Iringa Hope Visits 2016: Today Was Mgama

Today we visited Mgama. Mgama is an easy drive southwest of Iringa, 30 minutes down the tarmac followed by 15 minutes on a pretty good dirt road.

The weather was beautiful when we left Iringa; we have had very nice weather since the rain stopped. The days are a little hot (today was 81), but the humidity is good so the day is very pleasant.

Arriving in Mgama we met a representative from the board and a handful of other SACCOS members. The Mgama SACCOS is large and we have always had a good turn-out when we visit. However, a grandfather from the community died last night, and the entire village had gone to his funeral, including the pastor and most of the SACCOS members. It is frustrating when this happens, but easy to understand, as so many people in these villages are related to each other.

We were happy to see the familiar face of the SACCOS secretary, William Duma, as he arrived on his motorcycle. We met Mr. Duma 15 years ago when he was teaching at one of the Ihemi preaching points. He has just retired, but is remaining active as one of the leaders of the Mgama SACCOS. We were joined by two more board members, and a few other SACCOS members. We were sharing the community building with few government officials from the agricultural department, who were training some of the farmers on improved methods. The funeral seemed to have cut into their attendance as well.

Fortunately, the SACCOS secretary and board members were able to supply us with the information we like to get from each SACCOS that we visit. This SACCOS has 111 members with 34 working on joining. The male/female ratio at this SACCOS shows that there are about 70% men. The explanation for this was that in this area there is more opportunity for the men to work. As a result most of the married men stay here rather than go looking for work.

Last year this SACCOS made 110 loans. The members decided that they would share the available capital equally among the borrowers so each was lent $160. Many of the borrowers took their loan in the form of fertilizer that we shipped to them. They all thought this was a great idea and they hope we will continue with it.

The loans were all paid back on time and in full; this despite a year of drought followed by poor markets. When Tom congratulated them for accomplishing this, the secretary responded with “What else would we have done?” We like this attitude.

This SACCOS currently has $7,500 in capital. Last year they borrowed $10,000 from Iringa Hope. They are hoping to borrow over twice as much this year, but will be grateful for anything they get.

When asked about other programs in the area that are helping the farmers, the members mentioned a few bank programs and a government program. All of them charge 5-7% per month with repayment beginning the week after they get the loan. By the end of 6 months they must have repaid the loan plus interest. With crops just being harvested in 6 months, these programs are of no help to the farmer.

When asked about starting an AMCOS, they shared some ideas that they have been considering. There is a now-defunct government AMCOS in the village they could restart, which might save paper work and cost. Unfortunately government projects are always viewed negatively so even if the constitution were to be changed, villagers would likely be suspicious of the organization. There is a new AMCOS in Lupembe, a village not far away from here, but that is also a government AMCOS. Although it has an “improved” constitution, no one believes that it will be successful. They have all lost money and seen these come and fail so no one wants to get involved with another one.

They told us that banks have also come here and then left. Last year, they said, One Acre Fund came and promised they were here to stay and they are now gone. However, they remain confident that Iringa Hope is sustainable and will stay here as long as their members are diligent to create business plans, work hard and faithfully repay their loans.

Going forward with thoughts of developing an AMCOS, the mentioned that one of the board members has a small shop they can use. They also have some warehouse space available. They are going to have a meeting after our training session next week to see how many will pay the fees and buy shares. They would like to get started in time for harvest season.

Sandy’s interview today was with Betty Mwikanalo, 47 and married with 5 children. Three of her children are married, but she has one in college and one in secondary school. We spoke with her last year as well, so it was interesting to see how she was doing after a disappointing farming season. Last year Betty was one of the farmers who suffered from the drought, and even more from the very low prices for maize. She didn’t even bother to sell her maize, but kept it for food. She was a person whose loan had to be extended. Last year she was so frustrated with the market price for her product that she was thinking about switching to raising beans as a cash crop. We had advised her that diversity might be a better way to go, so if the market price of one crop is low, another might be high. This year she has again borrowed $165 taking it all in fertilizer from Iringa Hope. She has planted one acre of maize, one acre of sunflowers, one acre of tomatoes and one acre of soy beans. She said that her crops all look very good and the prices this year are about average. She thinks that if all things stay as they are she will be able to sell her harvest for about $2,000. This would mean that after paying her laborers, repaying her loan, and deducting her other expenses she will earn about $1,400. We wish her all the best.

Tomorrow we are going to Mwatasi. It is a 2 hour drive down some pretty bad roads. We are preparing to shake, rattle and (hopefully not) roll.