FOREIGN RELATIONS
The outstanding issues left over after the collapse of the East African Community have not yet been settled. But the three East African Presidents met in Arusha in January. It was the first time this had happened since before Idi Amin seized power. The President also had talks with his Rwandan and Burundian counterparts. Following the talks, agreement was reached on telephone and road links, and the possibility of a rail link is to be investigated. The idea of a joint hydro-electric project in the Kagera River Basin is to be investigated further before a decision is made.

President Nyerere has made a two day official visit to Italy and the Vatican, followed by a three day official visit to Austria. The Palestine Liberation Organisation has been accorded full diplomatic recognition in Dar es Salaam.

The continuing political conflict in Uganda has inevitably led to accusations that Tanzania has been interfering in Uganda’s affairs. It is clear that Tanzania would like to withdraw all its forces as soon as possible, and spokesmen have repeatedly made it clear that they are there only because the Ugandan authorities have asked for them to be. At a recent delegates conference of the Democratic Party in Uganda on 19th June a letter was read out from President Nyerere. (It should be borne in mind that among Tanzania’s strongest critics in Uganda have been supporters of this party who accuse the Tanzanians of favouring Milton Obote’s UPC). The letter read:

Dear Mr. Semwogerere (Interim DP Chairman), Thank you for writing to me. I received your letter when I got back to Dar es Salaam from Arusha this week. I was pleased to have the opportunity to meet representatives of the DP of Uganda. Our discussions did I believe, help to clear up some misunderstandings about Tanzania’s policy in Uganda and may thus help the struggle towards stability in your country, for our desire is to help Uganda
a) to re-establish conditions of personal security for all citizens
b) to facilitate the holding of free and fair elections as soon as possible.

My country has no intention of interfering in those processes. Uganda is not a protectorate of Tanzania. But it is in our interest that law and order should exist in Uganda. It is also in our interest that your country should have an elected government which serves the people and the region honestly and which establishes the foundations for good neighbourliness between the states of this part of Africa. Tanzania is not concerned which party or coalition is chosen by Ugandans to head their government. We will do our best both to be politically neutral between contending groups and to appear to be neutral. It is in this context of those objectives that I welcome the positive attitude of the DP leadership towards the present administration in Uganda. I believe that such an approach by both the main parties of your country will help to ensure continued progress towards improved security and rapid preparation of elections.

The letter, which was received with applause, went on to deny the allegation made by Professor Lule from Nairobi that his own candidature for the Presidential nomination by the DP had been vetoed by the Tanzanians.

During the elections in Zimbabwe President Nyerere accused Britain of breaking the Lancaster House agreement. Later he admitted he had been wrong.

TRANSPORT
Air Tanzania has begun twice weekly flights to Europe, connecting Dar es Salaam with London, Athens, Zurich and Rome. Two aircraft have been leased from British Caledonian.

The Tanzam (Tazara) Railway which lost $10 million last year is expected to make a profit this year of $10 million. The railway is expected to transport 1.2 million tons of freight and l.54 million passengers. The railway has not yet reached its planned capacity of 2 million tons per year.

From 1983, Tanzania and Zambia will start paying China $20 million per year for 30 years.

A British study of Dar es Salaam port has recommended the construction of two berths to take containerised freight. It has also looked at the perennial freight handling problem and concluded that much of the trouble lies in the fact that too much space is being taken up by long-term freight storage and rubbish.

On May 1st all bus services of the National Bus Company were suspended due to the acute shortage of tyres and inner tubes. The General Tyre Factory at Arusha stopped production for a time in March due to the shortage of raw materials.

There was serious labour unrest at Dar es Salaam port in April when 16 workers were sacked. Dockers went on strike in defiance of JUWATA (the National Trade Union Organisation). The workers claimed the men had been dismissed for campaigning for better working conditions. They were all persuaded to return to work two days later. But a further 116 workers were later also dismissed.

REFUGEES
The integration of the many thousands of Rwandan and Burundian refugees in the country seems to have been a great success. In January it was announced that the administration of some of the camps would be taken over from the UNHCR and the Christian Refugee Service. In one settlement near Tabora, 24,900 refugees have developed a thriving agricultural community and even run a hotel. 36,000 Rwandan refugees have applied for Tanzanian citizenship and it looks as if this will be granted. Most refugees from the two countries have integrated fully and want to stay.

HEALTH
Cholera which claimed more than 1,000 lives two years ago has again broken out in many parts of the country. By April 34 people had died in Mheya, Morogoro, Kilimanjaro, Kigoma and Tanga Regions. Concern was also expressed about the state of sanitation in public toilets in Dar es Salaam. The City Council closed these for a time in order to put things right. By June 30th all private practice in medicine was due to end, except under the auspices of an approved organisation, such as a trade union body (JUWATA), or a mission.

VILLAGE SHOPS
Nyerere’s directive on village shops (Radio Report): The chairman of the CCM, Mwalimu Nyerere, had directed that 1980 be set aside for setting up large general stores in all the villages in Tanzania. While addressing the nation at Mwanza, at the peak of celebrations marking the third anniversary of the CCM, Mwalimu also directed the CCM to supervise the establishment of such stores, to be run on socialist lines. We said such village stores must be given top priority and their supervision be comparable to that of other government projects in the villages. He, however, warned that the directive on establishing such shops in the villages did not mean the closure of existing shops. The OCM Chairman also directed public corporations dealing with essential commodities to give such shops the first priority in the buying of essential commodities. The government has directed that a crash programme he drawn up for training in the management, operation and supervision of registered ujamaa shops.

OTHER NEWS
4,436 prisoners were granted a Presidential amnesty to mark the 16th anniversary of the Union.

Over 150 professional and amateur scientists were in Tanzania on February 16th to view the total eclipse of the sun.

The newly established Pan African Postal Union is to set up its headquarters in Arusha at the former offices of the East African Community.

