Livingstone's New But Outdated Roads

In Livingstone, Many dusty and bad roads were upgraded to bituminous level. From a bumpy to a quite smooth road. Journeys were made shorter and vehicles could finally breath a sigh of relief.

The cost of shoddy and unprofessional workmanship is quickly eroding the good works that might have been.

1. The roads were made too narrow, a contrast with the high population density in the areas
2. Footpaths/Sidewalks were only made on one side of the road, contrary to road safety measures for pedestrians and cyclists.
3. Cyclists were not considered.
4. Deep drainages were buried in preference for....I dont know
5. No layby for the many taxis Livingstone is endowed with.
6. The 'tarmac' is too 'thin' and of very low quality. Very uneven surface
7. Drifters are now damaging the side roads as the waters drift heavily unto them.

DRAINAGES

You make the road and when the rain comes you realise there's no drainage. So, what do you do? You break what you made, you dig, more jobs for you

The drainage/water drifter leads into a side road. Now the gravel side road is eaten up. Barricades put to prevent water from draining out! Disaster! Livingstone

Agriculture and politics in Africa

By Susanna Thorp, WRENmedia

 

Many major changes are shaping the politics of African agriculture. Food price volatility, large-scale deals by foreign countries and companies, a growing urban population and demographic changes are all having an impact. 

In the abundance of maize stocks,
Zambia is hit by a serious shortage of mealie meal
in certain parts of the country Picture by Bill Owen Fine Art America

Adebayo Olukoshi of the UN African Institute for Economic Development and Planning in his opening keynote speech at a conference on the political economy of agricultural policy in Africa (PEAPA), said despite the challenges, many on the continent see a positive future. If Afro-pessimism was the mood 10 or 20 years ago, could Afro-optimism - or even Afro-enthusiasm - be a better description of the prevailing mood?  

On a more cautious note, Olukoshi warned that this enthusiasm may mask the challenges ahead. However, he also argued that we should not think of smallholder farmers as being simply passive recipients or victims of policy and political changes. Agricultural politics is not just for high-level discussions, he stated, change often comes from below.

On day two of the PEAPA conference held between 18-20 March in Pretoria, South Africa, a strong call for “donors to go home” was made in the plenary session on CAADP (the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme). “African economies are growing at 4-5% so they have plenty of fiscal resources. 

If donors pulled out, African governments would have to respond by investing more in agriculture,” said Hans Binswanger-Mkhize of the University of Pretoria. However, echoing arguments made by Olukoshi in his keynote, the CAADP plenary panel emphasised that even if more resources become available, this would not necessarily lead to more investment in agriculture. 

“Agriculture is seen as a potential black-hole,” said Mandivamba Rukuni, director of the Policy Development Trust in Zimbabwe. “We have to convince banks and ministries of finance that their support will trigger more wealth; that for every dollar invested, a return of two to three dollars will be achieved.”

During the three days of the conference, organised by the Future Agricultures Consortium and the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, politics and agriculture were discussed and debated in sessions on food prices, seed systems, extension and land, amongst many others. 

Whilst progress has been observed in some quarters, farmers are still faced with a structure of incentives loaded against small-scale agriculture, inherited from colonial times and consolidated during the post-colonial period. 

But as stated by Olukoshi in the opening session, “It is a mistake to think that rural communities are voiceless or docile.”

However, for civil society organisations (CSOs) to be more successful in engaging in agricultural policies in Africa, it was stated that CSOs need to “get out of their comfort zone and must invest more in connecting to other players in this process.” Greater successes would be achieved if diverse CSOs, including NGOs, farmer organisations and social movements, worked together and with academia to create a bigger space for engaging in policy processes.

In the closing session of the conference, Lindwe Sibanda of FANRPAN (Food and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network) remarked that the time was certainly right to discuss politics - but talk must also be translated into action. Engagement of policymakers was required, perhaps by taking experiences from countries to regional communities, as well as looking at ways to hold politicians and others to account.

Abash Paid-For Tuitions Part 1

By Matongo Maumbi

Education is said to be the greatest link to literacy. I say education is one way of milking your mind out to suit those that are cheating or is it teaching you!

Likezo Muyoyeta debating during the
 African Schools Debating Championship in RSA 

My favourite era in my life was my first grade when I seldom went to school and even when I did, I seldom got into class to learn. Only I know how I did my homework without being in class. Oh I hated anyone who forced me to go to class.

