Economic Development, Export Agriculture, and Radio Technology

August 9, 2013 - CEDESOTA – Community Economic Development and Social Transformation

I was able to spend a morning with another NGO, CEDESOTA, which is doing work related to gender, human rights, and community development.  They have programs in youth and women empowerment, HIV/AIDS, governance and accountability, agriculture and natural resource conservation (including land rights/use, conflict mitigation, pastoralism, climate change, social and credit schemes, and alternative water storage structures and technologies such as plastic lined water dams, gutters, harvesting tanks), and research and documentation (including advocacy, publications, information sharing, monitoring and evaluation).  I was able to meet with the director, who just completed consultancy fieldwork in Longido and other districts working with Maasai on issues of climate change and drought as they relate to food security.  According to him, “agriculture needs proper seeds to deal with drought, such as early maturing varieties.  Improved animal breeds, such as crossing indigenous with higher producing to increase milk production, will help them generate more income.”  He also noted how markets are scattered and there is very poor infrastructure within and between communities.  These pastoralists traditionally drink milk and blood but thin and unhealthy cattle require dietary supplements and cannot provide ample blood.  Another problem is the issue of illiteracy and lack of education in general, which leaves them unable to conceive of selling their precious livestock for money to buy food and housing (whereas their traditional culture encourages them to keep cattle and increase their numbers for prestige).  Moreover, in many places where the Maasai are residing, the soil isn’t very suitable for agriculture (it’s arid, sandy, stony and infertile) and only about 15% of land in these districts is arable.  Thus, “we cannot expect much agriculture to thrive here; it’s like forcing it,” an interesting counter perspective to Testigo Africa, which is teaching Maasai permaculture farming techniques for food production.  And water is of course king: it is limited and must be shared among humans, wildlife, and livestock; often times it is contaminated, overly fluorinated, saline, etc. and the consequential health risks threaten food security since money then goes to medicine instead of food.  In addition to food security/climate change/pastoralism, CEDESOTA is currently preparing for a Civic Education and Land Rights Training in Meru district.  The director invited me to attend the training, but unfortunately, the timing isn’t going to work out since I’ll be on safari.  However, he told me that they are working on training villagers on their social rights, democracy, and voter education.  Because all land in Tanzania is government owned and thus people could theoretically be forcibly removed from their land at any time (albeit compensated).  He hopes to empower people to be able to advocate for themselves in terms of their civic rights as individuals, communities, and villages, which requires education.  He noted how the government provides social services such as public education (including furniture, classrooms, and school infrastructure), but that the quality is severely lagging in pastoral communities.  Historically, pastoralists were marginalized by the government because they moved so frequently, thus the government did not feel the need to offer social services “on the move.”  The next general election is in 2015 and CEDESOTA aims to increase voter education beforehand.  As of now, villagers can easily be bribed with money and food, so the director hopes to encourage them to elect a good, honest leader that will advocate for pastoralists, as well as the fact that they can run for office themselves, especially women.  In terms of land grabbing, I was told: “Tanzania has an investment policy that says if someone wants to come in and invest, they need to register.  They may be able to indicate land preference or the government may find land.  The Land Act says that the government and investors must communicate with the local village council.  And there are three types of land in Tanzania: village land, public land (including roads, airports, schools, hospitals), and reserve land (wildlife conservation, national parks etc.) – all owned by the government.  If investors do not succeed in securing village land, then the government may go to public land and villages have no control or say in this.  The government just wants to collect high taxes and receive their cut of the investment.”  Moreover, because village land is apparently dynamic (it shrinks and expands regularly), people need to work with the government constantly to stay informed and to ensure transparency.  CEDESOTA’s relationship with the government seems like a good one at this point: livestock department and government officials must be present at trainings to increase communication and reassure that CEDESOTA is not “forcing people to rebel.”  However, he said that “the government does not want to support pastoralism.  They call it livestock, which refers only to animal production and not the human keepers.  The government was to destock or reduce the numbers and increase the productivity of the remaining few.  In this way, the state wants intensive (fewer and improved) rather than extensive (more including livelihood and pastoralism) raising of livestock.  And to further contextualize this, apparently Tanzania has the second higher number of cattle in Africa (19 million), whereas Ethiopia is first and Sudan is third.  In terms of development in general, the director also noted that “local people don’t yet know the advantages of investment.  Sometimes they benefit in the form of low paid labor, but not enough; there are not yet direct positive outcomes.”  For instance, he said in Meru district, there are flower plantations owned by foreigners where they are using massive amounts of chemical inputs and not providing any protective gear to the local Tanzanians who are employed, creating enormous health effects (note: I went to check out a couple of flower plantations and they seem to be offering good working conditions).  And to wrap up our meeting, I asked about climate change and how CEDESOTA is working in this area.  He said they have several adaptation techniques and strategies including: intercropping cultivation, water harvesting, pasture improvement (broadcasting seeds for grass cover crops to conserve moisture and provide fodder), rotational grazing for sustainable land use, and economic diversity with other income generating activities (including entrepreneurship knowledge, especially for women).