C.C.M. CONFERENCE IN ARUSHA
This was reported in the British Press as being called to discuss Human Rights. It was assumed to be part of a pre-election campaign by CCM to deal with complaints against arbitrary actions by Government and Party officials and delays in hearing cases by the courts. However, such reports as have appeared do not mention any discussion of these matters, but have concentrated on a reaffirmation of the leadership of CCM and the need for training for Party officials at all levels.
Graham Mytton

Changes in Zanzibar
Friends of Tanzania have ever since the union of Zanzibar and Tanganyika been disturbed by the continuation of arbitrary rule on Zanzibar and Pemba islands and the apparent inability of the central Tanzanian government to persuade Zanzibar to accept free elections and adopt the normal processes of law. There seems to be no doubt that some of the activities of the rulers of Zanzibar have been highly embarrassing to the Tanzanian Government. When questioned about the failure of Zanzibar to live up to the Tanzanian standards of personal freedom, Julius Nyerere has always said that full union of the two countries would take time to achieve.

The problem within Zanzibar has largely been caused by the group who controlled the party and owed their position to the part they had played in the 1964 revolution. This group strongly opposed the idea that they should submit themselves to an election. The creation of a single political party, C.C.M., to replace TANU and ASP was an important step towards the creation of a single state.

In October a new Constitution was adopted for the islands which provides for an elected President and Council of Representatives. Zanzibar’s representation in the National Assembly consists of two elements; the members of the Revolutionary Council are ex officio members and there are also members representing constituencies. Vice-President Jumbe obtained agreement that the constituency members should also be elected and not appointed. Zanzibar retains a disproportionate share of the seats in the Tanzanian National Assembly and in the Central Committee of C.C.M. This seems to be the price which must he paid to persuade her to bring her internal policies closer to those of mainland Tanzania.

Negotiations with Lonrho
The multi-national company, Lonrho was ordered out of Tanzania because of evidence that it was attempting to exert political influence in Zimbabwe. Lonrho has publicly criticised the Government of Tanzania over what it claims is delay in settling the compensation for its assets in Tanzania.

Tanzania does not deny liability but believes that Lonrho has put an inflated price on the assets, in view of the record of losses by some of the firms concerned (e.g. Riddoch Motors). There were previously protracted negotiations with Lonrho when its sisal, newspaper and printing companies were nationalised. This is in contrast with negotiations with other firms on compensation for nationalisation of assets and suggests at least that Lonrho is not acting responsibly.

The British Minister responsible for overseas aid, Neil Martin, M.P., answering a recent Parliamentary question, gave an assurance that Lonrho’s complaint would not affect the level of British Aid to Tanzania.

Food Situation in Tanzania.
The July Newsletter included a note of the effect on one area of the exceptionally heavy rains of 1979 and, in another section of this letter, there is an estimate of the total cost of damage to crops, roads and bridges. The rice crop was particularly hard hit and very little was harvested. However, the President made it clear in a speech on 1 September that, although little foreign exchange could be spared to import rice or wheat, there would be enough of other foods for everyone, and there was no danger of hunger.

Tanzania’s growth in food production, averaging 3.5% to 4% p.a. between 1967 and 1978 (and probably in the range 6% to 10% between 1975 and 1978) has been one of its successes, even when compared with population growth. The continuing problem is how to maintain the increase in good crops and combine it with a similar increase in export crops. So far price changes have only produced an increase in one at the expense of the other.

Report of a pilot project by the Community Development Trust Fund of Tanzania in collaboration with the Institute of Adult Education and Economic Development Bureau, and funded by the Government of the Netherlands.

The January ’79 Newsletter included an account of the contribution made by the I.A.E. to Ruvuma Region. This Report on a project carried out at the village of Bwakira Chini in Morogoro Region also demonstrates the vital contribution which can be made to effective development by the proper use of the techniques of adult education.

This project was initiated in May 1975 when it became clear that, after two disastrous years of ’73 and ’74, the Kilimo cha Kufa na Kupona campaign together with reasonable rain, would produce a reasonable harvest, so attention moved from production to storage. It was known that losses of food before, during and after harvesting could amount to between 25% and 40% of the crop. Peasant farmers were well aware of the extent of their losses and recognised improved storage as being among their most pressing needs. Clearly there was the potential for substantially increasing the amount of food available for human consumption by improving storage methods, but equally clearly, the resources were not available to provide sophisticated systems at village level. C.D.T.F. took the view that the problem should be approached by villagers using their own knowledge and skills.

Morogoro Region was selected for the project because it produces all the important grain crops grown in Tanzania. Bwakiri Chini village consisted of 270 families: it was registered and had a village council which organised the purchase and sale of crops, a workshop, a dairy herd and a retail shop. The village had no collective agriculture and there was considerable variation in the wealth of its families.

The mass adult education campaigns, using radio, had demonstrated that it was possible to use discussion groups to involve people in development activity. The project team used this experience when it met the village council to explain their objectives. The council appointed a special committee on storage which continued the dialogue with the project team. At first the villagers were reluctant to talk because they were waiting for the team to produce their solution but, as it was realised that the team had come to learn, the villagers began to explain the methods they used and their advantages and weaknesses.

After each meeting, instead of writing minutes, an artist from the I.A.E. produced a large drawing to illustrate the points which had been made; this drawing would be used to begin the discussion at the next meeting. The team soon realised that the problem was even more complex than they had imagined. Grain had to be harvested while it was still moist because, if left in the fields until dry, it would be eaten by animals, especially wild pig. But stored damp grain was very vulnerable to attack by mould, fungus and insects. Hence, if it is to he stored, grain must he dried; if this is done outside, the store must be roofed against occasional rain, but there is also the danger of theft by monkeys and humans. It is possible to dry grain by spreading it in the roof space over the cooking fire, but this can only he none with relatively small quantities and it is liable to be eaten by rats.

