide additional technical assistance and support to farmers. Agronomists also provide ongoing training and support to government extension officers. Both sides are exchanging knowledge and skills, and more importantly, driving forward the development of the horticulture sub-sector. Currently, FTFT-MnM is working with government extension officers in five regions to sustainably improve the outreach and quality of the services. In Zanzibar, the collaboration is also benefiting smallholders. Recently, the Revolutionary Government, through its Ministry
Alongside a FTFT-MnM agronomist is the local government extension officer in the village, Godfrey Mkongwa. Together, they are taking part in this exercise on a half-acre plot fully installed with drip irrigation technologies on well-prepared raised beds. "The collaboration between us and the MnM agronomist is on the move,� says Mkongwa. He is among more than 50 local government extension officers in Tanzania collaborating with FTFT-MnM to facilitate extension service delivery to smallholders. Extension plays a crucial role in
From right, Happiness Francis, her mother and young sister with FTFT-MnM agronomist, after a farming training session in Morogoro. Photo by Fintrac Inc.
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of Agriculture, nominated a nutrition specialist to work full time with FTFT-MnM. “This working relationship is beneficial to both of us,” testified Atiki Suleiman, FTFT-MnM nutrition specialist in Zanzibar. “The result will positively impact on the livelihood of the communities.” To expand their extension service capacities for future sustainability, FTFT-MnM is conducting quarterly training with local experts through boot camps in every region involved. A total of 16 boot camps will strengthen skills, improve working relationships, and increase incomes and productivity in their farming communities.
Building Sustainable Youth Entrepreneurship in Farming The agriculture sector is the backbone of Tanzania’s economy, contributing to 30 per cent of the national GDP and employing more than 67 per cent of the population. But while agriculture may be the key to Tanzania’s sustainable economic development, it is the country’s growing youth population that hold Tanzania’s future in their hands. With 77 per cent of the population under the age of 35 and a median age of 17 years, Tanzania must find ways for the next generation of youth to be productive, engaged participants in the economy and few industries are better poised to do this than agriculture. In 2016, the sector grew by 3.2 per cent, earning the country US$1.7 billion compared to US$1.1 billion in the previous year. Much of this agricultural growth is attributed to the increased farming knowledge imparted to smallholder farmers after engagements from initiatives such as Feed the Future. Despite this growth, much more is needed to improve the competitiveness of the sector. For example, many farmers lack entrepreneurial skills to grow their incomes and they continue to practice subsistence farming
using traditional methods of production, leading to low yields and poor quality of produce. Limited access to agricultural knowledge, poor finance and credit services, inadequate access to quality inputs and tenuous access to land are additional factors that hinder farmers’ ability to realize the lucrative opportunities available in the sector. Feed the Future Tanzania Mboga na Matunda (‘vegetables and fruits’ in Swahili) is a new horticulture activity in the country that is developing market-led solutions to help youth seize opportunities in horticulture. The activity works to increase the competitiveness and inclusiveness of the horticulture subsector while improving the nutritional status of Tanzanians by scaling up the use of improved technologies and practices that lead to the increased productivity of smallholders. The group’s interventions empower beneficiaries to become entrepreneurs in the horticulture industry through training in entrepreneurship, on-farm production, postharvest handling and transportation, marketing and nutrition. To support these efforts, the group has close to 100 demonstration plots throughout Feed the Future’s target regions in Tanzania. To date, 3,210 youth below the age of 35 years have benefited from the training -
Before this success, the Matumbatu farmers were sensitized, trained and convinced to try improved farming practices and methods. 1,663 women and 1,547 men. “I’ve learned a lot from the sessions and feel highly empowered to start my own farming business in the near future,” said Happiness Francis, a 27-year-old farmer from Ngong’olo village in eastern Tanzania. She’s just one of the many young people who feel confident enough to start their own entrepreneurial farming project after receiving training from the program. Feed the Future Tanzania Mboga na Matunda is excited to help with this journey and will report on progress of selected youth over the duration of the activity. FIRST TIME EVER: Matumbatu farmers net Tsh2.5m/= profit The Matumbatu farmers, a member-based group from Tasini village in the district of Mkoani-Pemba, netted Tsh2.5 million in profit for the first time ever in their farming business after selling watermelons from their smallholdings of an acre using Tsh. 800,000 as investment capital. The success occurred when they were testing
Matumbatu farmers group in Pemba celebrate their first watermelon harvest. Photo by Fintrac Inc.
