Say NO - Unite to End Violence against Women

Today is the "International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women" and the first day of the "16 Days of Action against Gender Violence Campaign". The right to live violence free is a fundamental human right denied to many women and girls living in areas where gender based violence (GBV)is endemic. According to the WHO (World Health Organization), among women between the ages of 15 and 44, acts of violence cause more death and disability than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined.

In Tanzania, 1 in 3 women have at some point been physically and/or sexually abused by their partner. In a society where women have traditionally been considered to be inferior to men, acts of GBV, including intimate partner violence and rape, can be seen as normal and acceptable. In typical "blame the victim" fashion, women and girls are often blamed for causing or provoking GBV. Blame and shame prevent women and girls from speaking out, reporting to authorities and seeking treatment and support for GBV. The situation is worse in rural areas due to lack of access to information and distance from services.

During our first participatory baseline exercise in rural communities in Karatu, GBV raised its ugly head most often in the form of "marital rape". While preparing the “Activity Profile” -- an endless list of their daily activities from early morning to bedtime --women described the “husband regime” at the end of the day. Exhausted by arduous physical activity with no time to rest, the "husband's regime" was the last demand required of them before they could finally go to sleep. During our most recent partipatory baseline exercise in Bunda District, GBV in the form of "household conflict" appeared on the Seasonal Calendar as a routine "activity" that occurred in the time period immediately following harvest.

GBV is a major obstacle to women's "empowerment" and the achievement of gender equality, a central goal of CPAR Tz's work to improve Household Food Security. We therefore tackled the issue right at the beginning by incorporating GBV in our Farmer Field School (FFS) curriculum along with Human Rights, Gender Equality and Sexual and Reproductive Health issues. For example, we'd be standing with FFS women and men in the middle of a farmer's field, examining the crops, and raise the subject of domestic violence. Farmers, men especially, began to make the link between violence against women and women unable to concentrate to work productively in the fields.

Last year we went back to our first community in Karatu to take a closer look at the impact of our approach. Through household questionnaires, focus group discussions and interviews with farmers and leaders we learned that there had been a dramatic shift in gender relations and the position of women in both the household and the community. Village leaders reported that women were speaking out in community meetings and asserting their right to equal control over household resources. Farmer Field School women and men reported that next to an increased year round food supply, greater self-confidence, improved relationships between husbands and wives, and a marked decrease in household conflict were the most important changes that had occurred as a result of the project. Greatly encouraged by these results, we are committed to continuing to keep gender issues including GBV front and centre in everything we do.

We talked about Violence against Women at UMATU's weekly meeting today, and they brought up lots of examples in Karatu such as FGM (female genital mutilation), wife-beating, discrimination against widows, etc. We will be campaigning together over the next few weeks, engaging women and men in discussions on human rights and GBV, and UMATU specifically will be addressing the link between GBV and HIV& AIDS.

“Our goal is clear: an end to these inexcusable crimes - whether it is the use of rape as a weapon of war, domestic violence, sex trafficking, so-called “honour” crimes or female genital mutilation/cutting. We must address the roots of this violence by eradicating discrimination and changing the mindsets that perpetuate it.”

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Message for the International Day for the
Elimination of Violence against Women
25 November 2009

A Word on Conservation Agriculture and Farmer Field Schools

We often refer to Conservation Agriculture (CA) and Farmer Field Schools (FFS) without explaining clearly what they are. Considering that CA and FFS are the foundation of our Food Security Program, for those of you who are interested, here goes:

Conservation Agriculture is an approach to crop production that aims to increase and sustain high levels of production while at the same time conserving the environment. As practiced here, it's based on the application of three principles:

1. Maintaining a permanent vegetative soil cover through planting cover crops and leaving crop residues on the field to protect the soil surface from wind and water erosion;

2. Minimum disturbance of the soil by planting directly through the mulch to maintain the soil structure and retain moisture in the soil;

3. Intercropping two or more crops. For example, the staple crop here is maize which is a shallow-rooted plant that extracts nutrients from the soil. Pigeon peas on the other hand are a leguminous crop with deep roots that can break down the hardpan (compacted soil caused by repeated plowing) and fix nitrogen in the soil, thereby contributing to a healthier more productive soil. Intercropped together, maize and pigeon peas compliment each other.

Farmers, especially subsistence farmers, never put all their eggs in one basket. Understandably, they take a cautious approach to any changes in their methods of food production. The practice of Conservation Agriculture entails a significant departure from conventional agriculture. We therefore start with women and men farmers coming together to form Farmer Field Schools, which are "schools without walls" where farmers can share information and experiment and learn together in a participatory process facilitated by CPAR Tz. They start by applying the CA practices together in an experimental plot over one cropping season. They meet regularly to closely observe their fields and document the progress. Once they see and experience for themselves the positive effects, for example less labour due to no clearing of the land; no soil erosion during heavy winds and rainfall; and a bigger yield at the first harvest, they take the methods home to their household farm. Some farmers start practicing CA on their own plots immediately, others wait until the harvest before they are convinced that this is an approach worth trying.