Some of the richer peasants had already begun experiments with improved methods of drying their grain and, through a process of discussion and demonstration, the project team, with the village storage committee, were able to suggest adaptations and improvements which everyone could adopt. The villagers were themselves involved in the exercise of trying new combinations of old ideas to improve their design. Every suggestion had to take account, not only of cost of materials and labour time, but the changes required in traditional procedures.

Less than eight weeks after the arrival of the project team in the village, the discussions had stimulated some of the villagers to implement the ideas proposed. Individuals experimented with rat-proofed sun-drying structures, fifteen raised rat-proofed storehouses (‘dungu’) were erected and malathion dust (a non-persistent insecticide) was being used extensively for the first time. Materials which could not be obtained locally, such as paraffin tins (dehes ) for rat guards, malathion dust and nails were purchased by the village committee and sold through the co-operative shop.

When the time came for the project team to withdraw from the village, the committee realised that they had only begun to deal with preservation and storage of crops. They decided that they must continue to meet and work by keeping records of the effectiveness of the improvements adopted and help more people to make use of them.

The members of the committee were taken to Morogoro to take part in a seminar with fifty third-year undergraduates at the Faculty of Agriculture. The committee members found that they were able to answer all of the students’ questions because they had all been raised in some form in the discussions in the village. Suddenly the village committee realised that they knew more about the subject than those who had more formal education; by pooling their experience they had made themselves the experts.

The immediate results of the scheme were that the village saved some 12 tons of grain (valued at Sh.10,000/-) which it would otherwise have lost. More important was the understanding which the villagers achieved of their own systems and how they could be improved.

The project demonstrated once again the complexity of development problems – that there are no instant solutions, and the necessity for those involved in development to have a real understanding of the techniques of communication and a respect for the knowledge and experience of the people they wish to help.

John Arnold

It was not possible to supply a news digest in the last Bulletin, so the following covers the whole of 1979. For this reason, some interesting and important news items have been excluded.

UGANDA
Tanzanian and UNLF forces took Kampala on 11 April, and on 29 May the end of the war was signified by the capture of Arua, capital of West Nile Province. This was the last big town to be taken.

Tanzania had 40,000 troops in the country and the war is estimated to have cost more than a quarter of a million pounds a day. In July it was agreed that the soldiers would be brought home but about 25,000 remained, or were replaced. The Ugandan Foreign Minister, Mr. Halimadi, said in November that the Tanzanian soldiers were needed to train the new Ugandan army and maintain law and order. Also in November, President Nyerere reaffirmed that he would not withdraw the troops. He said it would mean an extra burden on Tanzania. But he denied that the war was the main cause of Tanzania’s economic problems (see below).

Libyan soldiers captured by the Tanzanian army were all released between July and November.

The war increased the size of the army from 30,000 to 75,000 men.

More than 400 Tanzanian and UNLF soldiers were killed in the war, but most died in road accidents. Tanzanian soldiers had a good reputation for their behaviour towards Ugandan civilians until the end of the war, then there began to be severe problems of discipline.

GOVERNMENT and C.C.M.
The Minister for Manpower Development, Abel Mwanga, said in November that 90% of the Civil Service was now manned by nationals in comparison to 26% at independence.

The chief executive secretary of the C.C.M., Pius Msekwa, was on a 10-day official visit to Britain in March and April as a guest of the Labour Government.

In November it was announced that seventeen officials of
C.C.M. in Kigoma had been dismissed for “lack of discipline”. After a two-day NEC meeting in Zanzibar, the officials from Kigoma town were ordered not to contest any elections for five years. According to Pius Msekwa they had refused to co-operate with the Government’s measures to combat the cholera outbreak in 1978.

THE BUDGET
The Budget in June laid great emphasis on food and cash crop development. The Government expects to spend Sh.14,659,000,000 on both development and recurrent expenditure in the financial year beginning 1 July.

With effect from 22 June, everyone travelling outside Tanzania has to pay a 20% surcharge on his ticket. All foreign vehicles entering the country have to pay 50% more for licences and local licences went up by 25%. Duties on certain imported non-essentials were increased, as were the prices of beer and sugar.

Prices of many imported goods increased earlier in the year as the result of the small devaluation of the shilling.

In September, President Nyerere said that economic conditions would make life very rough for the next eighteen months. Half the country’s income from exports would now have to go to buying oil.

To make up for the damage done hy the floods, Tanzania is importing 80,000 tons of food from Japan, Thailand and elsewhere. Earlier, shortages had caused black market prices to rise to four times the official level.

AID and FOREIGN INVESTMENT
The period has been dominated by the economic difficulties and the resultant disagreement with the IMF/World Bank. Following Mr. Mtei’s resignation, President Nyerere made a forceful speech at the Ubungo farm implement factory. He said that Tanzania will not abandon socialism and self-reliance. He said that Tanzania would accept assistance, but not at the expense of its policies. Some “quarters” were trying to pressurise Tanzania to change policy because of its economic situation. But Tanzania, he said, will overcome hardships without compromising its policy. Tanzania’s economic crisis was a result of the world’s economic system which continued to give the wealthy the power to control the distribution of wealth.

Britain is writing off Shs.57,000,OOO of debts owed by Tanzania. Shs.330,000,000 has been pledged for the year 1979/80. Britain is making a £8,000,000 grant to improve health services in Southern Tanzania, and the ODM is financing a feasibility study into a proposed irrigated rice scheme in Madibira in Southern Tanzania. Britain is also providing Sh.655,000,OOO for the Songea-Makambaku road.

Holland is making a grant of Shs.380,000,000 during the current Five-Year Plan.

The U.S. Peace Corns programme is starting again in Tanzania. The United States has also granted Shs.48,000,OOO for an agricultural training project.