I did all sorts of tricks just not to be in class - locking myself in the toilet/bathroom, hiding behind sofas, climbing wardrobes, hiding under drainage culverts, hiding my books, dirtying my uniform and just anything else that would keep me out of class.

It didn't take long for me to start liking school - somewhere in my third grade. I just made it a point that no girl should surpass me in any exam, and when they did, I worked extra hard to make sure am the best in class. Wow, where did I lose that touch!! When I qualified to go to Canisius, it was all boys and I just relaxed.

The point I am coming to now is the motivation my teachers gave me in my secondary school years. That personal couching which made each of us be a part of the class except in instances where one just hated the subject or worse off the teacher.

Every August at Canisius Secondary School, grade 12s were accorded a two-week study break. This was meant to give chance to teachers and pupils have extra lessons on subjects they still found hard to comprehend. Great teachers such as Peter Ng'andu 'Level' (RIP) for History, Uncle TG Matesamwa (RIP) for Principles of Accounts, Sitali (RIP) Sciences and Halale for mathematics accorded us their time, for free so that we  could fully understand the subject contents.

The zeal and determination to see to it that all pupils got good results motivated the teachers for free consultation whenever we would approach them. We also had that passion and brilliance of being in class to learn and not be spoon fed.

14years down the line, things have totally changed. Tuitions have become the order of the day, and worse off parents have to pay the teachers huge sums of money to have their children learn what they otherwise MUST learn in class.

The tuition system has invaded ALL schools in Zambia such that parents take it that that is the best way to have their children educated. Do we really need these paid for tuitions? Are we in for the business or the education?  

The good old days of dedicated teachers are a thing of the past. Gone are our days when dedicated teachers taught in the classroom and that was sufficient for the us to prepare for exams. When I was not sure of anything, my teacher would passionately offer to help me catch up either at school or at home. 

I like the stance taken by the Minister of Education in Kenya, Mutula Kilonzo, who has put it point blank that strong disciplinary action will be taken against any public or private school ignoring the directive abolishing holiday tuition.

"Professionally, extra coaching or tuition is given to learners who show weakness in certain subjects. Such learners need remedial teaching to compensate the lapses they suffer from in learning ability, compared with their classmates. This is what constitutes remedial teaching and does not involve payment by parents.

"This is part and parcel of the calling of a teacher. It is in fact a violation of the teachers' code of ethics to either provide extra tuition to such learners at a fee and/or, decline to provide it when payment is not forthcoming," he said.

How I wish the Minister of Education in Zambia would rise and utter such words instead of mere politicking insulting those in schools. Sha!

THE PROS of TUITIONS

• ·         A pupil is able to gain extra knowledge which he otherwise failed to learn in class.
• ·         Maximizes the pupils' time taking them away from vices
• ·         Pupils are able to study as groups to exchange knowledge, and test each other's ability through past questions.
• ·         Education becomes a thing for ALL and not just the rich

THE FLIP-SIDE

• ·         Parents are more financially burden as the tuitions of today are expensive.
• ·         Child proper learning becomes overshadowed by parent's desire to have good results no matter what
• ·         Pupils get pressured too much leading to social problems
• ·         Creativity and dedication from teachers is only seen where there is that extra money.
• ·         Best tips on exams are left for such tuitions as a marketing gimmick.

For the time-being, I end here as I gather more ammunition, and to give you room to argue or cement my argument....TB

Smoking Vs Livelihood - Which Way Forward?

By Matongo Maumbi,

Tobacco kills almost five million people each year. If current trends continue, it is projected to kill 10 million people a year by 2020, with 70% of those deaths occurring in developing countries. Tobacco also takes an enormous toll in health care costs, lost productivity, and of course the intangible costs of the pain and suffering inflicted upon smokers, passive smokers and their families.

In May 2003, the member countries of the World Health Organization adopted a historic tobacco control treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which has the potential to reduce this terrible toll.

Zambia signed the treaty to be party to the FCTC in 2007 but has lagged behind in putting to effect the recommendations under the treaty.

The FCTC is encouraging governments to increase tax on tobacco and related substances so as to discourage would-be smokers and those that are already in the habit. Is it the nation's well-being or the nation's wealth that counts here? Certainly the nation has to have a healthy citizenry so that they become much more productive.

The objective of the FCTC is "to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke." The Preamble of the FCTC recognises the need for countries to give priority to their right to protect public health, the unique nature of tobacco products and the harm that companies that produce them cause.

