Tackling cheating boosts Tanzanian farmers' incomes
3 March 2009
Known as "lumbesa" sacks, they look ordinary enough, but these specially
customized bags lay behind a scam that for years cheated Tanzania's farmers out
of much-needed earnings. Buyers would pay for the standard 100 kilograms of
produce and, to all appearances, fill their lumbesa sacks accordingly.
But there was a twist: the sacks were able to hold much more than 100 kg. Some could even carry more than twice that amount. Their crops stolen from under their noses, farmers up and down the country were driven deeper into poverty.
Then the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce and Industry intervened. With the support of a DFID-backed advocacy initiative aimed at improving the country's business climate, the Chamber set about informing farmers and local government officials about weights and measurements regulations.
Raising awareness
A series of awareness-raising sessions was held, in 2006 in Iringa region, and the benefits were immediate. Hardy Ngwele, who owns a maize and sunflower farm of 340 hectares, was one of those who attended. "You cannot see the use of those lumbesa bags any more," he says. "Now the traders come to us and we negotiate the prices using standard 100 kg bags. It used to be the other way round. Things are much better." Hardy is not exaggerating: his income has grown by 50% since the sessions began.
However, some crop buyers are still attempting to use lumbesa
sacks. To weed this practice out, check points have been set up along the major routes in and
out of Iringa. If a truck is found to be carrying the sacks, the owner is
fined TZS 100,000 (£54) on the spot.
With fewer overloaded lorries now on the road, the crackdown on lumbesa sacks has even caused a drop in road accidents. But this is not the only positive side-effect. Market porters are no longer forced to carry such huge loads, which has improved their health. "The new system is much fairer to porters," says Hamadi Changa, who works at Iringa’s central market. "We used to carry sacks of 250 kg or more, more than twice our body weight. Many of us suffered from health problems and had to give up work."
It is now vital that the correct use of weights and measures is implemented on a wider scale. The government Weights and Measurements Agency, which has proved instrumental in bringing about compliance in Iringa, lacks the money and manpower to cover the region (or indeed the country) as a whole. "It's hard to reach the remote areas, where awareness may still be low and the old practices continue," explains regional manager Angelus Mwakilovele.
Further awareness-raising sessions, aimed at transporters, business people, policy makers and members of parliament, are also needed. If everyone involved in the business of agricultural sales - from lawmakers to lorry drivers - helps to uphold the regulations, no one should miss out on their rightful earnings.
Facts and stats
- The Tanzania Chamber of Commerce and Industry is supported by Business Environment Strengthening Tanzania - Advocacy Component (BEST AC) programme.
- BEST-AC is funded by DFID, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden.
- DFID has been funding BEST-AC since 2004. We are currently supporting BEST-AC with a four-year grant of £2.1 million (2009-2013).
- BEST-AC provides support to private sector organisations to enable them to develop and implement a wide range of advocacy initiatives, and to improve their capacity to advocate effectively.
- BEST-AC complements the BEST (Business Environment Strengthening in Tanzania) programme, which is aimed at improving the business environment in Tanzania through reforms of government policy, regulations, laws and licenses.
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