AGRICULTURE
Professor Rene Dumont, in his latest study of Tanzanian agriculture, says that the country is “the best hope for African Socialism” but only if there are some fundamental reforms. He was again invited hy President Nyerere to go and make a study of the situation. His main points:

1. Bureaucrats must hold dialogue with the peasants.
2. Natural resources must be looked after better, to avoid erosion, over-grazing and deforestation.
3. Alternative energy-saving technology must he adopted, including
ox and donkey carts, bicycles, etc.

Professor Dumont said that, out of the country’s 8,000 or so Ujamaa villages, only about a dozen were operating efficiently on a cooperative basis. He also said the C.C.M. was too dominated by town people – it was time the peasants got organised to push their interests.

TRADE and INDUSTRY
The Bank of Tanzania warned in February that legal action would be taken against those who imported goods in contravention of exchange controls. People had been abusing the system and had been using travel and other allowances for the purpose of importing non-essential goods.

The Tanzania State Motor Corporation has placed an order for some 300 truck and bus chassis with British Leyland. The deal is worth £5,000,000. The vehicles will he assembled by Leyland- Albion Tanzania.

A boiler at the Bukoba coffee processing factory blew up in August, killing 14 people. The factory has been out of action.

TRANSPORT.
The Tazara Line has been disrupted on a number of occasions by floods and by attacks from the Rhodesians. But Chinese railway engineers expected to re-open the line in December. In November Dar es Salaam was congested with 70,000 tons of Zambian freight – double the amount for which there is storage.

Tanga Port is being expanded to handle half a million tons of cargo a year to relieve congestion in Dar es Salaam. The Chairman of Tanzania Harbours Authority, Mr. Peter Kisumo, said the cost of the scheme would he about Sh.20,000,000. Tanga would become the main port for Tanzania, while Dar es Salaam would mainly serve neighbouring countries.

ENERGY
The increasing cost of oil has given an additional spur to prospecting. Drilling is to begin around the Songo Songo Islands to find if there is enough oil for commercial exploitation. Natural gas has already been found there.

Two sets of measures were announced in August to conserve Petrol. The price of ton-grade petrol went up to Sh.33 per gallon. Then it was announced that petrol rationing would de introduced. Petrol stations would be closed at 9 p.m. and no petrol would he sold to private vehicles between Thursday night and Monday morning.

The National Development Corporation said in September that a study was being made to see if Tanzania could make motor fuel from sugar as in Brazil.

Chinese mining experts have discovered huge coal reserves at Ilema in Mbeya Region – more than 50 million tons.

RELATIONS with KENYA
The border with Kenya was specially re-opened in March or April to allow 100,000 tons of emergency maize supplies through to Zambia.

In May President Nyerere and President Daniel arap Moi met in Arusha to discuss relations. They agreed to allow the use of each other’s air space. Discussion on other outstanding issues continues.

The Foreign Minister, Benjamin Mkapa, told Parliament in July that the border would be reopened as soon as a solution to the question of the assets and liabilities of the East African Community was found.

RELATIONS with the U.K.
The Queen went to Tanzania on a state visit in July – her first ever visit. Among the places visited were Arusha, Moshi, the nearby game parks, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.

Tanzania has ended the double taxation agreement with the U.K.

RELATIONS with ZAIRE
On 1 June, President Mohutu arrived in Arusha with 80 officials for talks with President Nyerere and members of his government. They agreed to set up a permanent commission to improve cooperation.

WILDLIFE
Poaching, for long a scourge of Kenyan wildlife, has become a major problem in Tanzania, especially along the Kenya border. The Mara Regional Game officer, Msindai Izumhe, said in November that 5,000 wild animals – mainly elephants and wildebeeste, died on the edge of Serengeti after their food supply had been destroyed in bush fires deliberately started by poachers.

Rhinoceros in Ngorongoro have been reduced to less than 50 by poachers. Tanzania now spends a larger percentage of its budget on conservation areas than any other country in the world.

OTHER NEWS
You can now dial Tanzania direct from some major exchanges in the U.K.

A ten-day forest fire on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro destroyed more than 25,000 acres of heathland and cedar forest in September.

60 people drowned in July when a bus plunged into Lake Victoria near Nansio. The bus was illegally overloaded.

In April, the Director of Broadcasting, Paul Sozigwa, returned to his former post as the President’s Press Secretary. His place at RTD was taken by David Wakati. Sam Mdee moved from State House to head the mass media department at the Institute of Adult Education.

Ferdinand Ruhinda, editor of the Daily News, and Costa Kumaliza, editor of Uhuru, moved to C.C.M. headquarters. Their places were taken by Uli Mwambulukutu and Wilson Munubi Bhukoli.

The BBC TV “Blue Peter’s” sale of coins and stamps raised £21,558 in May – enough to buy 1,000 bicycles for Tanzania medical workers.

The University is to spend about Sh.160,000,000 on new buildings including new geology and dental departments.

The celebration marking the 18th anniversary of independence from Britain was attended by President Pereira of the Cape Verde Islands, and the Prime Minister of Papua-New Guinea, Mr. Somare.

In our next number, we hope to bring a review by Professor T.O. Ranger of Towards Socialism in Tanzania: edited by Bismarck U. Mwansasu and Cranford Pratt (Tanzania Publishing House, Dar es Salaam, 1979). This contains an important scholarly analysis written from a number of points of view. Readers will remember The Critical Phase in Tanzania 1945-1968 by Cranford Pratt, which we reviewed in our Bul1etin No. 2 in July, 1976.

We also hope to review Hali ya Uchumi wa Taifa katika Mwaka 1978-79 (Government Printer, Dar es Salaam, 1979) as we have done previously in successive years.

The editor would also like to hear from any members who are able to write about Tanzania’s agricultural policy and practice out of first-hand experience.

Additional copies of the Bulletin may be obtained from the Hon. Secretary at 50p. post free.

Contributions to the Bulletin should be sent to the editor, Mr. John Arnold, Department of Adult Education, University of Southampton, Southampton S09 5NH.