Tobacco tax increases are encouraged in the FCTC, but the Zambian Government is doing the direct opposite. The treaty states that "each Party should take account of its national health objectives concerning tobacco control" in its tobacco tax and price policies. The treaty recognizes that raising prices through tax increases and other means "is an effective and important means of reducing tobacco consumption by various segments of the population, in particular young persons."

The momentum after signing was good because just a year later, in April 2008, Zambia passed on a law that prohibits smoking in public places but its implementation leaves much to be desired as local authorities are finding it very difficult to do so.

The other challenge that has been in enforcing the ban on smoking in public places is the non-availability of smoking zones in offices or just any other place. Smokers believe that if they are smoking in open space, then they are not affecting anyone around them as the wind will blow away the smoke.

AND to add salt to the challenge on the ban, tobacco farmers recently attending the Intern-ational Tobacco Growers Association (ITGA) Africa Regional Meeting in Lusaka Zambia have strongly opposed proposals by the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) that threaten the region's econ-omies.

According to a story by The Financial Gazette of Zimbabwe, the declaration came from agricultural leaders from Kenya, Malawi, So-uth Africa, Tanzania, Zam-bia, and Zimbabwe.

The FCTC now recommends, among other things, that governments phase out tobacco farming by limiting ­­­the land where it can be grown and endorsing the dismantling of all bodies relating governments with growers-such as the tobacco boards-thus putting farmers' livelihoods at risk while failing to offer an economically viable alternative crop.

At the Zambian meeting, all tobacco growing countries were urged to defend the interests of tobacco farmers that provide employment and income for thousands of African farmers and their families by rejecting the draft policy recommendations for Articles 17 and 18 and urging other governments to reject the draft recommendations, as long as they just aim to destroy the tobacco farmer's livelihoods.

Articles 17 and 18 focus on the provision of economically sustainable alternatives to tobacco growing and protection of the environment. Very little research on alternative, economically viable crops has been undertaken and as the group recognises, any future research will require lengthy time trials.

However, the FCTC has now put forward unreasonable and absurd measures to phase out tobacco production, without offering the vast African producers that heavily rely on tobacco any viable fall-back solutions."

The meeting also observed that the working group responsible for these proposals known as the working group for Articles 17 and 18 is being driven by health officers with little to no real world knowledge of agriculture , tobacco farming , or the challenges faced by farmers and farm workers living in rural areas.

"The working group should be reminded that the FCTC has acknowledged that the tobacco farming community should be involved at every stage of policy development and implementation. Yet it has failed at any time to meaningfully consult farmers or the associations that represent them and their interests on specific, detailed, and credible options to other viable crops, ignoring the reiterated offers of co-operation by growers organisations from all over the world," ITGA said.

ITGA also called on governments to request the working group for Articles 17 and 18 to revise its draft policy recommendations, to seek input from tobacco farmers' organizations and agricultural policy specialists on specific, detailed, and credible options for diversification with alternative crops.

The association which represent millions of farmers and tobacco workers and countless tobacco farming communities in Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe refused to accept the FCTC systematic discrimination of tobacco growers.

"All tobacco farmers, farm workers, and farming communities should acti-vely and collectively def-end their land, their jobs, and their livelihood from efforts to deny the right to produce the legal crops that better assure their economic prosperity and we should remain actively engaged in opposing these proposals," ITGA added.

Since the adoption of the FCTC, the ITGA has argued that these measures will have disastrous social and economic consequences without making any difference to peoples' health.

In spite of ringing the alarm bells, the ITGA's request for a seat at the table has been rejected, dismissing farmers as "interferences".

Nonsmokers must be protected in workplaces, public transport and indoor public places. The treaty recognizes that exposure to tobacco smoke has been scientifically proven to cause death, disease and disability. It requires all Parties to implement effective measures to protect non-smokers from tobacco smoke in public places, including workplaces, public transport and indoor public places -- evidence indicates that only a total smoking ban is effective in protecting non-smokers.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is the first treaty initiated by the World Health Assembly, the governing body of the World Health Organization (WHO). Negotiations began in October 1999 and concluded on March 1st 2003. The FCTC was adopted at the World Health Assembly on May 23, 2003 and is now open for signature and ratification. TB

(with excerpts from Framework Convention Alliance and Tobacco Information & Prevention Source – TIPS)

Maid Of Honour

By Matongo Maumbi,

There has been growing outcry from all corners of the country on the latest increase on the minimum wage for domestic workers, aka MAIDS. How could the minister give them 100% plus when us we only got 14%? The maid does not deserve such a pay cos she does nothing in the house!

