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Tanzanie
World Food Programme and Enabel join achievement has been published in the paper edition of "The Guardian" in Tanzania. Here under, you'll find extracts of the article, the full article is available here: https://www.ippmedia.com/en/business/belgian-agency-enabel-team-wfp-offer-kigoma-farmers-market
Kakonko, like neighbouring districts, has
red soil that turns into a heavy dust during the dry season. When it rains,
most of the residents are busy planting maize, cassava, beans, bananas as well
as other staple crops. Many of the farmers are dependent of the annual harvest
for the majority of their income for the entire year. “Every year we are in the fields working,
but the lingering question always is, ‘Are we going to be able to find a
buyer?’ and ‘How much will we get,’” says Jackson Christopher, a forty-year-old
farmer, born and raised in Kakonko.
Kakonko is in Kigoma region, bordering
Burundi in the northwest of Tanzania. It is estimated that as a region, over 90,000
metric tonnes of beans – enough to fill 3,000 trucks - are produced in Kigoma
each year. Of this, 24,000 metric tonnes are “surplus” and traded within
Tanzania, supplying markets such as Dar es Salaam, and in neighbouring regions.
For smallholder farmers like Jackson,
accessing these markets can be a daunting challenge. Typically, farmers market
their produce locally within the village or ward. A buyer might come and purchase
the produce, but the prices can be unfavourable for the farmer who is left with
little to no other option.
For the buyer, receiving consistent quality
can be a challenge and transporting the produce up the supply chain can be
expensive.
“That is why we use a value chain approach
to organize smallholder farmers to produce high-quality produce and bring it to
market,” said Earnest Musinamwana, Agricultural Marketing Advisor for Enabel –
The Belgian Development Agency.
Enabel, with funding from the Government of Belgium,
works with 15,000 farmers throughout Kigoma region under the Sustainable
Agriculture Kigoma Regional Project (SAKIRP). Using a pro-poor value chain
development approach, farmers are systematically supported from production all
the way through storage and marketing. Access to finance helps farmers purchase
various agro inputs like improved and marketable seed varieties, pesticides and
fertilizer while training and extension coaching on good agricultural practices helps farmers
to maximize the quantity and quality of their harvests. “Our ultimate objective is to increase the
income of smallholder farmers in Kigoma region,” said Earnest. “While we work
to boost smallholder farmer productivity and reduce their post-harvest losses,
the last piece is finding a reliable market for the produce.”
"..."
The United Nations World Food Programme
(WFP) provides, refugees with rations of cereals, pulses (including beans),
vegetable oil, specialized nutritious food and salt to meet their daily minimum
food requirements. In total, WFP provides food assistance to 230,000 refugees
in Tanzania and over one million vulnerable persons in neighbouring countries including
Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan Burundi and Rwanda.
Last year, WFP purchased20,000 metric
tonnes of food in Tanzania at a cost of nearlt USD 9 million. The food was then
distributed in Tanzania and in neighbouring countries.
“WFP is a big buyer of food commodities
produced locally in Tanzania,” said Michael Dunford, WFP Representative in
Tanzania. “In collaboration with Enabel, WFP is now able to help unlock a new
market for smallholder farmers in the host community can benefit from WFP’s
support to refugees. With the success of this procurement WFP will continue to
expand support through more purchases directly from the local community.”
With the assurance that WFP would buy their beans,
farmers supported by Enabel mobilised themselves to produce a sufficient
quantity of beans while meeting the required quality levels. Jackson harvested
18 bags, or about 1.3 metric tonnes of market-grade beans.
"..."
“WFP and Enabel are key partners in this project,
providing a catalyst for transforming smallholder farming from a largely
subsistence operation into a commercial one,” said Peter Van Acker, Ambassador
of Belgium to Tanzania, “and purchasing food directly from smallholder farmers
in Kigoma is a great opportunity to support the refugee hosting communities. In
my previous capacity as Director of Humanitarian Affairs at the Belgian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, I had been struggling
with the concept of the nexus between humanitarian and development aid. To see
this happening now in Tanzania makes me extremely proud."
“For too long, humanitarian and development
actors have been working independently one from another. Enabel believes that
strengthening the coherence and coordination between humanitarian and
development efforts and building on their respective comparative
advantages strongly contributes to reduce needs, risks and
vulnerability of populations. Supporting the humanitarian-development
architecture through local development actions reduces the vulnerability of
displaced women and men while it enhances the resilience of communities and systems
in hosting countries” said Patrick Gaudissart, Resident Representative of
Enabel in Tanzania.
About 150 kilometres to the southwest of
Kakonko is Tanzania’s largest refugee camp, Nyarugusu. The camp is home to
136,000 refugees, of which 76,000 are from Democratic Republic of Congo and the
remaining are primarily from Burundi.
Ms. Abilola Tabu Angelique, a refugee from
the Democratic Republic of the Congo serves as the President for refugees in
Nyarugusu Camp. She has been in Tanzania for 22 years, first at Lugufu refugee
camp before being moved to Nyarugusu ten years ago.
“We are
continually grateful to the Government of Tanzania and to our neighbouring
residents for being generous hosts,” said Abilola. “It makes us happy to know
that our closest hosts are doing well and able to access the WFP market.
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*The United Nations World Food Programme
is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies,
building prosperity and supporting a sustainable future for people recovering
from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. Top donors to WFP
Tanzania’s refugee operation include USA, United Kingdom, European Union,
Ireland, Canada and Germany.
**Enabel
is the Belgian development agency. It implements and coordinates Belgium’s international development policy and primarily works for the
Belgian State. The agency also implements actions for other national and
international donors. Enabel manages about 150 projects,
mostly in fragile states in Africa. Enabel has 1,500 staff, of which more than
70% is local personnel. In Tanzania, Enabel is currently active in three
sectors: Natural Resources Management/Water/Agriculture in Kigoma region and
food security in Arusha Region.
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