{"id":231,"date":"2017-03-10T05:56:34","date_gmt":"2017-03-10T05:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esaff.org\/?p=231"},"modified":"2017-03-10T05:56:34","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T05:56:34","slug":"all-farmers-wake-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esaff.org\/index-php\/all-farmers-wake-up\/","title":{"rendered":"All farmers wake up!"},"content":{"rendered":"
All farmers wake up!<\/b><\/div>\n
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A diary of Moses Shaha who travelled from the Coastal town of Mombasa, Kenya to the Mountains of Central Africa, Burundi<\/b><\/div>\n
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Moses Shaha is ESAFF Secretary General, he is a farmer from Kilifi, Kenya he has travelled a thousands of miles for the course of small scale farmers.<\/b><\/div>\n
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In 2002 He travelled all the way by road from his home town Kilifi, Mombasa via Nairobi to Johannesburg, South Africa. That was during the Word Social Sustainable Development summit.<\/b><\/div>\n
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Since then (2002) Moses has meandered East, Southern and Central Africa mobilising small scale farmers. Many times he was stopped at the borders and forced to pay something for him to get through.<\/b><\/div>\n
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So here is a story from his most recent trip from Mombasa all the way through Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.\u00a0His journey and what he saw, felt and tasted shows that small scale farmers are still marginalised, exploited, and not given rightful space, voices in budgeting processes, price setting and many others. It seems market economy is only for manufactured goods and not agricultural produce! To overcome all these – farmers must speak for themselves!<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
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\u00a0Kindly join him in his 13 days diary…<\/b><\/div>\n
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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Getting off … Destination Kampala Uganda,<\/b><\/div>\n
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1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1st<\/sup> Day-<\/b><\/div>\n
1st<\/sup> May 2009<\/u><\/b> \u2013 I left Kilifi for Nairobi by the night coach to start my first leg of the expected 13 day excursion in the three countries.<\/div>\n
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2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2nd<\/sup> Day-<\/b><\/div>\n
2nd<\/sup> May \u201909<\/u><\/b> \u2013 I arrived in Nairobi at 5.30 am and scout for a suitable bus for Kampala in Nairobi. I put up in Nairobi. While here, I take the opportunity to visit Nairobi Cuts offices to drum up ESAFF support for its district based programme support to grassroots groups.<\/div>\n
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3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 3rd<\/sup> Day-<\/b><\/div>\n
3rd<\/sup> May \u201909<\/u><\/b> \u2013 I bought a seat for the trip to Kampala by Kampala Coach. I eventually depart for the 10 \u00bd hrs trip at 9.00 pm.<\/div>\n
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4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 4th<\/sup> Day-<\/b><\/div>\n
4th<\/sup> May \u201809<\/u><\/b> \u2013 I arrived in Kampala the next morning at 9.30 am. I contact my hosts who arrange to have me picked up by taxi. Pick Nancy on way to the hotel. We both agree to have me picked from hotel to the ESAFF Uganda secretariat at 12.00 mid day so as to have lunch together before we settle down to work on the ESAFF Mission Objectives.<\/div>\n
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Picked from hotel to ESAFF Uganda secretariat. Have lunch, across the road at a local joint, with my hosts, Hakim-EsaffUganda Chair, and Nancy, the Coordinator. Back at the secretariat, I explain the gist of my visit. Since the questionnaire was fore sent before my arrival, we start to go through the programme and the questionnaire led by Hakim. The explanations get more interesting and we both decide not to hurry the responses coming from the hosts. We reach half way by the close of the day at 6.00 pm.<\/div>\n
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For the next day, we agree to start the guided field visit to Mukono District, a member of Esaff Uganda and then come back to the secretariat to complete the questionnaire which was the basis of my visit.<\/div>\n
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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A success stories of environmental activist in Uganda<\/b><\/div>\n
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5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5th<\/sup> Day-<\/b><\/div>\n