I am single and I do not need a maid per se. But listening to people go on selfishly on how the maid enjoys a lot of privileges at home just made realise how shallow thinking most of these are earning more money are.

I understand the cry of many and I appreciate it very much such that I pity them for having to be told that maids deserve better. The arguments that come are that the maid eats, baths and does everything from THE HOME, and even watches DSTV. 

That is very true and she very much deserves all that and even better. If it bothers you so much, it can help that you disconnect your DSTV service so that she no longer has to watch AND your children to having nothing to entertain them. Don't allow her to cook so she does not eat AND your children have nothing to eat as well. She should not bath so that no matter how much she bathes the children, they will still carry some dirt on them.

It's a bitter thing to accept by the stingy selfish so called employers but for the majority, and actually ALL, maids, this is what they deservedly need to earn and more. They have strong bonds with the children they are left to care for. 

I call them Maids Of Honour. They are honourable because the children get to learn a lot of things by socialising with the maids, the house gets to be cleaned by the maids, your husband's clothes get to be washed and ironed by the maids, there gets to be some one at home.

I sample two comments that have been posted on facebook (in protest):

looking for a washing machine before my maids approach me for increament. at least i can do the ironing on a daily basisWith this new minimum wage thing,maids will be employing maidsto look after their children

You can clearly tell how UNWELCOME this move by government is. And I hear of some who have already fired their maids who have finally demanded their fair share. 

Some have even taken great offence at this and wrote to maids:

Dear Domestic Worker,
With respect to the new minimum wage, your usage charge for DSTV, Food (breakfast, lunch and any snacks), water for your bath and electricity for charging your phone IN MY HOUSE will be at a cost of ZMK 250,000 per month. Please note that this will be recovered monthly from your new minimum wage.
Regards

And a Patrick Muzumbwe on Facebook wrote:

The Central Government should first create employment opportunities before increasing salary wages for general workers.This will cause more unemployment because employers will be employing less to combat the minimum wage increase.

I agree in totality with   My Frustrated Brotha:

We complain when Zambians are abused in mines, we complain when the shop workers are underpaid, we strike when our employers do not increase our pay, however, we forget the injustice that goes on in our very homes. Maids have no unions to speak on their behalf. No one hears their voices and nobody asks their opinion. Let us be honest, the reasons we have maids is so our lives can be a lot easier. Maids are usually expected to work six days a week. This is usually in an average household of six people. She is expected to wash for each individual, cook the meals, if there is a baby, babysit and do all the other chores the madam does not have time for. It is not an easy thing. Personally doing my own laundry is hell and if someone can do it on my behalf that is such a relief. Incredibly people still find a way to make their job insignificant and seem like a by the way thing that we can all do without if we choose.

Refusing to upgrade the pay of the Maids Of Honour only results from one who does not acknowledge the role that the maids play in the homes. If you so much do not want to pay the 522pin, at least you can pay 520pin and live with a peace of mind knowing your children have someone with them at home.

And as the Minister said, if you are aggrieved and can prove that you cannot afford to pay for such after declaring all your income, then please approach the ministry. Do not prey on the vulnerability of the many maids around the country. We are learned so that we help them out.

A domestic worker is a person who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping. Responsibilities may also include cooking, doing laundry and ironing, food shopping and other household errands. Some domestic workers live within the household where they work.

Government recently increased the minimum wage for domestic workers from K250,000 to K522,000 a move which has been received with mixed feelings from maid employers.

Mind you this is only a minimum, you may pay more or don't get one at all and note the difference. TB

Anna: strong and hardworking

Anna: 'Even now I am still strong. I do all the work on my own.'

Anna became pregnant when still at school. Her family was tough with her, saying she must pay the price of her “negligent body”. She says that she is grateful as she learned to be strong and hardworking. She later married but her husband is ill and they can’t afford the drugs he needs.

Anna believes it is vital for women not to be financially dependent on men. Now her husband is unable to work she has to do everything for their five children, as well as work on a tobacco farm.

Even so, she counts every blessing. “Poverty is having nothing… I am not poor because I am able to sell a few things and when they’re bought I am able to have some money. There are things I lack…. I don’t have a well or a latrine… If I had these things…I could have been vegetable gardening and poverty would be history.”