NOTICE
The Annual General Meeting of the Society will be held on Thursday 25th. October, 1979, at 6 p.m. at the Royal Commonwealth Society, Northumberland Avenue, in the De La Warr Room. Papers will be sent out to members during October. The President of the Society, the Most Reverend Trevor Huddleston CR hopes to be present.

A Report on the Chiwanda Farmers Education Project

by Fr. D. Mbunda , Director Institute of Adult Education, Dar-es-Salaam.

This is an interim report of the Institute of Adult Education’s first village development project. (Summary by John Arnold)

Chiwanda ward is on the shores of Lake Nyasa in Ruvuma region, its five villages have a total population of about 8,000. The area has a high level of literacy but health care facilities are poor and communications both by road and lake are difficult and irregular. Economically the Lake shore is very poor and people depend largely on agriculture and fishing. There is no cash crop and traditiona11y the young men have left to earn money by working in other countries. The main food crop is cassava with small amounts of maize and rice, all farming is done with the hand hoe. The supply of fish from the lake is unreliable and rarely adequate. As a result of their poor diet the Wanyasa people who live by the Lake suffer from malnutrition and consequently have little energy to experiment with new ideas. The difficulties in initiating developments in Chiwanda have been demonstrated over the years by the repeated failures of Government sponsored projects.

“The Chimate people were given financial and material support to start an Ujamaa village. Two donkeys for drawing ploughs were bought for the villages. The village also were given cows for milk. The donkeys died of neglect and ignorance; the cows were slaughtered by the villagers on a festival! The ploughs remained idle.

A coconut project was attempted to introduce cast crops in Chiwanda The project died at the nursery stage. The villagers hardly bothered to maintain the nursery. I visited the nursery through thick bush: the young plants were either burnt down by bush fire or overgrown with grass in complete neglect. The villages did not show any concern and the local agriculture extension officer had never visited the site”

Grape planting (for wine) was also attempted. The vineyard was not watered properly and many of the plants died and the project died at the initial stage.”

Despite the relatively high level of literacy achieved by formal schooling education had not provided the necessary dynamic for social and economic change until the mass radio learning campaigns ‘Man is Health’ (1973) and ‘Food is Life’ (1975). Through listening groups organised by the Institute of Adult Education people in Chiwanda began to recognise malnutrition as their problem and to discuss ways in which it could be remedied. Since the radio campaign had been organised by the Institute of Adult Education it was natural that its local President Tutor should be asked to help put the campaign’s ideas into practice.

In the light of the history of failures it was considered essential that any project should be fully acceptable to the local people and in order to achieve this they had to be involved at every stage of the planning. The first step was the creation of a planning team consisting of local leaders and representatives and extension service officers.

Under the guidance of I.A.E. staff

” … the Chiwanda people went about conducting their own survey for their own project design

… the Team would be introduced to simple skills in techniques of project formulation, implementation and evaluation.

… the key members in the five villages learnt about simple ways of problem identification, conducting feasibility study, project design, monitoring and evaluation.

We gathered sufficient data for our programme – the most important factor was the involvement of the Chiwanda people as active agents of change

… after the team had gathered the baseline data and analysed them that they set themselves to design the Chiwanda Farmers’ Educational Project: it was meant to produce the missing foodstuffs and learning opportunities for all the Chhranda community.”

The project designed by the team proposed three developments:

1) Fruit growing – each village to have a 2-acre communal plot and each Household two orange trees.

2) Vegetables – a 1-acre plot per village plus individual holdings.

3) Poultry – a single unit for the ward as an experiment.

These developments were to be backed up by a programme of training in new techniques of production, preparation and preservation of food.

The plan was put to a meeting of all village council members and 10 house cell leaders, after three days of discussion the project was accepted. With the people committed to working for the improvements the I.A.E. was able to seek funds to purchase the materials which were not available locally. S.I.D.A. (the Swedish International Agency for Development) offered sh.44,OOO/- and UNESCO sh 21.000/-. This money was used for seeds, young trees, insecticide, chicks, wire and nails.

“The Chiwanda people did the rest. They surveyed the area, clearing the sites, digging the holes, planting the fruit trees; weeding the plots; taking care of the vegetable gardens; building the poultry unit with locally collected materials, cared for the chicks – and arranged delivery system of the eggs, and kept records of the sales and so forth.”

Assessing the achievements of the project by mid 1978 the Institute of Adult Education found that the poultry unit had earned sh.10.000/- and egg consumption had become accepted to the extent that each village wanted to have its own unit. All of the villages were beginning to harvest pineapples and vegetables such as tomatoes; spinach and cabbage were being regularly planted and eaten.

“The Chiwanda Farmers’ Educational Project has shown that the peasantry can be mobilised to effect their own social and economic change. They must be involved and participate in all aspects and stages in the process. The discussion method is an effective mechanism to elicit participation. Need-based projects planned in a participatory manner have every chance of success. Educational programmes linked to work and productivity are self-motivating.”

However F. Mbunda emphasises that this is the first project of its kind undertaken by the Institute and that more examples are required before arriving at firm conclusions.

statement by the Tanzanian Minister of Communications and Transport, Hr. Amir Jamal.

This is a shortened version of a statement issued by the Tanzanian Government in reply to Press allegations on the inefficiency of Dar-es-Salaam Port and Tanzania’s capacity to transport goods, in particular fertilizer, to Zambia.

“In November 1965 the only link between Dar-es-Salaam Port and Zambia was a dirt road. When Zambia decided to participate in the world sanctions against Rhodesia, all its oil, a large proportion of its copper, and many of its other goods were transported on this road, which was rapidly destroyed. Tanzania and Zambia took immediate and combined steps to deal with this situation. By 1973, when Zambia closed its border with Rhodesia, there was in existence: a jointly owned Oil Pipe Line (2/3rds pwned by Zambia, 1/3rd by Tanzania); a road Transport Company jointly ovmed by Zambia, ‘L’anzania and an Italian firm; and tarmac on a realigned and re-designed road from Dar-es-Salaam to Zambia. This work was completed in 1969.

