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KEY LEARNINGS FROM THE GCRF-AFRICAP STUDY TOUR AT LUSHOTO

AND MUHEZA DISTRICTS, TANGA REGION, TANZANIA

By

Stephano P. Kingazi & Shakwaanande R. Natai

Tanzania Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance (TCSAA)

E-mails: kingazistephano@gmail.com & aikairuwa@gmail.com

Website: https://www.tanzaniacsaalliance.or.tz

For more information about GCRF-AFRICAP programme - https://africap.info

April 2020

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1.0 BACKGROUND INFORMATION

1.1 Participants of the study tour

This blog post summarizes the key learnings from the study tour at Lushoto and

Muheza Districts in Tanga region, Tanzania. The tour commenced on 15th

March at Lushoto Highlands Hotel and ended at Amani Nature Reserve,

Muheza on 21st March, 2020. It was made possible through the Global

Challenges Research Fund, AFRICAP - “Agricultural and Food systems

Resilience“: Increasing Capacity and Advising Policy” (GCRF-AFRICAP)

programme, funded by the UK government https://africap.info. The tour

involved 28 participants: 1 researcher from Tanzania Forestry Research

Institute (TAFOR), Lushoto, 4 farmers from farmers’ groups in the projects, 2

representatives from Tanzania Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance (TCSAA), 2

research assistants from Muheza District Council, 7 experts/extension officers

from Muheza District Council, 6 experts/extension officers from Lushoto District

Council, 3 from the University of Leeds, 1 from Economic and Social Research

Foundation (ESRF), 1 each from Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI),

Mlingano, Tanga and Selian, Arusha respectively.

The study-tour involved field visits (practical) to the project sites and daily

workshops at the centres to facilitate knowledge sharing and learning

(reflective learning). However, the actual study-tour at last involved 25

participants after three lead facilitators from the University of Leeds left the

tour on emergency call back to UK in relation to COVID-19.

1.2 Aim of the study tour

The main aim of the study-tour was to share knowledge and practical insights

from two independent projects namely: TFCG/ONGAWA Integrated

Adaptation and Resilience Programme which was being implemented at

Muheza district between 2017 and 2019, and the GCRF-AFRICAP Climate

Change Agriculture and Food Security Programme Climate Smart Villages,

which was being implemented at Lushoto district between 2010 and 2019.

The intention of working in Lushoto is to utilize the Climate Smart Agriculture

Learning Alliance link with the research activities to enable learning across

districts up to regional level and use this evidence to impact the national

level policy through policy engagement and feedback meetings.

1.3 Specific learning objectives

The study-tour was guided by the following learning objectives:

i. To develop an improved understanding of local and regional

vulnerability, climate-risk and uncertainty

ii. To develop an improved awareness of agriculture and food system

resilience, and of the supporting governance and policy processes

iii. To gain new knowledge and practical insight from sharing experiences

on climate-smart agriculture and food system programme design,

implementation and monitoring & evaluation

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iv. To feel empowered to transfer the knowledge gained to farmers and

colleagues

1.4 Study tour themes

The tour was guided by the following themes:

i. Agriculture, food systems and resilience (technologies and practices)

ii. Weather, Climate and Extreme Risk

iii. Policies, Institutions and Innovation Systems

iv. Off-farm systems eg. markets and livelihood diversification

v. Monitoring and Evaluation

This blog post summarizes proceedings of the study-tour and key learnings

from the study-tour that is of particular relevance to TCSAA and more

broadly for policy implementation and revision of climate smart agriculture

resilience plans and other agri-food policies, strategies and action plans in

Tanzania.

2.0 THE PROCESSES, APPROACHES AND METHODS USED

The overall process took about seven days starting from 15th up to 21st March

2020 as outlined in Appendix 1. Based on the stated learning objectives, the

approach used for the study-tour was based on collaborative team

management, combined theoretical, practical and participatory in nature

(See plate 1). Dr. Harriet Smith insisted that the learning process should be fully

participatory. The day started with self-introduction by all participants

followed by introductory presentations from key facilitators as follows: i) an

overview of the theme for the day; ii) group formation; iii) group discussion

based on given terms of reference; iv) plenary presentations and v) questions

and answers on issues raised during presentations.

Plate 1: Collaborative team effort in field planning and implementation1

1 All field photos were taken by Mr. Daniel Semberya, a Journalist from The Guardian Newspaper, Tanzania.

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3.0 PROCEEDINGS OF THE STUDY TOUR

3.1 Courtesy call at Lushoto District Council

The day started by paying an official courtesy call at the office of Lushoto

District Executive Director (DED) to abide with country laws and regulations

when working at local government (district) authorities. Plate 2 is group photo

of key facilitators after the courtesy call.