August 12, 2013 – Hortanzia Ltd.

Each time I was on my way home to Maji Ya Chai, the dalla dalla would pass by a gate with rows and rows of coffee trees and the faint outline of greenhouses in the background.  I had no idea what this operation was, but I’m glad I stopped by one day to check it out.  It turns out that it is a large-scale commercial farming operation known as “Hortanzia Ltd.,” owned by a Greek man.  I arranged for an appointment and tour, which was definitely necessary because this place was swamped with security.  I met with the greenhouse manager, a Kenyan named Aaron.  He told me that they are mostly growing chives in the greenhouses, as well as conducting a pilot project in basil cultivation.  They also grow coffee, maize, green beans, baby corn, and hay (they used to be an exporter of flowers too).  They diverted their crops away from flowers a year ago because it was no longer profitable due to the recession in Europe.  Now they have 5 hectares of greenhouse production and a total of 320 acres on the whole operation.  The tap water from Mt. Meru, which flows by gravity to the farm, where they have a central water feeding station and drop irrigation (water appears to not be an issue).  They are using hybrid seeds, mostly from Israel, from where their main agricultural consultant hails.  And when he was taking me around the greenhouses, I asked if I could photograph the chives:  “No photos, you know, farming is secret.”  This was kind of funny, but also telling: as a business, they are out to make a profit and don’t want other companies replicating their models.  Hortanzia began 15 years ago and the owner also had farms in Kenya.  In total, they employ 300 workers, many locals and also Kenyans who have moved to Tanzania.  They export their products mainly to Amsterdam, where they are then distributed to supermarkets around Europe.  “We are careful with chemicals because of export standards, which are very strict in Europe.  There cannot be any residue traces or they are rejected,” Aaron noted.  Apparently, Hortanzia is the only farm growing chives commercially in all of Tanzania.  They are grown in the greenhouse from seed and can only be treated with chemicals before sprouting (to minimize residues).  “We use class four chemicals, which are less toxic, and in short intervals.  We get them from Syngenta.”  He told me that it takes 60 days from seed to harvest and then harvesting takes place every 28 days (10 harvests per year).  During the scouting process, they look for the most damaging pests (thrips), and then they have only three days after harvest to spray (they need at least 21 days spray free).  He noted that they have tried biopesticides for the chives, but going totally organic isn’t possible.  In contrast, “this infrastructure requires water soluble inorganic fertilizers.”  The medium they purchase is an “untraditional, locally available, non-soil material.”  In the greenhouses, they have technologies that measure the fertilizer concentration, pH and nitrate levels to ensure optimal growth and to increase the uptake of nutrients, which are distributed to each plant in a dissolved form through the drip irrigation.  They can also alter the humidity and temperatures to improve the growing conditions.  The greenhouses didn’t seem to require much maintenance except that the plastic (mported from Israel) only has a lifespan of about two years.  He showed me the mixing room for the fertilizers, the processing facilities (where mainly women are picking out the bad pieces, sorting them and bunching them etc.) and also explained that they use the chive waste as coffee mulch.  Before exporting, they have to keep in cold storage (near freezing) for 12-18 hours to achieve maximum condition for transport and so they arrive “fresh.”  I asked about working conditions and he said, “employees get medical treatment facilities, lunch in the canteen, SACCOS (credit schemes), retirement assistance, and although the government gives minimum wage guidelines, the owner goes above and beyond.  These seemed a bit too good to be true, but I had no means of validating them because of my non-existent Swahili.  Never mind that I’d probably be thrown out if I started interrogating workers about their workplace satisfaction.  After my tour with Aaron, I met with the production manager for outside crops, a Kenyan named Paul.  Paul was quite busy, so he sent me on tours of the coffee, beans, maize, and hay with non-English speaking workers.  It was good to see the fields, as well as the grading area where women were sorting, weighing, and packing beans and maize, but not being able to ask questions on the spot was a bit frustrating.  After my tour, I asked Paul many questions.  He said that they have several plots of coffee ranging in age (phase 1-5 or two years to 5+ years; with phase 5 intercropped with macadamia trees, which provide additional shade for the coffee).  They get about 750 kgs per hectare and have one harvest per year (started in February and is still going on).  They use overhead sprinkler irrigation for the coffee and drip for many of the other crops.  Hortanzia sends the beans to a grading and milling plant, which then sells them on their behalf; “I don’t know where the coffee gets exported to,” he exclaimed (which surprised me a bit).  They don’t need to spray the coffee, “we don’t want to down grade it; instead we use copper (oxychloride) against rust.”  They get their water from the Momella source near Mt. Meru and have not had any productivity problems, even with drought, because of their elaborate irrigation scheme (which includes overhead irrigation, drip, sprinklers, and even pivot irrigation from the U.S. – think Food Inc. images).  For the green beans and maize, “we get better production without raised beds, so why would we waste our time and money?”  Everything is handpicked, even the corn.  The dry corn is used for seed, so they cannot mechanize harvesting (they need to select the best).  They are working with a Zimbabwe-based company for which Hortanzia grows maize for seed and then the company sells it to farmers.  For the baby corn and beans, they mainly export to Britain.  After they are graded and packed into crates, they send them by truck to a company called Finlay’s in Kenya, where they are graded and packed again for export.  For pest and disease control, they have a scouting program for which they look for problems in a preventative instead of curative way.  He said they “drench with necessary chemicals at the beginning and only do follow up sprays – controlled spraying with regulations decided by the contract company.”  Technologically, they use a mechanical reaper to prepare the lines for the beans.  They also sell their second grade products to local markets: “whatever doesn’t get exported.  Not much, usually only 5-10%,” except for the hay, which they sell exclusively to local markets.  When I asked about the possibility of organic production, I was again told: “scale is a problem.  We have 20 acres of beans, 8 acres of baby corn.  How could we?”  This doesn’t seem like that much area to me, especially knowing that there are large-scale commercial organic farms in the U.S. and even in Tanzania.  It was useful to be able to see a commercial-scale/export-oriented operation in Tanzania; I only wish I had been able to visit sooner.  

