President John Magufuli bids farewell to visiting Prince Karim Aga Khan with whom he held talks at the State House in Dar es Salaam. |
"My life now is not
bad, whether it be in dry or wet season. Through vegetable production I
was able to overcome absolute poverty and can now support my family,"
says Athumani Mohamed. He declares that the positive change in his
livelihood is due to his adoption of the good horticultural practices
resulting in increased production and sale of vegetables. Today,
Athumani Mohamed is able to not only provide enough food for his family,
but also pay for school fees with the income from his farming.
Smallholder farmers
in Mtwara and Lindi Regions have faced a long history of barriers to
profitable farming as a result of a variety of production and
market-related challenges. AKF has made one of its goals to help farmers
like Athumani learn how to sustainably produce more of better quality
and be competitive in the agriculture market.
Since 2009, AKF has
impacted over 100,000 farmers in Lindi and Mtwara regions through a
systems approach, facilitating access to quality inputs, information on
good agricultural practices, and market linkages.
Over time, these
regions are witnessing a gradual shift from low-productivity, fragmented
and subsistence farming to sustainable market-driven agriculture. This
has contributed to increased yield, income, savings, food security and
growth of micro and small agri-businesses by local entrepreneurs,
including women and youth. Targeted farmers have increased yields and
income, while food security has improved, with 60 per cent of households
being food-secure in 2014 compared to 27 per cent in 2010 in the
program areas. Over 200 micro, small and medium agri-business
enterprises are being supported by AKF to grow their businesses. By
working in multiple value chains (horticulture, rice, pulses, sunflower,
sesame and poultry), AKF is facilitating farmers to produce and market a
mix of crops which helps in mitigating risk of price fluctuation or a
crop failure as well as enables crowding in a range of private sector
players. A systems-strengthening approach in partnership with key
stakeholders is applied at each stage of the agricultural value chain.
AKF, an agency of
the Aga Khan Development Network, takes a long-term, multi-sector
approach to improve the quality of life in the communities where it
works. To achieve this goal, AKF works in partnership and brings
together the required human, financial and technical resources needed to
strengthen institutions and systems and influence key stakeholders. AKF
has built trust with local government, communities, and private sector,
this being critical to its role as a reliable market facilitator.
Agricultural Extension Support
Many farmers in
Tanzania struggle with access to information on market prices, crop
production and climate-smart farming methods. AKF believes that a
multi-pronged approach to information delivery is needed to sustainably
meet the different information needs of farmers and as a result,
facilitates a range of extension service providers (government extension
officers, lead farmers, input suppliers and buyers) and channels or
tools (radio, farmer field days, Nane Nane, mobile phones, tablets, and
paper-based manuals) to achieve this. Environmentally sustainable
agriculture and outreach to women and young farmers remain key
considerations in AKF's extension strengthening approach.
Strengthening the Last-mile Link for Input Supply and Leveraging of Technology
Access to quality
inputs and appropriate technology has been limited in Lindi and Mtwara
Regions due to issues of demand and supply. AKF stimulated demand for
seed, fertilizer, appropriate pesticides, and environmentally
sustainable technologies (pedal pumps, drip irrigation and greenhouses)
by promoting good agricultural practices among farmers, facilitating
demonstration plots and exchange visits. This has resulted in farmers'
increased productivity, income and demand for these inputs and
technologies. Simultaneously, under its entrepreneurship programme, AKF
trained 257 existing and potential village based agro-dealers (VBAs), of
which 177 are now operating viable agro-input supply businesses,
providing the last-mile link for inputs and technology. AKF connected
these VBAs to input and technology supply companies that were previously
not operating in the region, which had a significant impact on the
VBAs, on the company reach, and on agricultural practices in Lindi and
Mtwara Regions.
"Before I had to
travel for up to an hour to Masasi Town or ask someone traveling to
Mtwara or Dar-es-Salaam to buy improved seeds and pesticides that I
could not get from local markets, which was costly and time consuming"
Devota relates "but these days inputs are within very close reach
through AKF-trained Village Based Agro-dealers (VBAs). They also advise
you on how to use the inputs" said Devotha, Chigugu.
Post-Harvest Management and Value Addition
As better storage,
grading, sorting and processing of crops increases competitiveness by
reducing losses, improving quality and adding value, AKF has worked with
farmer organisations, millers, local government and local market
associations on a range of targeted initiatives to improve post harvest
management. These include training on harvesting at the right time,
improving storage and milling equipment, promoting sorting and grading,
and construction or rehabilitation of storage and market infrastructure.
In a public-private
partnership (PPP) with the Masasi District Council and the local market
association, AKF facilitated the construction of a community owned and
operated post-harvest collection facility for vegetables in Chidya
Village in 2017. The facility allows horticulture crop aggregation,
storage in dry and cold rooms, use of proper weighing scales and has
helped to reduce losses and theft while attracting more buyers.
"In the past... we
were reliant on the same buyers all the time, and when we became
desperate to sell, we would agree to any conditions set by the buyer,
including buying on credit. Now that the post-harvest facility is in
place, if the buyer does not have money to pay, farmers have the option
to sell to another buyer, and therefore no longer face serious delays in
receiving the fair payments they are due," says Saidi Athumani, a
farmer that sells vegetables in Chidya market.
Since its creation,
the facility has benefited over 800 farmers in Chidya and the
neighbouring village of Chiwata, and has contributed to the long-term
transformation of the local market system in favour of local
communities.
Increasing Access to Affordable Finance
AKF's efforts in
increasing access to basic finance through community-based savings group
(CBSG) has reached more than 180,000 members - 66 per cent of whom are
women. Organised in over 9,300 groups, women and men in rural areas are
saving on average Sh 200,000 per person annually, with these groups
cumulatively saving an estimated Sh33 billion per year (approximately $
15 million). As farmers' capacities in agricultural production improve,
their involvement in CBSGs allows for savings, credit and investments
into children's education, family health, business, and purchase of
agricultural inputs and services, resulting in greater resilience,
productivity and improved quality of life. Building on this success, AKF
is driving an innovative mobile money platform together with a
technology company to enable savings group members, especially in rural
areas, to save and borrow using their mobile phones.
Connecting Smallholders to Market
A variety of
approaches applied by AKF are contributing to inclusive growth of
markets for agricultural commodities in Lindi and Mtwara. These include
improving information flow between farmers and markets, training of
farmers on farming as a business, and mobilisation of aggregation models
(producer business groups, primary cooperatives, contract farming and
improving market and storage infrastructure) to attract and crowd-in
private sector by facilitating economies of scale. One indicator of
inclusive growth of markets in the regions is the growing number of
private sector agri-business companies and increased volume of business
transactions between buyers and producers especially of rice,
vegetables, and sesame.
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