By the beginning of 1978, the road existed and – most important of all – the jointly-owned (50% owned by Zambia and 50% by Tanzania) Tazara Railway from Dar-es-Salaam to New Kapiri Mposhi had been in operation for almost two years.

Dar-es-Salaam Port
In 1965, there were three deep water berths in Dar-es-Salaam. By 1973, there were eight such berths. By the beginning of 1978 there were eleven berths in operation. Construction of two more berths is under consideration. All these figures exclude berths which require unloading by lighters.

Tanzania Harbours Authority is a parastatal corporation, which under the law which established it, is required to run its affairs on commercial principles, and earn adequate savings to meet the needs of steady expansion. Rates, once fixed, normally apply to all users. There is no case where non-Tanzania users pay higher rates than Tanzanians.

Congestion of the port of Dar-es-Salaam has at different times been a problem. This has been caused in part by “bunching” of ships,by the nature of the cargo such as bulk cargo or general cargo, by the bringing in of very smal1 consignments which nonetheless require full in-and-out treatment. The primary cause has been the failure on the part of importers to move their goods from the port area; in particular importers of Zambian goods have taken considerable time in clearing their goods. The situation has been aggravated by the practice of Zambian copper exporters to accumulate different quantities of copper at the port, sometimes to meet particular sales contracts, at other times to accumulate in anticipation of sale, so that there could be at any time large quantities of copper, up to 70,000 tons awaiting shipment and yet a quantity of each consignment may still remain to be railed from Zambia or for which sales remain to be concluded. Recent reorganisation in the port has begun to show positive results. For example, the average waiting time for unitized ships is now four days. For conventional cargo it is 16 days. While the new system needs a period of consolidation, it still remains dependent upon movement of goods out of the port area.

Transportation of Goods to Zambia
TAZARA was constructed with a view to eventually being able to transport 5M. tons of cargo in both directions. The initial rolling stock and locomotive power was intended to ferry 2M. tons in both directions. This equipment consists of 85 main line locomotives and 2,100 wagons. (These figures presumably are per year although the statement does not specify this).

On 7.10.78 (latest available information) out of a total of 1,484 wagons in service, 498 wagons were in Tanzania and 986 were in Zambia. The current turn-round time is about 20 days. In the third quarter of 1977 it was about 10 days. TAZARA wagons are the same gauge as Zambian Railways, and different from the Tanzanian Railways Corporation.
In 1977/78, 419,943 tons of goods were railed to Zambia from Dar-es-Salaam by TAZARA – an average of 1,150 tons per day. So far in 1978, an average of 700 tons per day has been moved. There seems to be a continuing deterioration of the situation judging from the fact that in September this year the average has fallen to 420 tons per day whereas some 9,000 tons of documented imports destined for Zambia are awaiting transportation.

In 1977, 117,420 tons of goods were transported to Zambia from Dar-es- Salaam by road – an average of 322 tons per day. So far in 1978, an average of 308 tons per day has been transported.

Zambian Fertilizer
Tanzania was first informed of the Zambian problem about fertilizer on 4th October 1978, when the UNIP Secretary-General Chana saw President Nyerere to inform him of the necessity for Zambia to move goods through Rhodesia. In an endeavour to make this unnecessary, the President immediately instructed that top priority should be given to Zambian fertilizer.

After investigation, the President was informed that there was no Zambia fertilizer in Dar-es-Salaam or elsewhere in Tanzania waiting to be transported to Zambia.

June to December 1978

Graham Mytton

Relations with Zambia
Relations with Zambia have been somewhat strained by three main factors, the railway and port facilities, Rhodesia and the expulsion of Tanzanians from Zambia.

The re-opening of Zambia’s borders with Rhodesia in October followed difficulties with both the TAZARA railway and congestion in Dar-es-Salaam – at least according to Zambian sources. The Tanzanian view is that the action was not necessary and that the Tanzanians had heard of the fertiliser shortage for the first time only a day and a half before the re-opening.

Evidence of such progress was provided by talks on trade in December. No details have been produced but an inter-government committee is proposed.

Transport and Telecommunications
The continuing troubles with TAZARA are referred to above. In a move to solve the congestion problem at Dar-es-Salaam, the executive Chairman of the Tanzania Ports Authority. Mr. Peter Kisumo, announced that Sh 1,500 million would be spent over the next five years on development equipment and training. A training institution will be established. The Tanzania Ports Authority was inaugurated in October and replaces the former East African Harbours Corporation.

The ambitious and extensive modernisation of the entire old railway system is now underway. This was reported in earlier bulletins. British Rail is exporting £24 million worth of equipment to Tanzania. The contract is for 510 wagons and 50 passenger coaches. The wagons are being produced as “kits” in Ashford in Kent, and are then assembled in Tanzania. Lloyds Bank is providing a loan to the Tanzanian Railway Corporation for a large part of the purchase. British Rail’s order was also helped by a £4 million Overseas Aid grant and credits guaranteed by the British Government.

Finland will finance and organise the training of 15 Tanzanian pilots and 12 flight mechanics for the new airline.

A satellite communication station is being bought from Japan to end the country’s dependence on Kenya for external telecommunications services. It should be completed next year and will cost Sh 23 million. At present BO% of international telephone calls and 90% of international telex calls are routed through Nairobi and the Longonot earth satellite station.

An inter-nation telex exchange was purchased in 1978 at a cost of Sh 9 million and was expected to become operational by the end of the year.

It is however agreed that TAZARA is facing severe problems. Ministers from Zambia, Tanzania and China reached agreement in August on improving its operation. It was also agreed that 800 Chinese technicians and instructors would stay on an additional two years to help run the railway.
Observers have blamed the lack of sufficient maintenance, derailments, thefts and indiscipline for the railway’s troubles. The Tanzanian Minister for Transport and Communications Mr. Amir Jamal denied Zambian allegations that the port facilities at Dar-es-Salaam were to blame for long delays on Zambian cargo. He blamed the inefficiency of the railway and congestion caused in the port by the behaviour of Zambian shippers.