5th<\/sup> May \u201909<\/u><\/b> \u2013 Am picked from the hotel at 8.30 am, then pick Nancy and head for Mukono Town in Mukono District. We are joined by both Irene, the Esaff Uganda advocacy officer and Hakim. We both pay a courtesy visit to the Executive Director of Uganda Environmental Education Foundation, Mr. Ssenyonjo Nicholas who warmly welcomes me and ESAFF Regional to Uganda. He applauds the decision of the ESAFF regional executives to carry out such visits. He further commends periodic visits to give encouragements and advice on the direction so desired by the farmers in their quest for self organization. He says the high expectations from ESAFF members are just too overwhelming as indicated of ESAFF being a farmers\u2019 buzz word. This is due to the boring lifestyles of being in poverty situation all their lives. After my explanation of the reason of my visit, Mr. Nicholas also explains that UEEF is a close collaborating partner of ESAFF Uganda. The two organizations agreed to work together on a wide range of issues that are of interest to their members especially on the protection of the environment. Currently they are putting in place programmes that are anticipated to reverse global warming by planting 30,000,000 trees in both the countryside and in urban settings. The cleaning of river ways and protection of water catchment points is also in their priority. One notable achievement was the vigorous lobbying with other interested organizations in the preservation and protection of the Mabira Forest water tower, which led to a public national action plan to stop the government to sell and destroy the forest to private investment.<\/b> They are also lobbying a few parliamentarians to drafting a bill that will protect the environment from the menace of the careless disposal of polythene bags <\/b>that have many a time affected their livestock.<\/div>\n
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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Farmers and Budgeting process in Uganda<\/b><\/div>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The national Cake not for everyone in Uganda, where are the farmers<\/b><\/div>\n
After the signing of the visitors\u2019 book, we bid our hosts goodbye and are joined by Hakim on our way to Ntenjeru\u2019s Piggery, 15 km deep in Mukono. It is co-sponsored by the N<\/u>ational A<\/u>gricultural Ad<\/u>visory S<\/u>ervices – NAADS government programme in Mukono District. We spend \u00be of the day at Ntenjeru\u2019s farm, learning of his success story. (Ntenjeru inherited his farm from his late father as the last born of the family as his two elder brothers who had been given other farms live elsewhere). Ntenjeru is the chairman of his group and recently nominated the leading meritorious good practice farmer in his district. He has 14 acres of land, enough to subdivide into smaller plots to plant various crops in one season. He grows bananas, coffee, maize, papaws, sweet peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes, cassava, carrots, onions and a few chewing sugar canes.) We take pictures before touring one part of his maize demonstration farm that he has planted part with farmyard manure and another section without, whose stark difference is seen with the fast growth of the maize crop that was planted with manure.<\/div>\n
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We later discuss around the following:<\/b><\/div>\n
i). Genetically Modified Organisms,<\/div>\n
ii). Extension Services Delivery,<\/div>\n
iii). Farmers participation and involvement in the national budget process,<\/div>\n
iv). His views on the relevancy of ESAFF now and in the future.<\/div>\n
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On the budgeting process, Ntenjeru reiterates of the need to have transparency on the process as the process is being abused and or taken advantage of by some people <\/b>who are and are usually favoured, though they present issues that are not relevant to the immediate needs of the farmers in the district.<\/div>\n
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Their pressing issues are always deferred to the next budget process. Some of the issues are:<\/div>\n
a). The costs of upgrading of the feeder roads from the farmers\u2019 farms to the main tarmac trunk roads leading to the markets,<\/div>\n
b). The improvement of Primary grade Schools,<\/div>\n
c). Sinking of more water boreholes as present ones are too far apart,<\/div>\n
d). Addition of dispensaries which are ill equipped with too few staff,<\/div>\n
e). Supply of agricultural inputs (pesticides, seeds, fertilizers, etc, ) in the area,<\/div>\n
e). Subsidizing of the costs of extension services to farmers, etc.<\/div>\n
f). Market access and favourable price identification.<\/div>\n
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He says farmers were initially passive participants and politicians took advantage of their ignorance and fronted their own interests.<\/div>\n
\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ESAFF Uganda Empowers Farmers to engage in budgeting processes<\/b><\/div>\n
