Throughout September, the project team has conducted field visits to Maili Sita, Kimashuku and Namwai. The team visited the women’s individual farms, demonstration farms, and the greenhouses in Maili Sita and Namwai. The women are progressing well despite the climate changes and other challenges that they are facing and are currently very busy harvesting the vegetables.
TRAINING
During the month of August, the engaged women groups were provided with the following trainings:
- Women in Kimashuku B were provided with business skills training. They were trained on proper record keeping enabling them to monitor their income and expenses, time management so that they can improve productivity, relationship management to enable them to have the capacity to establish and sustain positive relationships with customers, partners, and other stakeholders.
Women in Kimashuku A were provided with training on farming techniques. The women were trained on how to farm according to the climate change, suitable areas and soil types for farming seasonal fruits and vegetables, how to plant and sow different fruit seeds and vegetable seeds, how to produce and use organic fertilizers and its advantages to the soil, Interchanging farming i.e., they were taught on the importance of farming produce periodically and its advantages, how to make and use organic pesticides, and duration which the produce will be ready for harvest after using the pesticides, and the best techniques that they can use to acquire a great output.
- Women in Namwai and Mailisita were provided with practical on the field farming training. The women were taught how to weed the peppers in the greenhouse and the trainer also explained to them that weeding is important because the weeds compete with the main plant for different factors such as water, sunlight, nutrients, and space and hence affect plant growth. The trainer also showed the women how to re-trellis the peppers to keep the vines and peppers off the ground and increase air flow and pruning weak leaves to allow the plant to produce more pods. The trainer also explained to the women that pinching off the first blossoms on pepper seedlings that they did in August was important so that the seedlings would put more energy into growing so that they would produce more pods.
- Women in Kimashuku A were provided with legal training and legal aid / counselling. They were trained on the meaning of land law, laws governing land in Tanzania, who can own land, conditions for one to fulfill while owning land, adverse possession, lease agreements, conditions for lease agreements and courts / tribunals which deal with land disputes.
LEGAL AID AND COUNCELLING
The EWFT team provided legal counseling to women in Kimashuku A. Through this segment the team was able to identify four (4) women with legal disputes. Each woman who had a legal dispute was provided with legal aid and legal counseling. The EWFT team opened a dispute file for each member with a dispute to make a legal follow up and assist the women in resolving the disputes.
TOUR PACKAGE UPDATE
Tricia has contacted Ms. Tash King who is the chief adventure officer at follow Alice Tours, who was very positive towards working with us to develop and market a tour package. The tour would entail tourists visiting the farming women in Maili Sita, Kimashuku and Namwai, participate in the farming activities with the women and prepare and share a local meal with them. Currently we are waiting to hear back from Tash so that we can proceed with the development of the tour package.
The women in Maili Sita, Kimashuku and Namwai are anxious to receive the training on how to host the guests and they have been inquiring about when the tourists will start visiting them in their homes and farms on many occasions when we go for field visits.
- The women in Namwai face water shortage, the peppers in the green house are not getting an adequate amount of water.
- The women in Namwai need a fence to protect the produce in the demonstration farm from being stolen by the members of the local community.
- Hotels want to have fixed prices on produce sold at WAMBOMA, but market prices keep on changing.
WAY FOREWARD
- Provide more training on business skills and entrepreneurship skills.
- Provide more training on farming as a sustainable income generating business.
- Provide legal training especially on land ownership, how to form lease agreements and how to terminate a lease agreement.
- Provide legal aid and counselling for the women who have disclosed they have legal problems.
- Provide Legal training on law of marriage and probate & succession law.
- Make a follow up on whether the women have started making compost fertilizers in their homes.
- Coordinate visits from seed selling companies they met in Arusha during the farmers day exhibition to visit the women and provide training on farming techniques and advice.
- Provide training to the women on modern farming techniques, pests, and proper pesticides to be used to combat the pests.
- Raise awareness on gender-based violence.
CASE STUDIES COLLECTED AT KIMASHUKU A
In the month of September 2022, the EWFT team visited the women in Kimashuku A and collected case studies. The team successfully collected five case studies from five different women. These case studies will be shared on the Equality in Tourism Website and Social Media Pages over the coming weeks.
NEW DONATION PAGE
All donations to this project are gratefully received and are highly instrumental in combating the challenges faced by our participants. Please note, we have updated our donations webpage where you can find out more about how to give to the project, with information on how your donations are used.
Asante Sana from all of us!
