She quit the media for farm

When Enea Paul Mwanja graduated from University of Dar es Salaam’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication with a bachelor degree of Arts in Mass Communication in 2013, she expected to land a high paying job. Although she comes from a family that largely relys on farming, she didn’t think that agriculture could be part of her life again.

The experience she got from her community, where majority of people only run subsistence agriculture made her to believe that one cannot make it in large scale. She treated agriculture as a sector for poor people because most of them are still sailing in extreme poverty.

The 27-year-old Enea, who was born and raised in Songwe region joined the University of Dar es Salaam to realise her dream of becoming a media expert, skills that she could utilise not only for the betterment of her life but also to uplift her community from poverty and promote development.

After graduation, Enea joined a research based company in the city of Dar es Salaam. “I didn’t stay long at the firm because the salary was too low while we worked long hours,” she says.

Enea returned to her homeland in Songwe to form a media production firm to keep her hope alive in the communication industry. She decided to study BA in Arts in Mass Communication after being advised by her relatives who were convinced by her ability of composing short stories, writing and presenting community challenges into good narrations. She then grew up believing that media is all about positive changes in community due to its crucial role in transparency and accountability, democracy, educating while bringing awareness on what is going on around the globe.

Venturing in to agriculture

Enea’s journey in to the world of agriculture started back at the village during one of her visits. “There was a day I was in conversation with an old man in Vwawa. We discussed various topics and employment was among them. He based much on discussing the importance of self-employment as a key to youths’ happiness. At this point, he encouraged me to invest in agriculture, the most disliked sector by most of us who are graduates. Due to his honest advice and his experience, I decided to work on it,” Enea says.

Despite the challenges in generating capital, Enea started to mobilise resources as a step towards realisating her dream and turning it into reality. She leased a hector of land in Ndolezi village, almost 10 kilometres from her home town.

“My mother was very surprised by my decision. But as time went by, she believed I was serious after seeing irrigation facilities including water pump and pipes. Eventually she began supporting me,” Enea says, adding, “she has turned to be more supportive in my project. She helps me to supervise workers at my onions farm when I get caught up with other activities.”

After studying the market trend, Enea started seedling onions before the rain as a strategy simply because majority of farmers wait for the seasonal rains. According to her, to avoid over flooding of onions at the single market is to plan when to start to cultivate.

“This is why I decided to buy an irrigation machine. If I decided to wait for the seasonal rains as many farmers do, it means that we will plant at the same time and end up selling onions at a very low price just like what happens to tomato growers in Iringa and Morogoro,” says the young farmer, adding “I believe that I am going to make it in agriculture.”

Enea believes that in the future she will move to large scale farming using technology to boost production and generate more profit. She insists that despite venturing in to agriculture, she’s not completely forsaking her dream in media. “Engaging in agriculture does not mean that I have abandoned pen, notebook and camera,” she says.

Through media, Enea plans to produce people-centred programmes aiming at airing the voice of voiceless in the community which includes farmers, in a bid to seek policy-makers’ attention for positive changes. “I aim at producing radio and television programmes of international standards. This is to show the power and the role of media in society,” she adds.

Yes, there are challenges

Enea admits that there are a lot of challenges in the agricultural sector. But the critical one is how to get capital, especially for beginners. She says there are no financial institutions that are ready to loan someone with no collateral. This is why she ventured in to agriculture using her own sources.

On challenges, she adds, there are those who still believe that agriculture is meant for school dropouts and those who’ve completely failed school.

“When I’m working at the farm no one can believe that I’m a university graduate. And those who believe treat me like a varsity failure and that agriculture is my last resort,” Enea speaks. Even as she faces such mockery from those in the agriculture business, Enea remains unbothered by it and insists that she has a solid plan in both agriculture and media.

Enea has advised the government to intervene in agriculture by establishing policies that aim at revolutionising the sector which is facing a lot of challenges. She opined that if people see that those who engage in agriculture are transitioning economically and migrating from low class income earners to middle and high classes, it will perhaps change the existing mind-set that agriculture sector is meant for poor people and school dropouts.

On fellow graduates, the Vwawa farmer argues that students who are pursuing various studies at higher learning institutions are gearing for employment with high paying positions. But the reality, according to Enea, is vice versa because graduates are so many compared to available jobs. This is because Tanzania is still a small growing economy. As a way of tackling the issue of unemployment, Enea advises graduates to gear towards self-employment by engaging in sectors such as agriculture.

“Being self-employed is a gradual process; you start from the bottom and work your way up. Young people face a lot of challenges but we have to admit that our economy is not producing enough job vacancies unless we embark on full industrialisation. For the time being, let us focus on agriculture. It pays,” the hardworking farmer insists.

Another challenge that Enea identified from her early beginning in the sector is a climate change that is adversely affecting small scale farmers. This is one of the reasons that prompted the purchase of an irrigation machine so that she starts cultivating onions before the rainy season. Enea also noted that amid climate change, modern agriculture can no longer rely on seasonal rain but most Tanzanian farmers are yet to embrace the change that has come with technology.

Converging media and agriculture

Rural coverage especially in agriculture sector is an issue that Enea is looking to solve. She has however planned to produce agricultural based programmes to unveil the potential of agriculture sector to individual and country’s economy.

“There are some challenges that I think are in agriculture not because of poor policy but because of lack of transparency and accountability in the local governments. Fake seeds and corruption are areas that need media attention.

I hope media can contribute in fostering the development of this sector that employs more than 60 per cent of Tanzanians,” she adds.

Advice to graduates

Iringa resident, William Macha says that as graduates face employment challenges, entrepreneurship and agriculture has become their leading hope to salvaging their future. But he cautions that before one decides to make a move towards agriculture, they must first learn from players in the sector to know which challenges are perennial.

“Most graduates think that agriculture is a sector that anyone can join and become successful. Others think it is like a fairytale. Even though majority of local farmers are not well educated, regardless of your education status, having time to listen to them is wise. Do not ignore them,” advises Macha.

Macha, who works with tomato, maize and sunflower grower organizations in Iringa, Njombe and Morogoro regions as community empowerment and mobilisation advisor, urges new entrants in the agriculture sector like Enea to be tolerant of the harsh conditions that might arise in the sector. 

Local farmers have a good experience in the sector. The problem they face is capital.  “When I started onion farming project in Iringa, I used to consult local farmers regularly. They know a lot of things, even some extension officers are learning from them,” the 34-year-old says.

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