19
Mr. L. Mtalei, affected farmer
Mr. Mtalei is an elderly man 68 years old, living
in Masahunga village, Bunda DC (Mara region).
He is the head of the household and lives with
his wife, 3 sons and 2 daughters. Mr. Mtalei
main source of livelihood is farming, although
2 of his sons support the household with some
fishing. During the heavy rains occurred at the
beginning of December 2015, his house and
farmland were entirely flooded and destroyed.
Almost three acres of cassava and maize were
affected, resulting in no production. In addition
to that, the flood washed away about 60 kg
of food stock (mainly rice), all savings, cloths
and house’ facilities, severely affecting the life
of Mr. Mtalei and his family.
“It was around 11 am, my wife and daughter were at the rice farm, whereas my boys were fishing. I was paying a
visit to my neighbor, when it started raining very intensively. For about one hour, I could not move and when I
went back home my house did not exist anymore….what I saw was unbelievable….”
Mr. Mtalei and his family are now living in a tent provided by the government and are waiting the end of the
agricultural season to move in a new place more upland. He hopes, that the 2 remaining acres of rice will produce
a good amount of food and that the sons will be able to catch enough fish to support the household.
When asking about the agriculture daily labour, respondents mentioned that both men and
women are equally engaged in this type of activity. Even so, transplanting and threshing are
mainly conducted by women, whereas animals grazing is done more frequently by men. The
daily wages of the different activities ranges from 2'000TShs for threshing to 3'000TShs for
grazing and planting.
22
Weeding, harvesting and transplanting are paid at around 5'500TShs.
The most remunerative activity is land preparation / ploughing, which costs up to 10'000TShs
and might also include the use of draught animals, see Table 8. Overall women are earning an
average of 18 percent less than men.
Table 8: Agriculture daily labour activities by gender and wages
Activities
Men (%)
Women (%)
Men wages
(TSh / day)
Women wages
(TSh / day)
Weeding
46
54
6400
5000
Harvesting
45
55
5400
5000
Transplanting
40
60
6500
4900
Threshing
30
70
2000
NA
Ploughing / land preparation
56
44
10000
NA
Planting
50
50
NA
3000
Animal grazing
80
20
3000
NA
In addition to that, some respondents, indicated that in some cases they are also receiving
food in exchange of labour and the amount depend on the market prices of the commodities
received at that moment.
22
Exchange rate: 1 US Dollar = 210 Tanzanian Shilling
20
3.2.6.
Change in livelihood coping mechanisms
Across all regions assessed, there was a general reported increase of distress copying
mechanisms in response to the effects of the floods, especially among women. Reducing the
amount of meals per day was reported as the main copying mechanism by 90 percent and 73
percent of women and men respectively, followed by purchasing food on credit and rely on
less preferred food, see Figure 9.
Figure 12: Frequency of use of coping mechanisms
Borrowing of money to access food and other primary commodities such as agricultural
inputs or medicines or getting food on credit was also indicated as widespread practice. The
engagement of such negative mechanisms might have a negative impact on the food security
and nutrition situation of the affected population and also lead to an increase of indebtedness
due to the impossibility of paying back the loan.
3.3.
Main agriculture and livestock constraints and needs
3.3.1.
Constraints
In addition to the impacts and effects caused by the occurred floods across the six regions
assessed, which are described in the above sections of this report, farmers are facing
additional direct and indirect constrains that limit their agriculture and livestock production.
Lack or higher costs of inputs was reported by 81 percent of respondents, followed by higher
incidence of crop pests / diseases outbreaks (34 percent), lack or reduced availability of
capital or access to credit (31 percent) and others constrains as land tenure problems, lack of
service providers and poor storage facilities as presented in Figure 10 below.
21
Figure 13: Percentage of main constrains reported for crop
production
On the other hand, the main constrains on livestock production refers to the outbreak of
animal diseases and invasion of pests, poor or lack of grazing land / pastures, lack of
vaccines, lack of dips, lack of suitable water for animals and lack of veterinary services as
presented in Figure 14.
Figure 14: Main constrains reported for livestock production
3.3.2.
Needs for crop and livestock production resumption
In order to better understand the main needs of the assessed communities and allow the
affected households to resume their agriculture and livestock activities, some discussion were
held during the community level meetings to better define short, medium and long term
needs. The needs expressed by the respondents below are not necessarily linked to the
floods ‘effects, as some reflect the challenges faced by the affected population before the