About 1,500 Tanzanians have been expelled from Zambia since August. They were, according to the Zambian authorities, unregistered and therefore living in Zambia illegally. Zambia took similar action against citizens of Zaire, Malawi and Somalia.

Relations with Kenya
The border has remained closed and travellers between the two countries have had to use long and expensive routes via Mauritius, Burundi, Zaire or elsewhere. In June Foreign Minister Ben Mkapa told Parliament that the border would be re-opened when all nine conditions agreed at the Mombasa talks in December 1977 were fulfilled. He said that up to date two conditions had been fulfilled, the release by Kenya of the three ships at Kisumu and the release of Kenyan property by Tanzania.

President Nyerere attended the funeral of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta in August and called on President Daniel Arap Moi. He said that progress on restoring links was being made.

Aid
In June it was announced that the UK will spend nearly £3 million on helping development in Lindi and Mtwara. The money will be spent in sending out seventeen British agricultural and livestock specialists to assist in formulation integrated development attracted to these regions.

In July Mrs. Judith Hart the Overseas Aid Minister, announced that Britain was cancelling debts totalling £900 million owed by 17 developing countries. Loans would be converted into grants. More than half this sum was owed by India. Tanzania is among the other affected countries.

A group of Conservative M.P’s tried to oppose all aid to Tanzania and other front-line states. In spite of this, British aid to Tanzania has been substantially increased this year. The allocation for 1978 is over £6 million.

Sport
Tanzania refused to join Nigeria in its boycott of the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada.

For Tanzania, Filbert Bayi was beaten into second place in the 1500 metres by David Moorcroft of England. The only gold medal won by a Tanzanian was in the marathon, it was not won by the East and Central African marathon champion Emmanuel Ndiemandoi, but by the little-known Gidamus Shahanga. Shahanga was very nearly dropped from the Tanzanian team. He is 21 years old from Jaradom in Hanang District. He is still a secondary pupil in Dodoma. Shahanga’s ambition now is of course to win the marathon in Moscow in 1980.

On his return to Dar-es-Salaam Shahanga remarked “Tanzania has many with talent such as Bayi’s or mine, They have to be found and encouraged.”

The Minister for Culture and Youth, Mr. Chediel Mgonja, went on a month-long tour of five western and eastern countries to seek aid for the development of sport. He said his trip had been successful and that governments were interested in helping Tanzania promote sport.

Industry and Agriculture
Tanzania has taken over all Lonrho property in the country. In June the British company had been given three months to negotiate the takeover. But, said Sammy Mdee, “it had become clear the Lonrho was refusing to negotiate.” Tanzania also claimed that Lonrho had overvalued its assets. Lonrho denied these charges and said that it would take legal steps to prevent the Tanzanian action.

In September the Ministry of Water, Energy and Minerals announced that geological studies had indicated the presence of deposits of uranium in the country.

The Tanzania Coffee Authority announced in October it will spend Sh 50 million this year on aid for small-scale coffee growers. It was said that this represented a change in policy from helping only the large-scale estates.

Sh 3.5 million worth of wheat was destroyed by millions of quelea birds. The quelea “occupied” the NAFCO farm in Western Kilimanjaro in July and August. The damage represented 70% of the total expected national wheat yield. The birds also caused extensive damage to other crops in the region. A NAFCO spokesman said that it had been able to do nothing because it had no spraying plane. Later it was announced that two such planes had been purchased. The Minister of Agriculture, John Malecela, announced that the Government was discussing with FAO the establishment of special centres to deal with crop destroying birds.

There was a serious (1 million kg) fall in tobacco production in Iringa in the past season. It was caused by heavy rain, poor attendance on communal farms and an outbreak of cholera which prevented movement during quarantine.

Generally, however, tobacco production is a success story. In 10 years it has increased by 225% in Mbeya.

Miscellaneous
A census was carried out in August, the first since 1967. Twenty thousand enumerators visited all parts of the country.

The ban on game hunting was lifted in July for a six month period. Permits to hunt were granted for 260 safaris by big game hunters. The ban was lifted because of the need to cull some wildlife, which has shown a considerable increase because of conservation measures.

The Tanzanian Tourist Corporation says that in future, tourists would be able to visit Ujamaa villages, factories, and farms. An experiment had been introduced covering four regions.

One of Africa’s earliest iron age industrial sites has been discovered in the West Lake Region. The discovery was made by Professor Peter Schmidt near Kemondo Bay on Lake Victoria where new port facilities are being developed

Fourteen members of the Barbaig raiding party were sentenced to death for the murder of 21 villagers in Iramba in 1976. A number of Tanzanian officials resigned after allegations of brutality during the questioning of suspects.

The Comptroller and Auditor General has once again produced a critical report. This time it says that some Sh 15 million in cash and goods were embezzled from the Government last year. The report presented to Parliament blamed slack financial control.

The concept of family planning in Tanzania is not new. What is new are the contraceptive methods which are given as part and parcel of the Maternal and Child Health services in a medical setting. Child spacing, as we call it in Tanzania, has been practised from time immemorial throughout the length and breadth of Tanzania. Thus, traditional child spacing was practised to enable mothers to breast feed their babies over a long period of time (say, two years and over). This practice of breastfeeding was underpinned by the belief that if a mother conceived before her previous baby was two years old, the baby’s growth would be deterred and the mother’s health would be endangered. Breastfeeding was advocated among all the tribes because it was religiously believed that if a child continued to breastfeed when its mother was expecting another baby before the baby had been weaned, the baby was likely to fall victim to some incurable disease. Such beliefs were responsible for the evolution of instructions in child spacing knowledge and personal hygiene among many of the tribes before and after young people got married.