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improved farming practices and methods from FTFT-MnM in the early stages of intervention. Previously, the Matumbatu farmers produced watermelon using traditional methods, which resulted in profits of around Tsh1.5 million. The new practices did not affect their production costs, since they were spending the same Tsh. 800,000 in one acre. Through regular weekly visits from activity specialists, the Matumbatu Farmers Group were sensitized, trained and convinced to try improved farming practices and methods as promoted by FTFTMnM. A series of training sessions were held in good agricultural practices, farming technologies, business plan development and marketing. Additionally, FTFTMnM agronomists provided technical assistance throughout the entire cropping cycle, teaching the group about fertilization, pest and disease management, weed controls, and other subjects. With the knowledge received, but with some uncertainty, the farmers decided to ‘test the waters’ by venturing into newage farming of watermelon. All of this happened in the middle of August 2017, when the activity was in the initial stages. “While we were undergoing evaluation processes to receive farming technology equipment for the establishment of our demonstration plot, we agreed to try out what we have been taught,” revealed chair of the farmers group, Salum Chuma Abdalla. Then, we injected our Tsh. 800,000, [which was] more or less of the same amount we used in the previous cropping cycle and it went off well by making a hit of Tsh. 2.5 million as net profit. An amount we have never earned before!” The group was established in 2014 and has 23 members, but they had no training in record keeping. They never really knew with any
degree of certainty where their farming business was heading until Feed the Future Tanzania Mboga na Matunda came on the scene with business skills training. They now look forward to expanding their farming business using the money earned from this first harvest. This is part of the FTFT- MnM efforts to increase the use of improved farming technologies and practices among smallholders, which will lead to increased productivity and help them access markets, earn money to sustain their livelihood and therefore contribute to the reduction of poverty. In Their Own Words: Testimonials from Mufindi Farmers Empower Women to Positively Impact Agriculture Despite the fact that women make up 75 per cent of the agricultural labour force, cultural and economic barriers still exist that deny women’s full participation in the growth of the sector. Women often lack access to necessary agricultural resources, find few leadership opportunities in employment and are limited in decisionmaking at the household level. Feed the Future Tanzania Mboga na Matunda (FTFT-MnM) develops strategies to address the existing gaps. They provide training and technical assistance to women and youth so that they can apply good agricultural practices and business skills to their farming enterprises. Introducing low-cost, time-saving technologies reduces labour and increases efficiency both on farm and in the home. FTFT-MnM works with women and youth groups to develop leaders while empowering them to make more informed decisions about their farming businesses, income, and families.
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Amabitis Cheula, a member of Tupendane Farmers group in Kitasengwa, regularly attends FTFT-MnM training in her village. She describes what it was like before the training on gender and social inclusiveness was offered. NAME: AMABITIS CHEULA GROUP: TUPENDANE FARMERS GROUP- MUFINDI When I was four years old, my parents and I moved to Kitasengwa Village, where I am still living today. In Kitasengwa, we established for ourselves a new home and life. For an honest living, our father earned income as a farm labourer – providing services at the tea plantations in the neighbourhood – while mother unavoidably spent her time, energy, and other resources cultivating crops on the family plot. That was how our parents ensured that the family had enough food, and a little cash to spare for other household needs throughout the year, thanks to the combined sweat of their brows! However, considering our tradition, it was our father who held the family purse strings, controlling even the harvests and the little hard-earned money that was produced by a mother from the farming of maize and beans. In other words: although both parents contributed to the household income, it was really the man of the house, father, who mostly controlled the expenditure. So, I can say in all fairness that we were brought up in the culture and tradition that considers men as the family head and ruler who controls the household almost unquestioned, and makes any decision on their behalf, with the other family members humbly going along with the father’s advice, directives, and demands. This is despite the widely acknowledged fact that it is the women of the household, invariably led by the wife who toils the most on household
and customs. A few years later, hunger struck the village and many residents came to believe in the curse. Some villagers, fearful of dying, decided to vacate the village while others stayed.
Amabitis Cheula Member Tupendane Farmers Group Photo by Fintrac Inc.
errands and on the family farm. All this is in a selfless effort to keep the household going through thick and thin, persevering through good times as well as bad to keep the wolf (hunger and poverty) from the family door! Therefore, without prejudice, I admitted that the lessons given by FTFT-MnM have helped us to understand the importance of empowering women and include them in any development activities from the household to the national level. It is my hope that all of the participants will spread the good message to others who did not attend the training session for one reason or another.
The Folklore Tales of Kitasengwa When you sit down and talk with the residents of Kitasengwa, they will tell you stories - stories of their present life and that of the past, and stories of how they conquered life’s challenges. They will also tell you how their farming life connects to some of these legendary tales. Benny Tukano is a farmer from one of the groups in Kitasengwa village in the district of Mufindi that receives support from FTFT-MnM. He recalls a story told to him some years back: a lesson about farming
ignorance connected to the mysterious death of a village chief. NAME: BENNY TUKANO GROUP: UCHUMI NA MAZINGIRA FARMERS GROUP-MUFINDI The term ‘kitasengwa’ is derived from a combination of the Hehe and Kinga dialects in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. It means something that “will never be built or grow” or ‘hakitajengwa’ in Swahili. The word was coined following the mysterious death of one of the Hehe tribal chiefs who ruled the village many years ago. According to local folklore, when one of the village chiefs died, he was buried without following the cultural burial traditions
I tend not to believe much in this, as I consider it to be similar to other pieces of folklore tales we have heard. Look, today we are still here! Nevertheless, we exist the same way our parents did throughout that time; this is despite the fact that we have more or less same challenges in farming enterprises as they did. I would advise all youth in my time to think of the future no matter what they are told. I don’t advise my fellow villagers to shy away from challenges like hunger just by hearing the tales - that shouldn’t be an option. Let us find solutions to our challenges instead of blaming the curses and our elders! We can still excuse them, taking into account issues like ignorance and limited technologies in practice at that time. We should invest in support from donors like USAID through the FTFT-MnM activity. Personally, I thank them for the generous support they are providing in our village, especially in the training of good agricultural practices, farming technologies, and gender and nutrition training.
Benny Tukano member Uchumi Na Mazingira Farmers Group
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