Participatory Baseline Exercise Bunda

CPAR Tz's team is back from three weeks in Bunda spent facilitating a participatory exercise in rural communities to learn about their food security related issues and priorities.  The team used participatory tools -- village histories, community mapping, transect walks, wealth ranking, seasonal calendar and gender activity profile -- to investigate issues in depth with community leaders and farmers.  The exercise resulted in each community preparing an Action Plan to address their priorities, which include increasing crop production through use of improved seeds and improved agronomic practices such as proper spacing, strategic weeding and timely harvesting.  CPAR Tz will be introducing the practice of Conservation Agriculture to the District Agriculture Department and women and men farmers in Bunda. 

Sexual and reproductive health issues including human rights, family planning, FGM, HIV&AIDS and gender-based violence were discussed at length, with gender-based violence emerging as a particularily hot issue.  Household conflict even showed up as an activity on the Seasonal Calendar during the period immediately following the harvest in April.  Women are responsible for most of the grueling farmwork --weeding, harvesting, threshing, cleaning, drying, etc.  However, when time comes to decide on disposal of the harvest -- how much for household use, how much to sell -- the man steps in, decides on his own with no consultation and keeps all the cash.  Bunda women are more than ready to take on the full spectrum of human rights and gender equality issues.  After having a strong and positive impact on household conflict and gender relations in Karatu rural communities, CPAR Tz's team is looking forward to tackling gender issues in Bunda.

Here's our nurse Husna helping out on Karukekere clinic day!