Farmers from Karatu and Bunda Districts have now completed their formal training in Conservation Agriculture. The intensive training was conducted on a training of trainer basis for 20 women and 20 men farmers who have now returned to their communities and will help CPAR Tz train many more farmers in newly formed Farmer Field Schools. An important component of the training is use of CA implements such as the hand operated jab planter which plants through the soil cover, and the draught animal powered ripper which cuts furrows through the soil cover and places the seed directly in the ripper furrow. Other CA equipment exists but to keep the costs down we focus on the jab planter and the ripper along with ox ploughs for mulching the cover crops and crop residues into the soil.

And that, in a rather large nutshell, is Conservation Agriculture 101. The impact of Farmer Field Schools on farmers, on the other hand, goes way beyond learning new agricultural methods. At risk of boring our readers, we'll leave the wonders of FFS for another posting.

Please don't stop fundraising for Awet!

Construction of Awet Girls' Dormitory is complete. Now we need to build latrine/shower facilities and purchase bunk beds. We have yet to reach our goal of raising Cdn $65,000. The good news is that we are only Cdn $10,000 short. We've been discussing this shortfall today, breaking it down like this: If 10,000 people each gave $1, Awet would be set. If 5,000 people each gave $2, we'd be there! If 1,000 people each parted with $10, that would be it!

We appeal to our friends and supporters to dig into your pockets and spare some change. Please visit CPAR's website to make a donation. Every little bit will help us reach our goal to ensure that Awet dormitory is ready for girls at the start of the new school year in January.

Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

Today is Blog Action Day 2009, and the purpose is to draw attention to the topic of "Climate Change". Controversy around the causes and consequences of "Climate Change" and "Global Warming" is kind of irrelevant. Fact is, here in Karatu District subsistence farmers have an extremely close relationship with their physical environment. We are presently waiting for the short rains, which should be occurring about now and which many fear will be late or not arrive at all. It is hot, dry and dusty, and water is in short supply. For those households with power, electricity cuts are frequent. But, rather than sitting around talking about climate change and what a downer it is, farmers are taking action to responsibly manage and improve their physical environment.

In anticipation of the upcoming rains, they are ready to plant thousands of seedlings. CPAR Tz’s nursery is ready to go with a variety of seedlings for agroforestory and planting around households. Many farmers are practicing Conservation Agriculture, leaving cover crops and crop residues in the field for mulching, adding nutrients and conserving moisture in the soil, thereby preventing erosion and using any and all rainfall to its greatest effect. They conserve and transport manure to the fields instead of burning it and relying on expensive chemical fertilizers. Simple energy saving stoves, which consume 1/3 the firewood of the traditional three-stone fire, are in growing use and there is considerable interest in alternative sources of power, for example solar, which is not yet an accessible and affordable technology to a rural household.

Learning from the example of subsistence farmers in rural Tanzania, CPAR Tanzania's message this Blog Action Day: "It doesn't matter who you are or where you are, you have a responsiblity to respect and care for the environment."

Click on the Blog Action Day logo to see what everybody else is saying and get ideas on what you can do.

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!

Graduation Day at Awet

Awet Secondary School was buzzing last Thursday as graduation ceremonies were held for the Form four students. Of course, they haven't actually graduated yet -- they write their exams in October -- but everybody forgot that little detail for the day and had a really fun time. Our summer volunteers, who are now back home in North America, will be pleased to know that Awet brought in DJs with an excellent sound system from Karatu town (run on generator) and we danced to Marlaw's "Pi Pi" on autoplay...

On a serious note, keeping in mind that Awet Secondary School is the top performer in Karatu District and 17th out of 78 secondary schools in Arusha Region, school statistics from 2008 show that of a total of 122 Form four students (65 girls and 57 boys), only 12 girls but 41 boys qualified for acceptance into A levels (Form five and six), the entrance way to higher education. Another 37 girls scored Division "four", which although considered a pass does not gain them acceptance into A levels, and 13 girls were out of the running completely.

Students throughout Tanzania write standardized national exams, and this is a challenge especially for rural schools where it's a constant struggle to attract and retain good teachers and just keep up with day to day living.  But the low performance of girls is very disturbing. We hope to help turn this around at Awet with support for the girls' hostel, which will allow girls to escape most of the drudgery of endless chores and focus instead on their education, and a continued focus on gender issues and creating an environment in which girls can build their self-confidence.

Bunda District

After focusing our work in Karatu District, Arusha Region during the past six years, CPAR Tz is now expanding northwesterly into Bunda District in Mara Region, near Lake Victoria. We'll be implementing our new five-year Food Security project in both districts. Our team is presently in Bunda District preparing to facilitate a participatory baseline exercise in rural communities.

These are the members of Ragata Village Council. On the right is Gerald, Bunda District Crop Officer.


Here's Gerald, Japhet and Mohammed with members of the Village Council of Karukekere.

On arrival in Bunda earlier this week, CPAR Tz's team found the district under quarantine with a cholera outbreak. However, Bunda District Health Department has taken swift measures to control the outbreak so it is pretty much business as usual with severe food restrictions and a big emphasis on hygiene.

Travel between Karatu and Bunda involves a safari through Ngorongoro and Serengeti National Parks, so we're essentially guaranteed an encounter with giraffe, zebra, wildebest, elephants and lions. On a recent trip we even observed a pair of cheetahs sauntering through the savannah, and watched two lionesses stalk a herd of gazelles.