Now through ESAFF Uganda\u2019s awareness programmes to the farmers, they are now keen participants and attend meetings that the Sub-County and Parish budgets are read to ascertain whether their requests were considered and if not follow-up and make improvements for the next budget cycle. ESAFF Uganda lobbying activities and limited training has made farmers to know how to access agro inputs and the NAADS. Along with other collaborating partners, ESAFF Uganda\u2019s help in the introduction of the Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) programme farmers are targeted to learn to read and write and express themselves in English, the language in which most documents are written, farmers have become more expressive and the programme acts as an incentive to attend important meetings in their localities. The farmers feel that ESAFF is a very useful farmer\u2019s movement which is a tool for the grassroot farmers as their mouth piece to alleviate them from extreme poverty. The ESAFF vision was explicit and they felt that such goodwill visits should be encouraged as they made farmers feel they were not alone and made them understand they had colleagues in Eastern and Southern Africa. They also pointed out that the bonds created by the Regional Forum at the Regional Secretariat made farmers know that their issues were well represented at the regional level.<\/div>\n
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Ntenjeru later introduces his executive committee of three. We also visit his Piggery Sty sponsored by the NAADS government project. After the usual parting shots, we then head back to Kampala and agree to meet at 9.00am at my hotel the next day, 6th<\/sup>.<\/div>\n
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ESAFF Uganda still lack working tools<\/b><\/div>\n
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6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6th<\/sup> Day-<\/b><\/div>\n
6th<\/sup> May \u201909<\/u><\/b> \u2013 Hakim, Nancy and I meet at 9.00 am at the hotel lobby to finalise the mission questionnaire (recorded). \u00a0The Chairman says that ESAFF Uganda\u2019s most active members are Mubende and Mayuge Districts. Farmers in Mayuge were trained in micro level advocacy. And in Mubende, farmers are more vigorous as they were trained much earlier and activities are organised at the local level to suit their needs. Issues of the secretariat lacking basic working office tools came to the fore and further informed that they were sharing the old computer and working desk with Stella, the Pelum Coordinator, since Nancy was on part time appointment and being paid by PELUM Uganda.<\/b> ESAFF Uganda, was requested that it was time they took over and take care of their affairs.<\/div>\n
They have since been given a notice to make early plans to look for their own premises and possibly move by the end of the year.<\/div>\n
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We finish work at 6.15 pm. and driven to town to buy a ticket for Kigali and later head for early dinner in town. Nancy requests that she would prepare some documents and also look for the others that were relevant to our needed information and would avail them on my return journey.<\/div>\n
We bid each other goodbye and part ways.<\/div>\n
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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Destination Kigali, Rwanda<\/b><\/div>\n
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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Women farmers united and read to join ESAFF<\/b><\/div>\n
7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7th<\/sup> Day-<\/b><\/div>\n
7th<\/sup> May \u201909<\/u><\/b> \u2013 Picked from the hotel by taxi and dropped at the bus station due for Kigali. Bus (Jaguar) leaves Kampala at 9.00 am and arrives in Kigali at 7.00 pm local time after 10 hrs of none stop journey through the smooth mountainous winding tarmac roads. Rwandan traffic rules require the observance of strict rules that demand commercial vehicles do not exceed certain weight limits. Due to the wounding roads and mountains, the speed limit is also strictly observed to less than 60km ph, with traffic officers accompanied by soldiers found after every two kilometres. This is also to take charge of security as the situation is yet to return to complete normalcy.\u00a0Rwanda is one hour behind the East Africa standard time.<\/div>\n
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I reach Kigali at 7.30 pm and my host Kamali is present at the bus station to meet me. We both go to find a nearby hotel (House la Gazelle) to book me in. He decides to sleep at another nearby hotel.<\/div>\n
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8th<\/sup> Day-<\/b><\/div>\n