My name is Anna…I was born in 1956 in Monze. Before going to school, I was helping with farming at home… We grew groundnuts, [sweet potatoes] and maize, and I even [helped] apply cow manure in the field around October…

We were even encouraged to sow seeds and learn how best to do it. They did this to prepare us for our survival in the future. They gave us our own small piece of land to practice on. After harvest, we could sell our produce and earn some money.

To protect the soil and have good growth with our crops, we never applied fertiliser. We just planted. Even with groundnuts, you don’t apply any chemicals. This applies to sweet potatoes too. For maize we applied cow manure. The crops grew well without chemicals.

Crop rotation existed. If this year we had groundnuts, the following year we would have maize. Some years they would grow sunflower, as it transformed the land for better. I got this knowledge from my parents. My grandfather practiced this a lot…

Today

The change I am seeing is that the land can no longer produce good crops without chemical fertiliser… I preferred using manure because you would not need to apply any other chemicals to have a good yield. With fertiliser, when you apply basal fertiliser, you also have to apply top dressing otherwise your maize will die.

What has made my field barren is the use of these different kinds of fertiliser. This year you apply this kind and the following year you apply a different kind. This destroys the fields…

We no longer apply manure as most cattle are dead because of denkete (foot and mouth disease)…so where can you find the manure? My [standard of living is] going down…because I no longer have the yields that I had in previous years…

Back to the past

[In] the past…life was good. Our daily livelihood was very good because we never bought cooking oil, we would pound groundnuts to mix with vegetables and eat this with the children. In samp (pounded maize and beans) we mixed buntele (pounded groundnuts). Nowadays we no longer add groundnuts because…production has gone down…

My father had three wives and he had one big grain bank that he used to help his family and his whole clan. If anyone had a problem, they would go to my father for help. The old man would not take anything from the grain bank of his wives; he would get it from the main bank of the village…[this practice] no longer exists.

Motherhood as a schoolgirl

When I finished… actually I didn’t finish school – I became pregnant [laughs]. I became pregnant in Form One. Afterwards I started growing groundnuts so that I may take care of my child. When time for harvesting came, I would get my yield and have something for my child.

It was difficult to get clothes for my child – they told me that I got pregnant deliberately, to stop school. I was told to raise the child on my own. Whatever problem I was in because of my negligent body, they told me, I was to “find my own way out”.

The difficult part was fending for myself. But this was good, for I learnt a lot of things. I learnt how to farm, how to grow sweet potatoes. Even now I am still strong. I do all the work on my own. This is how I raise money for my children although I am now married.

In the initial stage [of motherhood], I felt greatly troubled… I wanted to continue school after [weaning] the child, but there was no one to sponsor me… Today I have come to realise that what they did was good for me. If they had just kept quiet and left me unpunished, I would not have learnt anything.

They made me strong and I am still strong and hard-working. I am still doing the work I did then. I learnt all this through the punishment they gave me [laughs]… The [first child] is now married and has a farm in Kapiri…

The importance of independence

I would encourage women not to rely on men… Now, [imagine] your husband dies, and you remain with no business of your own – you would really be in trouble.

These days, even when you are with your husband, you must be something too. If you can’t do business… then cut grass. There are plenty of people in need of fodder. Get firewood and sell it. You will be able to find money to help your children.

These days some women are free to do business ventures; others cannot manage. Some have no start-up capital…. Like I said, if you cut grass you can sell it, but some fail even to do this. They are never thinking of where or how to get money to do a business venture.

I am managing because I do not wait for someone to come to buy my goods. Whoever is on the road can buy from me as long as I have my items on display…

Begging for water

I had such a [good] harvest in 1979. I harvested 25 bags of maize. With this maize I managed to send my child to Kalomo Secondary. Now there is nothing. I just have a very few [bags]…which cannot even be put in a grain bank…

If you are based near a stream, you can do vegetable gardening. Problems are lessened when you garden. Water here is a problem, especially now that the rainfall is poor. We have to beg for water from those that have it. The hand pump is broken. The wells are drying up. We go round asking those that have got wells: you get one container filled here and you go and ask another to fill your other container and so on…

I started digging [a well nearby]. The only problem is that I have run out money to pay the ones doing the digging. The well is left at shoulder height due to lack of money. The water is bad [for drinking] because there is no chemical added to destroy the germs [but] my body has somehow become resistant to them.

No money for medicine

The disease that has disturbed my family is vomiting…accompanied by diarrhea. I have lost two children from this disease… We have a clinic but it’s not opened yet… my old man (husband) has had problems with his legs…since last August.

