Postcard from Tanzania: Sowing the seeds of knowledge

13 June 2013

Photo: Hadija Maulid with stems from her sesame harvest

Here at Farm Africa we’ve long known that one of the best ways for farmers to learn is by sharing their innovations – and their struggles.

We do this either by taking farmers on an exchange visit or by bringing them together to demonstrate their innovations to one another.

Farmers learning from each other is an important part of our sesame marketing project in Babati, Tanzania. Last month we organised a Farmer Field Day in Matufa village, with 94 farmers from villages across the area taking part.

Best farmer rewards

Sesame grower Hadija Maulid had been identified as the best seed multiplication farmer, who provide foundation seeds to other farmers, and was rewarded with a hand hoe and spraying pump. Her farm was used as a demonstration.

Farm Africa crops officer Tumaini Elibariki said: “Hadija is a good example for other sesame farmers in the area to copy. She follows all the agricultural practices from her training, so her farm is ideal for all growers to see.”

Hadija said she has no notes to refer to as she has never been to school: “I don’t know how to read and write. In the training I carefully follow and store the lectures in my brain. That’s why I’ve managed to do what you see here now.”

Expert advice

At the event, Manyara Regional Commissioner Erasto Mbwilo emphasised the importance of farmers observing expert advice on sesame farming as a way of addressing food shortages in Babati and the surrounding region.

“I urge farmers to work closely with experts,” he said. “It is better for cultivation to be based on expert advice, so that the energy and time we employ in farming will be fruitful in the end.”

The farmers have learnt the correct time to plant and harvest, and Farm Africa teaches them post-harvest skills so they can store their crops until the price is right. Sesame farmers have also set up a cooperative so they can sell collectively.

Mr Mbwilo said: “It’s good for farmers to join the cooperative so that they have a common voice and collective market. It gives you the power to bargain and sell your sesame at good prices through the warehouse receipt system, and do away with the problem of middlemen who are benefiting from farmers’ struggles.”

More about our sesame marketing project

More about our work in Tanzania