Direct Aid?

It is the rainy season and it is a bit cooler and obviously wetter. Some people are saying there is a lot more rain this year but I have no comparison. I like the cool weather and the clouds, have gotten used to the smell of mildew and the sound of a fan drying my clothes.

Projects Update

I am in the process of submitting a lengthy proposal for funding to support a cassava drying project I’ve been pushing along since October 2023. Slow but sure.

I have proposed agroforestry concepts that compliment resilient agriculture practices. One strategy is to incorporate annual vegetables with bamboo. Annual crops are grown in an alley between rows of bamboo. Alley cropping has been used in many tropical conditions and with the increasing severity of storms combined with prolonged heating periods, the soil binding characteristics of bamboo and the protection it provides from wind can save a crop. It also provides a secondary product – bamboo – which is useful to ensure income regardless of conditions.

Another strategy which is more on the landscape level, is to intercrop annual vegetables with a variety of fruit bearing trees spaced widely for annual vegetables amongst the trees – called food forests. This has the similar effect as ally cropping except here the secondary products are fruit. In the region we are proposing this there are conflicts with a semi nomadic tribe – the Maasai, who graze their cattle throughout the landscape. So, this is a project which incorporates climate smart techniques and also addresses cultural and social challenges. The idea here is to establish dialogue between the different users and avoid surprises and conflicts; as well, to develop multiple crops with multiple markets to ensure economic resilience.

Business Support

I have also been supporting several youths in their business development. James from a previous blog who is developing technology to support farm operations with automatic irrigation, weather data collection and forecasting. We have submitted several proposals looking for funding support. James has recently developed another device, a controller, which will assist him monitoring moisture and ensuring proper ignition.

I have also been supporting a young fella who wants to develop a soya milk company in Tanzania. He has lots of energy and wants to get rich, so his motivation is clear. He grew up in poverty, and never wants to be there again. I am assisting him with a business plan and mentoring him as he works through the business concept. He learned recently that most of the soybeans in Tanzania come from Zambia. He did not know this until recently when he was in a different region of Tanzania. Soy beans here are primarily grown for feed and soybeans for milk are a different variety. So, there are multiple challenges with this idea, but he is persistent.

My Swahili teacher wants to expand her business so I am helping her with her business and marketing plan. I get free Swahili lessons over skype and she gets what she needs from me. It’s a good exchange and we are becoming friends. Rafiki yangu (my friend).

SUGECO projects

I have also been supporting projects that SUGECO has recently been awarded. There are two projects which are almost exactly the same. Both projects involve developing farms to support youth and agricultural entrepreneurship. These farms involve developing water sources and infrastructure to support farm operations. The intention is to engage over 400 young people and provide them with a half-acre of land to grow crops where SUGECO has developed contracts with buyers. This sounds good, but these are convoluted concepts with unreasonable deliverables, and the organization does not have the capacity to implement the project. There’s a big disconnect between the people who have the ideas, submit the proposals and people who are on the ground implementing the ideas. There is a schism developing between staff and management. Somewhere in there I am involved, but mostly as a consultant providing pragmatic suggestions and emotional support.

There’s a lot to say about “development.” Many people have asked me if I feel I am making an impact. I don’t think much of anything I have contributed would be missed. But I am helping people in direct ways. The business support is direct and the young people are grateful. More on “development” in a future blog.

Direct Aid

There is a delightful 20-year-old woman farmer here, Virgillia, who is 7 3/4 months pregnant. She has a ½ acre of habanero peppers that are just starting to ripen and soon she will not be able to harvest. The father is farm staff here and he is denying that the baby is his. Her parents have disowned her because she is pregnant and is not married. She has been coming to me for emotional support and because she needs things for the baby. I connected her with my Tanzanian friend Jackie who has two children. I am buying things that Virgilia will need and Jackie is helping Virgilia understand what is ahead of her. This is one way I know I am making an impact.

The distressing thing is how normal it is for a man in Tanzania to be the father, everybody knows it, and he can go along and deny it. There is no recourse for the woman. Traditionally babies are the responsibility of women and many men have babies with women outside of their marriage. It is normal.

This is a hangover from tibial culture before colonial contact. Men would have 3 to 5 wives living in a compound. More wives mean higher status. These days, Christian men feel free to live this way secretly. It’s none of the wife’s business what the man does but if a wife has an affair, the marriage would end immediately, or worse …

Today it is sunny.