Small-scale farmers must benefit from transport, energy innovations

Reliable and efficient transport will almost always be a catalyst for business as people will be able to move quickly and at an affordable cost, to various destinations where they can trade in various goods and services.
Good transport networks also help to usher in new technology which would otherwise have taken years to be acquired and by adopting new knowledge and skills, locals can improve the quality of their lives and so take significant strides towards sustainable development.
Likewise when reliable and cheap electricity is available, communities can establish new businesses, learn new trades and become more innovative than their counterparts in areas where traditional sources of energy like charcoal and firewood dominate their lives.
Thus transport and energy can transform rural areas into semi-urban settings not only in terms of improved social services but also in creating alternative income generating activities and thus speeding up economic development.
For small-scale farmers, availability of efficient transport services and reliable supply of energy forms the pillar of development. Where transport is poor, farmers cannot take their produce to the market nor can buyers reach producers easily. Failure to reach markets on one hand and inability of consumers and buyers to reach producers on the other, has made small-scale farmers not only suffer losses but has also made them vulnerable to the tricks of middlemen, a situation which has made them perpetually poor.
It is also true that where small- scale farmers cannot access energy, they have failed to process their crops in order to add value. This has forced them to sell what they produce in their raw state and always at cheap prices. Lack of reliable, efficient and reliable energy has also denied small-scale farmers the opportunity to diversify their sources of livelihoods, making them solely dependent on what they produce from their farms.
Given that seasons are no longer predictable and in view of the fact that many small-scale farmers still practice rain-fed agriculture, there is no guarantee that they will harvest a good crop in any given year.
“Roads, railways and other modes of transport are catalysts of agricultural production. Small-scale farmers require inputs which must be delivered at the right time and in the required amounts. They also need to deliver their farm products to markets as soon as the harvest season begins. Without reliable and efficient transport, this cannot be achieved and farmers will always remain poor,” reads part of a memorandum prepared the Network of Small Farmers Groups in Tanzania (MVIWATA) which was prepared at the Network’s annual general meeting held last year in Morogoro Town.
Among other things, the memorandum serves to nudge the government so that it takes action to enable farmers to increase production and beef up the country’s economy by providing them with essential quality services. Transport and energy are among those services.
However, members of the Network noted during the meeting that manyof the existing rural roads that are supposed to serve small-scale farmers are not passable even during the dry season. This has resulted in delays in delivering inputs like fertilizers and pesticides to farmers which in turn has affected crop production.
“During harvesting, farmers fail to transport their crops to markets because transporters raise charges so that they can recover costs associated with running their vehicles on bad roads. This puts the small farmer in a dilemma, whether to transport farm produce to markets at a high cost and run into losses or keep it and wait for buyers who will offer a good price,” reads the memorandum.
There is no respite for the farmer in either case as he remains at the mercy of the transporter or unscrupulous middlemen who are bent on forcing the farmers to accept the lowest possible prices.
Because of bad transport systems, farmers also suffer post-harvest losses. Usually they don’t have enough storage space so as they wait for transport costs to go down or get a good price from on-site buyers, crops are destroyed by pests orare wasted for lack of proper storage.
Various agriculture policies including Kilimo Kwanza, have failed to address the problem.“If rice production increases and there is no ready market to sell the products, there must be reliable storage facilities for the farmers. If the products can neither go to the market nor be safely stored then food insecurity might prevail and there is no way small-farmers can reduce poverty,” argued one of the participants from Kilombero district.
Even without increased production, farmers need to take their crops to market centers in order to get buyers who can offer a good price for their crops. The centres could be located far away.
Alternatively, buyers should be able to reach farmers where they are located in order to buy what they need. But the situation on the ground is that the roads linking farmers to trade centers are bad and only in use seasonally.
“Kilombero district has many rivers which require construction of reliable bridges. Currently there are only makeshift bridges which are unreliable and so make transport a problem for both farmers and potential buyers. Poor infrastructure has been a hindrance to the development of small-scale farmers in the district,” said the participant.
The bottom line is that producers must be linked to markets and vice versa; otherwise there is no way small-scale farmers can lift themselves out of poverty. Farmers must reach markets in order to sell their produce, and more importantly, they must choose where to sell their goods in order to get a good price for their products. With poor transport infrastructure, a limited number of buyers reach farmers and these buyers, being the only ones around, tend to swindle farmers.
A team of journalists from the Journalists Environmental Association of Tanzania (JET) recently visited Kilombero District to see how the district was implementing its role as part of Tanzania’s breadbasket. Some residents who were interviewed said that almost all the roads in the district are passable only during the dry season. And yet the best prices are available at the beginning of the planting season, long after the crop has been harvested and stored.
“The Tazara railway line which links the district to other parts of the country provides irregular and very unreliable services and cannot meet the demands of farmers and businessmen alike. It should be noted that agriculture cannot thrive where infrastructure that links producers to markets is unreliable,” a resident of Mofu village told the journalists.
The memorandum also stresses the importance of improving communication among farmers themselves and between them and other communities in urban areas. With uncertainties that shroud the agricultural sector, farmers need to get timely information on, among other things, rainfall, droughts, floods, and new technologies.
As for markets, farmers need to know where they can sell their farm produce and make informed decisions on their choices basing on current prices offered by the various buyers. Without reliable information, they are likely to be conned by unscrupulous buyers.
“We want the government to take serious measures to set up reliable communication in the rural areas so that farmers can send out and receive information.
Most of the mobile companies prefer to operate in urban areas where there are many consumers of their products so it is upon the government to revamp the Tanzania Telephone Company (TTCL) Ltd in a bid to enable it build a big market for its products in the rural areas,” reads part of the memorandum, adding that government should also set up a system whereby mobile phone companies charge lower rates for rural customers than they do to urban residents.
“Reliable and efficient communication is no longer the privilege of the rich but a necessity for the development of small-scale farmers. Newspaper companies, radio and television stations should strive to reach as many rural communities as possible instead of serving only the urban population,” the memorandum stresses.
Regarding availability of reliable and affordable energy, the memorandum calls upon the government to upscale the capacity of Rural Electrification Agency (REA) so that it many rural communities may be supplied with reliable electricity. “We appreciate the good job being done by REA to supply electricity to many rural families but we call upon the government to put in place a soft loan system that would see small-scale farmers affording to access electricity for various purposes. Such loans should be paid in instalments to ease the burden on the farmers,” the memorandum says. Members of the network also urged the government to look into the possibility of reducing electricity tariffs to rural communities.
In villages where electricity is available, families have diversified their sources of income to include carpentry shops, hair dressing salons and barber shops, beverage kiosks and retail shops. This has helped them to move a few steps out of poverty.
The network also urges the government to consider giving subsidy to rural communities so as to enable them to connect to the grid without having to wait for government plans. Currently some families are unable to get electricity because the cost of connecting to the grid is high.

In order to speed up rural electrification in Tanzania the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group launched a programme in October 15, 2015 that would increase access to electricity for rural communities through developing a market for mini-grids. The $5 million program aims to bring affordable, off-grid renewable energy to households and businesses in rural Tanzania.

Tanzania was selected as one of the first countries to test the concept of using small-scale renewable energy production sources under a new program, called the Scaling-up Renewable Energy in Low Income Countries Programme.
The Tanzanian government estimates that about half of the country’s rural population could be served by off-grid options in a cost-effective manner and mini-grids could provide access to electricity for 9.1 million people in the country.

The programme will also help to create investment opportunities in the renewables sector and help fill the country’s energy gap and expand energy services to low-income communities.