How small scale farmers are discovering their self-worth

Dar es Salaam. Ramadhani Fufumbe, a small scale food processor from Morogoro, hates the prevalent stigmatisation of the cooperative movement in the country, calling it one of the challenges that hamper efforts to vest people like him with power to better their lives.

Standing behind a small stall where he sells solar-dried fruits, vegetables and spices, in one of the busiest isles of the Oysterbay Shopping Centre, the member of the newly-found Swahili Farmers Market Cooperative, says that with a few exceptions, the cooperative movement is loathed in many parts of Tanzania given the historical legacy that has caused many to be sceptical of their joining it.

Speaking intermittently as he had to attend to customers who visited his stall to buy some of his products, the 64-year old complains that this legacy has made many people perceive cooperatives as a source of their depredation instead of liberation. Fufumbe says: “People have grown more and more disillusioned of the movement believing that joining it was tantamount to spelling death to oneself, fearing to feed a few off the many’s sweats.”

Still, the father of 13 believes that the strength of small producers will only come from the act of coming together and work towards realising their mutual goals. “With a small capital, our power lies in our working together.

“We can share experience and expertise among ourselves as well as having one commanding voice to protect our interests,” explained Fufumbe during an interview with The Citizen at his stall which has a variety of products to attract customers. The customers flock the Oysterbay Shopping Centre where the once-in-a-month Oysterbay Farmers Market always takes place.

Met for the first time

Fufumbe is a member of the Swahili Farmers Market Cooperative, a certified farmers and food processors co-op whose story dates back as far back as 2013 where 15 people from across the country specialising in home-grown and artisanal processed foods, met for the first time at the Oysterbay Shopping Centre in Dar es Salaam.

At the hearts of these people was the belief in a sustainable food system that could guarantee a fair income for local producers as well as healthy and nutritious diets for customers.

With support from the World Food Programs (WFP) and the European Committee for Training and Agriculture (CEFA), through support by the European Union since 2017, the Oysterbay Farmers Market, as it is commonly known, has become a major event in Dar es Salaam social calendar. WFP and CEFA supported the vendors in terms of capacity building, advice and coordination.

It is now a recognised space where the urban community can meet local food growers and buy their produce. Since its foundation, 70 vendors, connecting a supply chain of more than 1,600 small farmers and livestock keepers have sold their products at the farmers market, the co-op reports show.

An average of 35 vendors carry out businesses every month at the market, mostly from Arusha, Dodoma, Morogoro, Tanga, Njombe, Moshi, Dar es Salaam, Coast, and Pemba, where commodities such as raw food, processed food, hot food and cosmetics are traded.

Platform to discuss food

Ruth Sabai, the co-founder of the Swahili Farmers Market Cooperative said the determination not to see the Farmers Market concept disappear after the withdrawal of the EU funding influenced them to form the co-op. On October 26, the WFP and CEFA handed over the market to the newly-formed cooperative. The cooperative will continue to spearhead the purpose for which the farmers market was established.

“Initially, we thought of forming a company, thinking that that will make it both sustainable and self-generating in terms of the funding,” said Ms Sabai whose Organic Matila, which supplies seasonal farm-to-table locally grown organic food is a member of the co-op.

Speaking in a rush so that she could go back to her stall where customers were waiting, Ms Sabai, a cheerful, 32-year old woman, said their committee finally decided to drop the idea of forming a company.

“We wanted to form something which will be mutual and which everyone will be willing to commit oneself to,” she said as I accompanied her back to her stall. “Something like a network, a direct connection also not only between vendors but also with our customers. Something more of a platform to discuss food than merely a business enterprise.”

Filista Kimalele, or Mama Mushroom as she is commonly known here at the market, joined the Oysterbay Farmers Market in 2013. For a long time, Felista grew rice and maize but the market price was not always favourable, making income uncertain on a day-to-day basis.

In 2003, the 40-year old mother of two was introduced to mushroom cultivation through a research project. From there on, mushrooms became her primary product, thus the name Mama Mushroom.

Before selling at the Oysterbay Farmers Market, Felista’s neighbours were her only customers, she said, adding: “Once I joined the Farmers Market, sales of mushrooms increased from 30 kilos to 300 kilos in 2014. I was able to expand from a small livelihood activity to become a formal business, even employing some 10 helpers.” She says she pays them an average monthly salary of between Sh150,000 and Sh200,000.

Joining the Farmers Market also opened for Felista a window of other opportunities that have contributed to the increase of her monthly income. She was once hired by Unesco to train people on how to grow mushrooms. Over the years, she trained more than 400 people from different districts of Kilimanjaro region.

Since then, Felista also has been working with the Kilimanjaro National Park and residents from the area to train vendors on how they can incorporate mushrooms into local and traditional dishes such as samosas and soups.

Felista’s stall is the busiest at the market and it took time to get hold of her for an interview. She is friendly, full of jokes surrounding her mushroom trade. Felista also sells other local products including spinach, avocados, chia seeds and dried hibiscus flowers.

Accountability mechanisms

Felista, like many of her fellow vendors, is optimistic that with the formation of the cooperative, the Oysterbay Farmer Market will be able to sustain itself for many years, benefitting both the vendors and the general public.

“This is exactly the purpose we founded the cooperative for,” she said while serving a customer who dropped in between our conversation. “We believe that the co-op will be beneficial to us so that one day we can even be able to sell our products outside the country.”

Mr Fufumbe says cooperative is inescapable if smallholders were to make any strides towards improving their living standards. According to him, people need to take lessons from past experiences and make an assessment of what works and what not to help achieve the stated goal.

“But the most important thing, I think, is the outlining of clear and realistic objectives as well as placing in place proper mechanisms that will ensure accountability,” said Fufumbe who makes an average of Sh300,000 during each market visit. “Through this, I think we can right the past wrongs and start afresh,” he said of the empowerment model at the farmers market.