I find there are more diseases now compared to previous years. We never went to the hospital in the past. You could just dig up musampinzyo (wild root) and give it to your child to drink. You would get mululwe (wild root; very bitter) and he would get better. We could cure any kind of disease, but nowadays even when you go to the hospital, you could die. This is where I draw the difference…

What has brought an increase in disease, here in Mwapona, is that the water we drink is not safe… We have also had scabies of late and malnutrition…We go to Shaampande [clinic]. It’s far. We go on foot [and] when the patient can’t walk we borrow a bicycle to carry them. If the drugs are there, they give [you them]. But when they don’t have them, they give you a prescription…

If you don’t have money, you just stop. My old man is in bed. He was given a prescription but he can’t afford to buy the drugs. We still have the prescription…

“What makes me poor…”

Poverty is having nothing…I am not poor because I am able to sell a few things and…to have some money. There are things I lack. I don’t have a well or a latrine. If I had things like the well, I could have been vegetable gardening and poverty would be history.

I would say I had a better life in the past…. What makes me poor is the illness of my old man, the head of the house. I have to fend for everything to help my children, to keep them in school. I have five children going to school… I have to pay for them all.

Previously I never had problems because I had few children going to school… only three. I used to manage to pay for them and the old man at that time was working. When he got paid he would assist me and when I made some sales it would also help. It is now difficult because I am now all alone doing the work to help the children.

I do this through casual work. I work at a farm… I harvest tobacco. At the month’s end I am paid 120,000 Kwacha. I use this money to help my children…We use firewood [for cooking]. We work for it on the nearby farms. Charcoal is available but expensive…

Social change

[In] the past a girl would really reach maturity, and when I say maturity I mean all the features of a girl are visible. You would feel that you are now somebody. This is the time you would think of getting married. These days even a small girl knows how to attract boys. Is it the world that has changed or is it something else? What has gone wrong? I don’t know…

I have a big family with eight children…two have died. I also have grandchildren.

I was in a polygamous marriage and found it to be very bad…the friendship that existed [between co-wives] was nothing but pretence. When you are not there, the other one doesn’t take good care of your children. This is the bad aspect…

Of the children I bore, one is married in Namwala, the other has a farm in Kapiri. These two children assist me a lot. If am in trouble and go to them, they are able to assist me….

A son with HIV

I have a child who was infected with HIV in 1981… My son got infected because he never heeded my advice. It was sad news. I really suffered to take care of him. He was even insulting me when I was trying to care for him. I never discriminated against him. He is my child… if I were to avoid him; he would have no one to take care of him…

In Mwapona HIV and AIDS is widespread… Like now, there are seven funerals in this area… When you have a bereavement, you can go to the [section] Chairman and he is able to donate mealie meal (maize meal) and firewood to help you with the funeral…

Kara Counselling [and Training Trust] is busy teaching us the best preventive measures. They brought things like condoms…[but] the disease will continue to rise because some use them while others do not… Although they are taught what to do, they don’t follow instructions…

Development

Mmmmmh…..the government and development…they had given us a hand pump, but it’s already broken. When there is hunger and starvation, they assist us with food. Recently they constructed a community school…They are also building a clinic though it’s not operational yet. This is the development I am seeing in Mwapona.

[Clubs?] Let me not lie. I never join such groups. The only group that I hear of a lot in Choma is this one that has come to give loans to people… I can’t remember the other one. They give loans to women to start up businesses such selling beer. [About] those other organisations, I have no idea…. there is none [that has helped me].

We have failed to improve our country because farming has gone down. We had the Namboards (National Maize Boards). These are no longer in existence. We had cooperatives; they are also dead. This means agriculture has really gone down.

I have paw paws, guavas and some mangoes [at home]… We need to protect them because when they bear fruit, they are a source of food. You can survive on mangoes in times of hunger. The guavas bear fruit at a different time… so you can also survive on them…

Cutting trees to survive

I know the law that protects trees. They should not be cut because if there are no trees, rainfall would be very poor. A good example is Kapiri where they don’t allow cutting of trees. There is good rainfall there.

Here in Choma, it’s hunger that’s the problem. People produce charcoal for a living. Some have licenses while others do not. Chief Singani had at one time stopped them from cutting down trees, but their response was that it was their only livelihood.

