Iringa Hope Visits 2016: First to Isimani

Thursday we had a double header. We went to Isimani first, and then made a stop at Nduli. These villages are located north of Iringa Town on the road to the capital city of Dodoma. The new Dodoma road was just finished by a Chinese contractor, and is pretty good. The Chinese had built a compound along the road for their workers (the Chinese do not hire many locals, instead they bring in their own work force) which now stands empty. They have left behind a lot of equipment as well – but it looks like it is pretty beat up and probably not working. The last few miles to Isimani is down a dirt trail. The trail is dry now so it isn’t a bad drive.

The town of Isimani looks pretty beaten up even by Tanzanian standards. Many of the buildings are sagging, the roofs need work, and there are few buildings that look good. This used to be prime territory for maize. At one time Isimani maize fed large numbers of people. At that time Isimani was the brand to buy. But then the weather seemed to shift, the crops suffered, the quality of the maize declined, and the area started to go downhill. When this happened the large farms that were here all closed up and moved. Now the people here are all small holders (3-5 acres) and struggle with their crops.

Last year was not at all good for Isimani. The weather was especially dry so the yield was very low – about 8-9 bags per acre versus a “normal” crop of 13-16. In addition, as we have been noting, the prices were very low since the government had forbidden exports. Many of the local farmers found there were no buyers at all. Others, who found buyers, sold for $10 or less per bag whereas in a normal year a bag of maize fetches $25-30.

When we arrived we found the chairman (actually a woman) waiting along with a few members. We were a little early so we decided to just wait. Members slowly gathered. The sun was getting very hot so we gathered in the shade of a building. The Isimani SACCOS like many of our locations does not have a building. They keep a desk in a shack of sorts and meet outside. As long as it does not rain and you can stand the heat it works OK.

This SACCOS has 74 members and continues to grow. The members are usually good at repaying loans, but last year’s crop was such a disaster that they had to reschedule things. We think that this is one of the strengths of a locally owned and operated SACCOS. When something like this happens the members gather and review things and plan how to handle the issue. In this case they have waived the normal late fees and extended the repayment plans. So far the repayments are on track and they will most likely slowly get everything repaid.

As the meeting got underway, the chairman addressed everyone regarding their repayments. After we greeted the group Itiweni gave a class. We have been thinking that this is a good place to start an AMCOS. We mentioned this to them last year and some of their leaders had asked to come to our training session for AMCOS. It now turns out that they just went ahead and got started! They were anxious to see if they could have their AMCOS join the Joint AMCOS for Iringa Hope. They already have 85 members and are anxious to do things.

We asked them to bring us their constitution so we could be sure that they used the one they got in training. When asked why they didn’t have Peter or Itiweni come and make sure they got started in the right way, the chairman told us that they thought they understood the process from when they started their SACCOS. Additionally, they thought the training class they attended was very good, so they just went ahead. We complimented them on their initiative. We think that Isimani will do well with leaders like this.

We asked them if there were any other groups here that were helping the farmers. They said that SIDA was here (this is a government funded program) but that it left after one year. FINCA and BARC had also been here, but they were only here for a few months and then left. They mentioned a few other programs but they said, “Everyone comes with a program for one or two years and then leaves. Only Iringa Hope stays here.” We reminded them that they were Iringa Hope so as long as they stayed Iringa Hope would be here.

Following the general meeting Sandy and Itiweni spoke with Belta Kabelege, 42 and married with 3 children. Last year Belta borrowed $450 to plant popcorn. With the very poor harvest she wound up losing money. She sold what she got for a crop and repaid $300 of her loan. She, like so many here, has rescheduled her loan and is slowly repaying the balance. She will have it all repaid in another month. Last year we had talked with the members here about the need to diversify their crops. This is what is done in many places so that if one crop is bad another might be better. She and most of the other folks here have been studying how to best do this. As a result this year she is planting sunflowers, soybeans, maize, and popcorn. The crops are looking good right now due to all of the rain. Most of the farmers believe that even if it does not rain anymore this season they will get a good crop. Belta says that if she gets average yields she will earn over $1,800 from this crop. We wish her well.

Then we talked with Fakii Tamaambele, 49 and married with 5 kids. Fakii is a Muslim who has been a member here since the beginning. (There is a large mosque here in Isimani so about 1/3 of the members are Muslims.) Fakii has taken out 3 loans since he joined. His last loan was for $450. He used this to plant 5 acres of maize and popcorn. With the poor harvest his field only yielded enough maize for his family to eat. His popcorn was even worse than Belta’s so he got almost nothing for it. He paid what he could on his loan and the SACCOS allowed him to renew the rest. This year his crop looks very good. He expects to earn at least $1,500 from it. He will be able to pay off what he owes and still have $1,000 for the year.

It is sad to hear about the member’s struggles this last year. It is however excellent to know that they have worked together with their SACCOS and neighbors to move ahead. This last year seems to have been a problem all over the region. Fortunately, it looks like this year will be a good year for most of our farmers.

On to Nduli!