 

Pivot sprinkler at Hortanzia Ltd.

       

August 13, 2013 – Farm Radio Field Visit

Today I went with the Media Liaison Officer of Farm Radio International into the field to follow up with farmers.  Farm Radio International is a Canadian-based NGO out of Ottowa that aims to assist small farmers and increase food security by disseminating agricultural information via local radio broadcasting.  In Tanzania, they work with more than twenty radio stations in many regions of the country from Arusha to Tanga on the coast and Mtwara in the south.  FRI collaborates with radio broadcasters and agricultural extension officers to ensure that appropriate and relevant programming is developed.  A baseline survey is conducted and farmers/listeners can call and SMS in about their program preferences.  According to this article, FRI encourages farmers to organize into community listener groups (CLGs) to promote conversation and brainstorming.  Today we went to Msitu wa Mbogo village in Meru District.  I was able to conduct a group interview with about five of them (though only one spoke English and therefore dominated the conversation).  I learned that the villages’ small farmers are growing a variety of crops (tomatoes, peppers, carrots, African eggplant, maize, cassava, bananas, beans, and amaranth) on individual plots, ranging from 1/2 to 5 acres and using animal plows to till the soil (some are using tractors, which they hire from outside the village).  They irrigate using water from the river, though some use electric pumps.  “We’ve been having a big problem with water recently because of the dry season.  We have to reduce our cultivated land and that’s all we can do,” one farmer told me.  He noted that “it would be ideal if we could get machines to drill a bore hold, but we don’t have cash to do this.”  Some farmers are intercropping (e.g. maize, cassava and bananas) and others are rotating their crops.  But “land here is scarce.  The village is surrounded by settlers – large companies owned by Indians, Arabs, and Americans.  Some may own 500-6,000 acres and are growing fruits, vegetables, and sugar cane, usually for export.  We haven’t had a problem of coexistence, except that the government is supporting the settlers.  We’ve just had a few small problems: local cattle entering large farms, villagers stealing firewood and other materials from the settlers.”  Many are using industrial, synthetic fertilizers (but again, they’re expensive and few can afford), whereas others are utilizing farmyard manure: “we have enough animals to make the manure, but not everyone uses it because it requires commitment.  It’s more labor intensive and industrial fertilizer is easier.”  For pests and disease, some are using chemical pesticides from the shops (3-4 km away) and although extension officers are trained in proper application, many farmers cannot afford safety gear, so they do without.  They haven’t yet tried biopesticides – “a few Kenyan expats sponsored by mzungus came here years ago to each us, but this was difficult because you need cash money and commitment.  We need to grow ‘natural chemicals’ such as neem, which can treat more than 40 diseases.  But we need training.  You can teach people and give cash to buy seeds to plant and prepare these natural medicines, but we need follow up.”  Similarly, he said that a religious NGO introduced biogas to the village several years ago, but no follow up meant a lack of support and ongoing education.  This was an ongoing theme, as they said: “organic is good and better but there is no one to teach us the knowledge.  We could prefer organic because there are no side effects, unlike chemicals, where most people realize the bad things when they have to visit the hospital.  The effects show up slowly: joint pain, irrigation of skin, and eye problems.  Organic training in the past has failed because of a lack of continued support and education.”  Curiously, he also noted that “before chemicals, diseases didn’t exist.  But chemicals were always here.”  This was a totally ridiculous statement that didn’t make any sense, but I think it echoes the idea that most farmers of this generation don’t know about life/farming before the introduction of synthetic inputs (roughly the 1960s).  