Most of the child spacing practice was done through abstinence among couples. In polygamous marriages, the gap between children was very often even wider. The traditional child spacing practice still exists among some of the rural population. This, in a way, has greatly helped the acceptance of modern child spacing practice. Thus, the older generation looks at UMATI (Chama cha Uzazi na Malezi Bora cha Tanzania), the Family Planning Association, as a movement which has been established to revive Tanzania’s old but good traditional practices.

Initially, the Family Planning Association of Tanzania, which is now known as UMATI, was started by a few individuals interested in the wellbeing of mothers and children and the nation as a whole. Among them were doctors, housewives and nurses. It was started as an Association for Dar es Salaam. It was therefore known as the Family Planning Association of Dar es Salaam until 1967 when the association was registered as a national organization. The Association was charged with the responsibility of supplying contraceptive materials and of providing family planning clinical services in voluntary agency hospitals and clinics. Today child spacing services are available to all women who attend MCH clinics throughout the country.

UMATI is a member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (I.P.P.F.). Apart from subscriptions from its members and fund-raising efforts, UMATI receives most of its assistance from IPPF. As a voluntary organization UMATI depends on donations and voluntary support for the success of its activities. Much of what has been achieved is due to the voluntary spirit of many individuals and organizations such as IPPF and OXFAM. The Ministry of Health directive, issued in 1969 to the Regional Medical Officers requesting them to render child spacing services as part of Maternal and Child Health services, accelerated the demand for both contraceptive services and training of personnel to provide services. Most of the clinical services became the responsibility of the hospitals and clinics directly receiving both supplies and advice. This expansion of work brought about a new demand for skilled workers to manage child spacing clinics. The Association, consequently, found itself responsible for starting a training programme for paramedical personnel from government and voluntary hospitals and for the association’s own needs. The training programme was set up in 1971. Initially, it was only possible to conduct a two weeks in-service training course for nurse/midwives and medical assistants. Now such training takes four weeks, and only a limited number of trainees (9-12) can be taken at a time because of the limited facilities for theory and practical training activities. To train their students in these skills the Medical school of the University of Dar es Salaam and the School of Nursing (in Dar es Salaam) make use of the Association’s training programme facilities. Once a year, the Association conducts a training course for tutors from nursing schools in the country. The Association also works closely with the Institute of Social Welfare in training matters.

The extension of family planning work has been possible through the involvement of government and voluntary agencies in clinical services. The Association too has found it necessary to extend its educational programme to the remotest areas possible. This has been one of the main objectives since 1972 when the Annual General Meeting of the Association stressed the importance of the element of responsible parenthood. At that meeting the role of the Association was expanded to include spacing of births and caring of children, thus advocating and stressing the responsible parenthood element as well. Since then the name of the Association, Chama cha Uzazi Bora, had to be changed to Chama cha Uzazi na Malezi Bora. In implementing and stressing responsible parenthood other aspects had to be included in the day-to-day activities of the Association’s staff as in the teaching/training material. Advice on nutrition, breast feeding, immunization, personal hygiene, family welfare, sanitation and environmental care became important parts of the teaching of child spacing work in Tanzania. An integrated approach to family planning is therefore in practice in Tanzania.

In order-to create awareness throughout the country, the Association, over the past six years, worked hard to form branches all over the country to enrol volunteers (since the Association cannot afford to recruit enough paid staff) and supporters at grassroot level. Until December, 1977, there were about 60 district centres and more than 300 village branches. The Association has 22 UMATI educators (Walimu wa UMATI) in all the regions. The formation of branches has also created an understanding and appreciation of UMATI’s activities among the local communities as well as leaders at regional and national levels. Leaders and members at UMATI district, regional and national levels act as good ambassadors of the Association. These volunteers are supported by full-time UMATI educators in the regions. The educators conduct educational programmes as well as coordinating UMATI activities with those of the government, the party and other voluntary agencies. Much of the Association’s work very much depends on the hard work and dedication of volunteers at all levels as well as the support and understanding and appreciation by both the government and the party.

In 1973, UMATI went through a critical but important phase of development when it was severely attacked by the local press through ignorance. The Association was eventually saved by the then party’s (TANU) pronouncement at its National Executive meeting in September, 1973, when the party issued a directive that the work that was being carried out by UMATI was very important for the development of the nation and that it should be encouraged. The Ministry of Health was called upon by the party to help the Association in its endeavours as much as possible. Thus, following this party pronouncement in 1973, more and more of the child spacing clinical services became the responsibility of the Ministry of Health activities. For this reason child spacing services now are seen as vital services for mothers at their daily comprehensive MCH clinics. As stated earlier, after the government inclusion of child spacing services in their MCH programme since 1974, UMATI expanded its activities and acquired a new role in one way or the other by putting emphasis on education and training. The following are the main activities of UMATI:

(i) Information and Education to the general public; through seminars, printed material (leaflets, posters, pamphlets)radio and films.
(ii) Training of medical and paramedical personnel.
(iii) Distribution of contraceptive supplies and equipment (until such time that the government is able to get its own supplies).

Through its educators in the regions, UMATI plays an active part in training Maternal and Child Health Aids in the 18 national training centres of the Ministry of Health established throughout the country. The training is given to primary school leavers and lasts 18 months. The training instructions include antenatal care, immunization, family planning, nutrition evaluation, general health education, simple deliveries, malaria chemo-suppression and simple treatment of disease. The main objective of this kind of training is to equip trainees with knowledge and skill that will enable them to provide basic health primary care in villages. In this way UMATI’s work is a necessary input in rural development which is Tanzania’s main development strategy in her war against poverty, disease and ignorance among her people. UMATI is therefore playing her part in our national development effort.

UMATI provides services that are not readily available and therefore supplements and catalyses the nation’s effort to eradicate these important enemies of the nation which militate against the improvement of the quality of life among our people. UMATI, therefore, is seen as an important agent for our national socio-economic development effort.

Christina M. Nsekela