Friday, June 26, 2015 - A day with Heifer International

Hi team,

I hope this finds you all very well. I wanted to provide you with an update and overview of my visits with Heifer Int’l and partner organizations for the Starbucks project – Mbozi Farmers Livelihood Improvement Project. This project intends to increase sustainable livelihoods and improve quality of life for 5,000 smallholder coffee farmers in the Mbozi District.

• Increase income of smallholder coffee farmers by at least 50% through the production and sale of milk.
• Increase access to water and improve sanitation and hygiene facilities by 25%.
• Increase utilization of alternative sources of renewable energy by 35%.

Last Friday, I set off at 7:30am with the Heifer and EADD (Eastern Africa Dairy Development) team. We quickly met with another partner, SHIPO (Southern Highlands Participatory Organization). We had a packed schedule in order to get me back to the SCS team by 2pm to visit a CPU.

The day started with a visit to the Shiwinga Village to meet the local leaders. We had some time to talk about the  project and the benefits it will bring to their local community. The Village Chairman, Leader, and Executive Officer were in attendance and joined us on the rest of the visits in the community. Next, we visited a female coffee farmer, Mrs. Gulli who will be a recipient of a cow to help compensate her income during the low season. This was quite emotional. When we arrived to her home, we sat outside and talked about the project, her reaction to learning she will receive a cow, and what it means for her. Mrs. Gulli shared her story with us…her husband passed away from HIV, as did her daughter. She is also HIV positive but receiving treatment and doing fine, although she is taking care of her 3 grandchildren on her own (2 boys, 1 girl – ages 13, 15, 17). Mrs. Gulli relies on coffee as her main cash crop but her trees are infected and dying. She desperately needs agronomy support, financial assistance for pesticides/herbicides, training, and seedlings to replace those that have died. Fortunately, she also has corn and beans on her land but this is just to feed her family which sometimes is not enough and she will borrow from neighbors and pay them back once she receives money from her coffee crop. It was difficult to “keep it together” during this visit, but somehow I did. My heart aches for Mrs. Gulli and the many people living in this circumstance.

Once we departed Mrs. Gulli’s home, we drove to a natural spring water point which this project intends to improve. SHIPO is helping lead this project due to their technical expertise in this area. I was able to see the spring water which was cloudy and gray. The village women were there collecting buckets of water that they take home for use…some have stoves to boil the water while others collect branches to heat the water over fire. This portion of the project can be amplified at many spring water points once in place, and based on budget…it’s bound to be a great thing for these communities!

Next, I visited a primary school and met with the lead teacher. The purpose of this visit was to see the toilets and washing area the children use that will be improved. There are 910 students and 19 pit toilets. The project will build new pit toilets for the students to help accommodate the amount of students at this school. It will also build new hand washing facilities to help improve hygiene & sanitary health.

Before heading to lunch to meet the country project manager of Heifer Int’l, I visited a training where community representatives and local government reps are being trained on the project. It’s a bit of a “train the trainer” model which will allow the community to train lead farmers and then the trickle-down effect will take place from lead farmers to the rest of the farmers in this community (photo attached).

What an incredible day. I look forward to sharing the details with the Community Team when I return.

All in all, a worthwhile visit to the unique country of Tanzania. I’m so grateful for the opportunity (even with some of the odd things that occur here). I’m looking forward to getting back to Seattle and seeing all of you.

My best,

Jamie

The Wild Wild...East?

June 24-25, 2015

It’s been quite a ride, and a long one no doubt. I’m back in Mbeya after visiting 4 small holder farms, a dry mill, and 2 CPUs (central processing units aka wet mills) in Mbinga District. Fortunately, we had no trouble on the 9 hour journey back (we made up an hour with our speedy driver and no issues with military check-points…phew), although, rumors were abounding of our potential arrest in Mbinga since we didn’t register at the immigration office upon arrival. Apparently, our hotel called immigration to report our entire group since they get a cut of the money that would have had to be paid by some of us – rumor has it at $200US, although Eric and I would have been fine once at the office with our business visas. We got out of Mbinga in time and the rest of the audit team hit up the immigration office this morning to pay the bill to ensure easy travel within the region for the next 2 weeks. Different country, different rules (not sure if rule is the appropriate term here)…as I said, the Wild Wild East!

Here's a photo of me "riding shotgun" at the dry mill in Mbinga (Starbucks + Guns = protecting the coffee!).

The livelihoods of these communities clearly depend on coffee as the only cash crop in this area.  I mentioned liquid gold earlier and it’s so true…right down to the hotel we stayed in with the name “Gold Farm”.

Anyway, this has been a trip I’ll never forget. I’ve learned so much about how these small supply chains are organized…like nothing I’ve seen before and definitely a tricky structure for the C.A.F.E. Practices program. However, the knowledge I’ve gained is  incredibly helpful for my role and I’m thankful for the opportunity. 

Tomorrow I’m fortunate enough to meet with Heifer International for the first half of the day starting with a meet and greet with community leaders and then visiting a female coffee and dairy farmer. From there, I’ll head to a natural spring water point intended to be improved through our partnership with HI, then a visit to a primary school to see the latrines infrastructure that the project will improve, and lastly witnessing a “Cornerstone Training” to farmers. We will then enjoy lunch together if time permits and I’ll finish off the day at a wet mill with Eric and Peter from SCS for the ZT-CAR check. It’s going to be a great day!

I have TONS of photos and a few videos but it’s been a challenge to upload so I’ll share upon my return. Here's one quick shot of me with Abdul on his farm in Southern Tanzanian Highlands.

See you all soon!

Jamie

Liquid Gold

June 22, 2015

Greetings from Mbinga! Today I experienced what is written in gold all over this region – COFFEE! From what I hear, coffee is like gold to the farmers in this area. Our morning started at the producer support organization (PSO) and we gained valuable information about the supply chains under their management. After a quick lunch at a local spot, we traversed up the dusty mountain terrain for about an hour until we reached the wet mill (thank goodness for 4 wheel drive). We spent time speaking to the management of the wet mill and learned about their structure and the farmers that deliver to this mill – 231 to be exact. During this interview process, little piggies wandered around grunting, goats chattered, chickens hopped and some cattle passed by.

3 little piggies

We had the privilege of meeting the chairman, treasurer, secretary, and then some. Unfortunately the mill wasn’t operating while we were there as the farmers were concerned about delivering coffee in our presence. We worked with the supplier to extend the message that our program is focused on continuous improvement and we’d like to see them delivering the coffee as the goal is to help improve through the C.A.F.E. Practices model. All of sudden, people began arriving from up and down the hill with their bags of coffee to be reviewed and weighed. I spent some time speaking to the chairman who speaks and understands some basic English…a lovely gentleman. His name is Alto Komba. He welcomed me graciously and we talked about coffee from  Tanzania…and in his opinion, the coffee going through his mill is the best. 

This was incredibly humbling…to see the people that live on this mountainside in the comfort of coffee farms and many other crops (wheat, banana, taro, cassava, sunflower, corn). It’s a far cry from our lives in Seattle and elsewhere and so interesting to see. Many would smile and wave and the children were in awe to see visitors like us. My hope is that we set them at ease rather than making them nervous for an “inspection”. In the end, through conversations, I think we did. But you never truly know. Life is different here, I just can’t imagine, but glad I have the opportunity to witness the life of coffee in Tanzania. 

For love of the bean,

Jamie