AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT
1.0 Problems facing Rural farmers
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Low household revenues due to limited access to market outlets for
agricultural products
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Crop loss due to limited post harvest mechanisms for preservation,
storage and processing and in-storage pest infestation and vermin
attack.
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Low crop yields due to decreasing soil fertility and pest infestation
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Low levels of coping mechanisms due to limited technical capacities
to deal with changing environments and situations
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Food insecurity and poor nutrition due to lack of food in some months
of the year.
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Low selling prices during harvest time compared to high re-purchasing
price during high demand seasons.
 Through
a participatory process, FADECO was able to analyze the underlying causes
of these problems and potential solutions. Involvement of all stakeholders
was very crucial to come up with a sound programme.
This Participatory Rural Appraisal started in 1996 and ended in 1998
with the technical assistance of Ms Barbarba O'Neil, an SSO volunteer
from APSO. Several tools were applied during the process including transects
walks, resource mapping, semi structured interviews, ranking, etc.
1.1 LOW HOUSEHOLD REVENUES
Farmers depend for their regular incomes from sales of surplus agricultural
production. The magnitude of their revenues from agriculture depends very
much on two things: availability of surpluses and markets.
For the farmers in Kagera region, the situation has been always changing
from bad to worst, and these two factors have increasingly been divergent.
There has been a decline in agricultural production due to a number of
factors and a corresponding decline in market opportunities.
1.1.1 Decline in Agricultural production
This has been due to some of the following reasons:
1. Poor agricultural husbandry practices
2. Lack of better planting materials (seeds and plant stocks)
3. Poor agricultural extension practices
1.1.2 Poor (and/or limited access to) markets:
a) Poor road and communication infrastructures are playing a major role
in the marketing of agricultural produce out of the region. Kagera Region
is linked with a network of poor murram roads (seasonal) save for the
120 Km stretch from Rusumo (Rwanda/Tanzania border) through Benaco and
Nyakahura; and the 127 Km stretch constructed from Mtukula (Uganda/Tanzania
border) through Bukoba to Mhutwe. This means that, investment in road
transport is rendered uneconomical and an investment in transportation
business cannot be economically viable nor successful.
b) Communications by steamer from Bukoba across Lake Victoria to Mwanza,
Musoma (Kenya) and Portbell (Uganda) was paralyzed after the long serving
MV Bukoba capsized claiming lives of more than 1000 people on board. There
remained two vessels: Mv Victoria and Mv Serengeti (which are now over
laden with load and passengers) making transportation on these two vessels
rather risky and unreliable.
c) Marketing of agricultural produce was done through cooperative societies.
All these were government parastatal organisations until 1992 when structural
adjustment economic policies were adopted. Whereas the marketing of other
products was liberalized, this was not so for coffee. The marketing of
coffee remained an activity for the Cooperative societies. All private
buyers were denied licenses for trading in coffee.
d) Limited access to information regarding the available and potential
markets is another impediment towards agricultural marketing. Most farmers
and businessmen do not know where to sell their products. The press (radio,
Television and news papers) hardly reach the region. Even when they do
so, there is no market information available for the people who may need
such information.
1.2 Limited post harvest mechanisms for preservation, storage and processing
Crop loss due post harvest spoilage is widespread. Usually food is from
garden to pot to mouth. The spoilage is caused by a number of factors.
These include inadequate food storage/ preservation mechanisms and post
harvest spoilage due to pests and vermins. These problems greatly affect
food/ nutrition security and provision in the district. Food is sold off
at very low prices to businessmen early enough during harvest periods
and later to buy it again at very high prices in times of great need.
1.2.1 Inadequate food storage/ preservation mechanisms.
Traditionally, farming communities had methods of preserving their agricultural
produce after harvest. These mechanisms included construction of food
barns. There used to be practically a means to preserve almost every crop.
These methods (like all indigenous knowledge) were never documented and
so has been forgotten. Apparently, there is very little known about traditional
post harvest food preservation or processing mechanisms. This therefore
is a big issue to address.
1.2.2 Post harvest spoilage due to pests and Vermins.
Pests exists both on-farm and in-store. There is a whole list of pests
including but not exclusively weevils, that are known for attacking and
destroying produce whether these be in the gardens (before harvest) or
in the store (after harvest). In fact, there is a high prevalence of these
pests known to be causing high losses especially in cereals and pulses.
Traditionally, mechanisms for dealing with this existed but are also forgotten.
Vermins including rodents like rats are another menace during post harvest
storage. These can cause about 60% loss within a period of 12 months if
left unattended.
1.2.3 Post harvest storage/ preservation of short shelf life crops (Fruits
and vegetables):
There is a wide range of fruits and vegetables that are grown. Limited
access to markets, render these very vulnerable to spoilage through rot.
Fruits and vegetables such as mangoes, pineapples, oranges, paw paws,
tomatoes, onions, cabbages, etc. spoil very quickly after harvest and
there is no way to preserve them. The most common way of preserving foods
is sun drying. In principle, there used to be a wide range of indigenous
coping mechanisms for food storage not only for crops but also for meat
and fish like smoking.
1.3.4 Food / Nutrition security in the context of Karagwe District
Food security has been broadened to refer also to livelihood security
because access to food is equally defined by the extent to which the basic
household needs can be satisfied. The food security situation in Kagera
region can be defined into two zones:
ZONE 1
This is the area in the north of the district with low food / cash crop
production levels. The food security problems are therefore manifested
in low crop yields, with pronounced food shortage in most months of the
year. Mostly, parts of Bugene-Nyaishozi division.
The main results of this food insecurity is therefore in the form of
low incomes because the households have very little to sell for income,
poor household food base because the families do not produce enough for
own consumption yet even the little produce is all sold to get an income.
Another manifestation is poor nutrition standards.
Zone 2
This is an area with high food / cash crop production. The problems of
food security are defined in a different way from zone 1. In this area,
the production is really sufficient to meet household food / cash requirements
in some months of the year. However, due to non-existence of preservation
/ storage mechanism; and limited access to markets, much of the crop get
spoilt or damaged.
The resulting fate is that of food insecurity and poor incomes. In some
months, there is seemingly too much production reaching a climax in a
given month. Yet in other months, there is nothing or very little. This
is characterized by high increase in food price.
There are several options that have to be worked out if the agricultural
situation in the region is to improve. Some of these interventions coud
be crop diversification (by introducing new and high yielding cutivars
and seeds), post harvest management, introduction of diary cattle, vegetative
propagation of woody crops including coffee, introductin of high value
crops like soya beans, vanilla, etc. However, two problems will again
prop up: post harvest management and then marketing.
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