8th<\/sup> May \u201909<\/u><\/b> \u2013 Kamali calls in at 9.00 am. We both plan how we are to spend the day. At 9.00 am, Mr. Nzabamwita Esdras (+250788623492) the president (chairman) of the UCOLIRWA FARMERS, also comes to meet me at the Hotel. After the usual niceties, Mr. Esdras explains that UCOLIRWA is a10, 000 strong member small scale rice and dairy farmers based in and around the slopes of Kigali with its district base in the Southern Province of Rwanda. Mr. Esdras further says that they had heard so much of ESAFF but only the opportunity had not arrived. He generated a lot of interest after I introduced ESAFF to him. He explained that it was good now and the ripe and appointed time for ESAFF to visit her members so as to see and learn for herself of the problems being faced by farmers. He decided to convene a meeting in the next three days to relay of my presence to his committee to revisit the issue of ESAFF membership and again mobilise more farmer leaders along with Kamali to have other farmer organizations come join forces in how to make a membership drive to join ESAFF in the shortest possible time space. We agree to do this on 9th<\/sup>.<\/div>\n
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8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>9th<\/sup> Day-<\/b><\/div>\n
9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 9th<\/sup> May \u201909<\/u><\/b>\u00a0– Kamali and I leave at 7.00 am to catch the public taxi for Gicumbi (pronounced Gichumbi) Town to meet with the president (Chairman) of IAKIBU (Farmers With Similar Problems<\/i>) Mr. Twine Dacien (+250788868516) <tdacien@yahoo.com> at their office in Gicumbi. Hire a taxi at Gicumbi Town to the IAKIBU offices, slightly outside town and we are met by Mr. Dacien and his Coordinator, who warmly welcome us. After some briefing, they conduct us around their facility as I also take pictures. We are met by a heavy downpour, which am told, comes almost every afternoon and we are soiled to the skin. It gets very cold. Mr. Dacien explains that the idea of starting his organization was in 2003 when farmers had too much milk that went to waste after the genocide as everyone did not know what to do with their milk and by 2007 Dacien and his colleagues decided to sell their idea to other farmers and by mid year sought registration. It got its registration certificate from the government ministry responsible for registration of farmer organizations. The official name is \u2018IAKIBU Cooperative Milk and Modern Farmers in Gicumbi District\u2019. To get onsite evidence, we tour one nearby farmer Ms. Filomehna Nyabuhale and see how she takes care of her two zero-grazing animals in her shed, due to a shortage of grazing land. All of Rwanda is hilly and flat land is almost non existent. Apparently Rwanda has an abundance of the womenfolk as most men died during the genocide, which makes most projects to be women based.<\/div>\n
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IAKIBU has 540 members, with 425 being women most of whom are concentrated in Gicumbi District. Gicumbi still hosts one of the biggest refugee camps (dubbed \u2018town\u2019 due to its massive size) in East Africa and manned by the UN.<\/div>\n
The deport\/office that receives the milk from the farmers was built by the farmers themselves while the milk cooling facility was funded by a donor. They are now the most prominent suppliers of milk in and around Kigali. Mr. Dacien agreed to form forces with other small farmer organizations especially UCOLIRWA to spearhead the formation of the new ESAFF Rwanda, as they put it, farmers organization as soon as is practically possible. At 2.00 pm, we hurry to Kigali by taxi to catch the 3.00 pm bus that takes 3hrs to get to our destination in Butare, the second big city in Rwanda.<\/div>\n
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We are received by our host Ms. Mukarutamu Dafrose <duhozanye@yahoo.fr<\/a>> the president (chairperson) of DUHOZANYE (Come we cry together) and her team. We meet at the Ibis Hotel lobby at 6.00 pm. Duhozanye was initially started by widows of Rwandan. It has 4,000 women members and is based in Gisagara District that borders Burundi. Duhozanye was initiated by the women whose husbands were hunted and systematically killed during the war in 1994. It got registered in 2003. Its fully functional secretariat is based in Butare town and has a staff of five. The members\u2019 main activities are farming bananas, maize, sorghum, groundnuts, poultry and rice.<\/div>\n
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Some of them are engaged in basket weaving, cloth making, tailoring, brick making and a host of other activities meant to generate income. At the end of my explanation of the reasons of my visit, they decided to meet next week to fast track the registration of a farmer\u2019s organization composed of the three district farmer organizations (Ucolirwa, Iakib and Duhozanye) and to seek membership in ESAFF. Ms. Mukarutamu explains of her fond memories of attending an Mviwata workshop in Morogoro in 2003. We close our meeting at 8.00 pm. and Ms. Mukarutamu assists in finding an affordable hotel to put up for the night. I sleep at Hotel Du Mont Huye.<\/div>\n
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Plan for my next sojourn into Burundi while Kamali to return to Kigali the next morning.<\/div>\n
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