The land has become poor and there is no fertiliser. Even when you try to plant something, there are no good yields. This is what makes them continue with charcoal production – to earn a living…

Tonga traditions

In the yesteryears, if there wasn’t good rainfall, we would hold Lwiindi (rainmaking or thanksgiving ceremony to celebrate end of a good harvest) and we would receive rain. This is now hardly practiced and in some areas it no longer exists…

We need Lwiindi because in the past it was working very well. If they had no rain for a week, they would go to the shrine and ask for rain, and the rain would come whilst they are at the shrine. But today this no longer happens.

The way forward

What I need [from the government] is a piece of land, especially for those of us who no longer have relatives to turn to. When you are given that piece of land, you would settle there. Then you can be able to farm and feed your children. When I have the land they can assist me with fertiliser and seeds. Then I can take it from there.

This interview has been specially edited for the web and cut down by more than half. Some re-ordering has taken place: square brackets indicate ‘inserted’ text for clarification; round brackets are translations / interpretations; and dots indicate cuts in the text. The primary aim has been to remain true to the spirit of the interview, while losing questions, repetition, and confusing or overlapping sections.

Get more of these stories from the Panos website

Dominic: valuing tradition | Panos London

Dominic: valuing tradition | Panos London:

Dominic: 'There is poverty that comes because you have tried and failed'

By Matongo Maumbi - Dominic describes a harsh childhood. His mother became lame in 1964 and his father left when the children were very young. “Most of the time we went without food,” he says. Dominic had to leave school early and married young in order to help his mother “since she wasn’t that able to cope on her own”.

Now the village secretary, Dominic values traditional Tonga customs and regrets the fact that young people belittle them. He says that there was greater unity when conflicts were resolved by traditional means within the community rather than going to the police and the courts.

He says farming was better in his parents’ time when the government provided start-up inputs and there was a greater variety of crops and plentiful harvests. He admits that men don’t want women to get too good at farming, so “we suppress them a bit”.

[In my childhood] we survived by eating wild fruits and roots because the family could not manage to grow enough food… [My mother] became lame in 1964… My father had left us when we were still very young… When my mother fell ill, we remained at my father’s place. It was difficult staying with my father’s other young wife. Most of the time I slept on an empty stomach…

I managed going to [primary] school through rough and tough… I was supposed to go to Rusangu Secondary. I didn’t because of [financial] problems. I felt very bad… I had the desire to continue, but when I saw that there was no hope of sponsorship…these desires disappeared slowly as the years passed…

I have two children that have already completed to high school level, and I am still struggling to send the others through school… Some [of my children] think that my failure to continue with education is a lifestyle [choice]; they don’t understand that I had no one to pay for me. When they see me doing some casual work, they want to help me and forget about school…[but] some of them really are interested in education.

Farming “is life”

Farming in those [early] days was very good… when I failed to go to school I went back to the land. It was really good. You would receive some fertiliser from the government as a start-up… You go and learn on the Muzenge (community programme) and then after some time they would give you bags of fertiliser for top and basal dressing and they would also give you the seed…[We grew] the Tonga variety of maize, Hekural King.

When hunger appears, whatever little you had put in [the grain bank], you would go and withdraw. The headman had a record of all the contributions made by the households to the community bank. This was to prevent selfishness by other people, who liked hiding produce from others… [But today our children would] question why their produce is taken away from them for the bank.

My parents grew millet, sorghum, sweet potatoes and maize… there would be pumpkins, cucumbers, groundnuts and all sorts of crops. But these days these things are not there… They also had cattle and goats… there are very few people who still have cattle. Those that still have cattle use the manure for farming.

Farming is profit to a person. This is life to a person. This is life to the country as a whole. I say so because if you are hard working in farming, and have failed to go to school, you are supposed to get rid of all your problems through farming…

Declining production; rising costs

What has made the change is that we can no longer afford the fertiliser, and the seed has become expensive… I used to grow crops to the capacity of the field. I could sometimes get 200 lots of 100 kg bags of maize. When I did badly I could get, say 150, 120 bags. This was because you could get a loan, say from the bank. These [days] this is not possible because of the expensive farming inputs.

They still [give loans] – even the government is doing something through what they call ‘down payments’. This helps us in some way… Ploughs are available in shops, but the money is difficult to find. Fertiliser is also available through the down payments scheme. Those that have the money do buy, but as for me I have failed…

We are grateful for the government programme of down payments, and the cattle-restocking programme, but we request them to continue with such good policies…

“I do not have enough farming tools”

There is poverty that is brought about by oneself and there is poverty that comes because you have tried and failed. Mostly poverty comes in because of not working hard to help yourself. [1] am affected by poverty in that I do not have enough tools, such that I do not work as I would want to.