These farmers are producing for home consumption mainly because there is “no special market, no proper system for a sustainable market.  Farmers aren’t producing in a ‘good and proper way,’ so they are receiving a low profit.  And preparing the shamba [garden], buying the pesticides, it’s expensive.”  When I asked what ‘good and proper way’ meant, he said, “to get good yield, we need better seeds, the medicines or chemicals, the right fertilizer.”  Again, all about in the inputs and not the general stewardship of the soil, water resources etc.  And when I asked about seeds, I was told that “we get seeds from town.  Most are hybrids, so we have to buy new seed every season, but we don’t have another alternative.  Seeds we used to grow here have disappeared.  But hybrid performance is better.   We get a good yield.  The amount of vegetables you get from the shamba is better than indigenous seeds, but it is expensive to buy new seeds.”  They aren’t preparing compost because “it’s too much work.”  A few farmers have experimented with catching and harvesting rainwater, which was introduced by Americans.  They aren’t practicing slash and burn because there is not enough land to do so; instead, they are planting trees around the boundaries of plots for firewood, timber, and environmental conservation.  Apparently Global Service Corps. Introduced double dug beds, as well as the general knowledge of growing and storing vegetables with limited land and water.  And unsurprisingly, “most farmers are older (35-60 years old) and only a few children want to become farmers.  Most want to go to town to get a job because farming is difficult because of a lack of good technology.  Good technology can simplify work.”  I inquired about their production challenges in general and they told me that the market system is flawed “we want a market outside the area – maybe outside the region or abroad.  You can produce but when you reach the market, you get low prices that can’t cover costs.”  And in terms of pests, “there are new pests, which cannot be treated by normal industrial products.”  I am not sure if they are referring to superbugs, which are pests that have developed a resistance to common pesticides.  And extension officers are very few – they have only two in the ward of 4000 farmers – which limits educational capacity.  What is positive, however, is that Farm Radio appears to have helped them.  Each Friday and Saturday, they teach about ways of growing vegetables, treating crops (both the use of chemicals and natural methods), and lessons on nutrition – according to the group, “farmers listen and adjust their practices.”  Members of this village started listening only two months ago (June of 2013) and already seem thrilled about the information they’ve gained (although only a few own radios, which Farm Radio provided, and they share in groups).  Speaking of groups, I was told that they operating in groups of 20-30 farmers for local banking and credit, teaching each other when an extension officer comes, and the possibility of marketing together in the future.  In the past, they’ve tried actually working in the fields together, but this has failed.  Most prefer working individually, but sharing knowledge.  It seems to be an equal mix of men and women, with slightly more women.  At first, this village visit seemed kind of pointless because it had little to do with the influence of Farm Radio, but in hindsight, it was an almost perfect summation of all my previous farmer visits.  It highlighted the importance of education/knowledge, the simultaneously beneficial and damaging effects of outside aid organizations (introduction but no follow up), the benefits of working in a group, the concurrent desire for organic but the feeling of need for synthetic chemical inputs, the idea that scaling up for exporting is the key to alleviating poverty, the general lack of government support for agriculture (e.g. 2 extension officers for 4,000 people), water and land shortages, and the overarching idea that technology will save them.               

Farmer with his maize

Farm Radio field visit