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