There are people poorer than I… Some become poor because the parents, like my mother who [was] sick, have no source of income. They may be sick and disabled and this may bring about poverty…

What has brought this [poverty in my life]? First, the time the cattle started dying. It was also the time when I was getting weaker. And our children also grew in number. Money was being spent in a lot of areas…

The problem in the village is the dying of cattle, so no more draught power. You would find a strong person who really wants to do some farming, but you know us Tongas, we are used to and we grew up with cattle… What has really killed us is the lack of tools. Laziness has always been here, you will always find such people. It’s not the main cause of this problem…

‘We suppress women a bit’

We do not give [women] that much freedom. We would [not] like to give a woman a chance to farm better [than us men]… God put it that they are helpers… Now, if your helper is doing better than you are there is that natural feeling of…you know. Whenever you have a dispute with her, she would say to you’Give me back my blanket or something. It’s me who bought it.’ That’s why we suppress them a bit…

Development: disease and other problems

These days there is what they call conservation farming, where we are encouraged to dig holes to plant different crops such as oranges, maize and others… At the dam there is a project brought by Choma people connected to agriculture. At least 30 people are involved in the irrigation project. There’s a poultry house at Haabuluba.

The contractor did a very bad job [building the dam]; he didn’t dig deep enough. As such it doesn’t collect enough water to last the whole year. We still need help on this dam. Of course [we are affected by water-borne disease].

I have chickens, guinea fowl, goats and cattle… The major problem is the disease that affects the chicks. They are already infected and I have some problems in getting the medication. I also have a problem with goats. They also have a disease that troubles them a lot… You go to the Vet’s office and they tell you to go the following day and again just like that, until the disease spreads and worsens in the animals.

When we come to cattle, even with them there are some problems. We are advised to dip the animals… We are stuck because of the difficulties we have in acquiring funds to buy the drug to add to the tank to make it effective…

Traditional Tonga customs

The main idea for the Nkolola (coming of age ceremony) was to give advice. This is where a girl got proper advice on how she shall carry on with her lifestyle wherever she is going [upon marriage]. [The Nkolola ceremony was] to show that someone has matured…showing others that you can”eat or harvest” from that family now…[that] there is someone of marriageable age now…

To a Tonga the kalumbu (bow with string) is a nice musical instrument. One, it gets rid of loneliness. Two, it sends a non-verbal message to your parents. Because it was a taboo in those days to tell your father in person that you want to get married.

It’s not like the way you do it nowadays, where you can talk to your parents about condoms. We never talked about such things in front of people. Playing the kalumbu was sending a clear message to your [father] that”Please, I would like to get married”…

[Nowadays] the children…refuse to take part in [these customs]. They would say that this is [the] old model. The kids have become clever. They have started using English.

Wider communication

[Communicating with the government?] You take [your message] to the ward councillor, then he takes it to the MP. When we complain, we notice that the message bearers do not take the message right to the end, they just leave it on the way. The problem here is…the same people we send are the ones that put our messages under the carpet.

We receive information through Radio Chikuni. We are really lucky to have such a station. I might be featured on tonight’s news [laughs]. We are delighted to be receiving information through them… [it] is good. In most cases you talk to someone face to face over an issue and then that person discusses that through the radio. It has really worked well.

Some things have become easier. We no longer waste time going by bicycle to deliver a message to different people. When it can be aired [on radio], it becomes much easier… [However,] there are a lot of things happening in the villages that go unreported.

Fading hope

I am not the kind of person who just sits. I sometimes go to the vegetable garden; I mould bricks to sell so that I may help my children… You need to be a hardworking person to lessen life’s problems. To earn a good living, you have to work hard…

I had great hopes but these are now fading. I was hopeful that I would one day buy a vehicle. But I have now started drawing back. Have you seen this cotton? [Points to a trailer with bags of cotton] There are no proper sacks in which to pack it…hopes are fading. I have the produce, but I don’t have any place to sell it to.

This interview has been specially edited for the web and cut down by more than half. Some re-ordering has taken place: square brackets indicate’inserted’ text for clarification; round brackets are translations / interpretations; and dots indicate cuts in the text. The primary aim has been to remain true to the spirit of the interview, while losing questions, repetition, and confusing or overlapping sections.