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Introduction:

Agriculture is at the centre of the fight against poverty in Tanzania. In 2010 the 
government launched an extensive programme called kilimo Kwanza (agriculture 
first). In this country there are many families in rural areas that continue to live in 
extreme poverty. In view of this, supplementary budgetary resources were assigned 
to stimulate the agriculture sector in 2011. 
 
Like many African countries, in Tanzania the family farm sector is the basis for the 
survival of many families. This is practiced by families and small farmers 
associations. The production is essentially destined for family consumption and for 
trade or exchange with other products. 
 
In this country the practice of family farming is not always successful, given that 
this essentially depends on the rains and when they don&rsquo;t fall, production hardly 
exists. This situation is made worse when it is associated to the ignorance of modern 
technologies, lack of agricultural inputs and different catastrophes. In view of these 
problems, one of the alternatives for smallholder farmers has been working in small 
associations to allow them to unite their efforts. 
 
One such experience of the united work of smallholder farmers that deserves special 
attention in this country is associated to the cultivation of beans. Years ago many 
bean farms were attacked by a species of plague that nearly devastated the whole 
crop. This was in the centre of Tanzania, in the Hai district. In response to this, a 
group of researchers from the Selian Agricultural Research Institute in Arusha, 
carried out a joint investigation that integrated local farmers, community leaders and 
extension agents. The farmers formed a group and carried out tests in the field 
whose objective was to find a solution for the problem and afterwards to transmit 
their experiences to other communities. In this test they combined traditional 
strategies such as the use of wood ash, ox urine, soap, paraffin, manure, botanical 
extracts, as well as the timely plantation of alternating cultures and modern 
techniques suggested by the advisers like crop rotation, the use of other types of 
resistant and high producing beans and other fertilizers. In successive seasons, the 
researchers, farmers, advisers, local community leaders and other agents provided 
additional aid services as regular meetings and days of fieldwork, and documented 
the whole decision process taken by the farmers. The results of this were useful. The 
farmers chose the most suitable strategies for their fields, combining traditional 
options with modern ones. 
 
The largest share of the participants were women and some occupied positions of 
leadership in their groups. All the participants in this project gained confidence in 
making contact with other members and sharing their experiences. They also learnt 
to train other groups, to organize and participate in field work, and to discuss as a 
group to find solutions for their farmland&rsquo;s diverse problems. 
 
Besides this, this experience showed that the efforts of the farmers brought good 
results because they increased their production. For example, the cultivation of 
beans grew from 120-180kg per hectare to 480-600kg, and the cultivation of maize 
grew from 700-1000kg to 1200-1800kg per hectare. This growth in production 
improved the food security of families, the ability to pay school fees for their 
children, better health conditions and also to improve the social environment in their 
communities. 
 
The farmers also felt that their traditional knowledge has value and that they can be 
integrated into other farming techniques. They had more motivation individually as 
well as with their production groups, to carry out more investigations to find 
solutions for the different situations that restrict agricultural production in their 
areas. 
 
This experience is being shared by other countries in East, Central and Southern 
Africa such as Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda amongst others.

Directive:

1. Read the files to have a notion on the farming practiced by smallholder 
farmers. 
 
2. Imagine that you are in a community with serious production problems caused 
by the lack of rain, plagues, seeds, etc.
<div style="margin-left: 40px;">a) Write an article of 2 pages on the importance of creating small associations 
at a community level to resolve local production problems. 
b) Do not forget to include the introduction, development and conclusion in 
this article. You should clearly explain, the advantages of creating an 
association, the risks, the members that should take part, how it should 
function, how the association should be run, amongst other aspects.</div>
 
3. Make a list of at least 10 pieces of advice for the smallholder farmers on how 
they can stimulate their production. 
 
4. Promote a debate in an assembly on how Nyerere&rsquo;s past policy can influence 
the way farmworkers can organize themselves. 
 
5. Send the end products of the task to your teacher for comments.

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