Plate 2: A group photo at Lushoto District Council after the courtesy call.

After that introductory visit to DED’s office, the three lead facilitators from the

University of Leeds (Drs. Harriet Smith, Samuel Eze and Hemant Tripathi) left for

Dar es Salaam airport to UK while the rest of the team of facilitators and tour

participants proceeded to Mbuzii climate smart village.

3.2 Study tour at Mbuzii village

Plate 3 illustrates the visit in a nutshell.

Plate 3: Field visit at Mbuzii village, Lushoto District.

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After the field visit all participants went back to the hotel venue for thematic

presentation by facilitators as illustrated in plate 4.

Plate 4: Thematic topic presentation, discussions, reflections and plenary

presentations at Lushoto Highlands Hotel after field visit.

3.3 Study tour at Yamba village

The team visited Yamba village to learn about integrating scientific and

indigenous knowledge for weather forecasting. Thereafter the team travelled

back to the hotel for introductory presentation on weather, climate and

extreme risk. That was followed by group formation for discussions, plenary

presentations and critical reflections on the field sessions (Plate 5a-c).

Plate 5a: Participants keenly listening from the local weather forecast experts.

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Plate 5b: Participants on group with local weather forecast experts.

Plate 5c: Presentation, group discussions, reflections and plenary

presentations on thematic topic of the day - weather and climate.

That marked the end of two days’ field visits in Lushoto ready for travelling to

Muheza District on the morning next day to study the monitoring and

evaluation project activities.

3.4 Travel to Muheza District and Amani Nature Reserve

The day started by a long travel from Lushoto to Muheza District which is

about 120 km. This took about three hours’ drive on tarmac road. On arrival

at Muheza District, few facilitators led by Mr. Mziray paid a courtesy call to

the Muheza District Executive Director (DED) as was the case at Lushoto

District.

Thereafter the team travelled about 35 km further to Amani Nature Reserve

where participants secured rooms for accommodation, got late lunch then

met at the Amani Nature Reserve’s conference room for a brief presentation

on monitoring and evaluation thematic area regarding the European Union’s

Global Climate Change Alliance Eco-villages project implemented by

TFCG/ONGAWA, FAIDA MALI and Muheza District Council. Plate 6 illustrates

the presentations made by facilitators before group works and plenary

session.

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Plate 6: Monitoring and Evaluation thematic area presentations by Mr. Mziray

& Mr. Baraka Kajiru at Amani Nature Reserve’s conference room.

However, due to long travel associated by bad road where one of the

vehicles got tyre puncture, one of the facilitators, Mr. Kingazi introduced a

role play to cheer up participants as illustrated in Plate 7 below.

Plate 7: Participants enjoying a role play led by Mr. Kingazi at Amani Nature

Reserve’s conference room.

That was followed by other presentations by Mr. George Sayulla and Mama

Natai on monitoring and evaluation and its implications on research and

policy. Plate 8 illustrates the presentations.

Plate 8: Monitoring and Evaluation Implications presentations by Mama Natai

and Mr. Sayulla at Amani Nature Reserve’s conference room.

3.5 Study tour at Mgambo and Shambangeda villages

This was the first day to the European Union’s Global Climate Change

Alliance Eco-villages (GCCA+ Eco-villages) project to meet with farmer

groups implementing innovation systems through demo farms, post-harvest

technologies and off-farm butterfly farming outside forests (Plate 9).

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Plate 9: Participants visiting conserved maize, cassava and butterfly

farms at Mgambo village.

After the field visits the team travelled back to Amani Nature Reserve

Conference room for presentation on the thematic area: innovation

processes and institutions, followed by group discussions, critical reflections

and plenary presentations on the day’s visit as illustrated in plate 10.

Plate 10: Presentations, discussions and critical reflections on innovation

processes and institutions studied during the day’s field visit.

3.6 Study tour at Zirai and Misalai villages

The visit set out to study off-farm systems starting with spice warehouse and

met with spice farmers involved in the spice marketing project led by FAIDA

MALI. The team also planned to visit farmers practicing zero-grazing for dairy

and beef cattle introduced by the project. Unfortunately that visit was

impossible due to a funeral event which was going on at the village

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earmarked for zero-grazing visit. Another mishap this day included one of the

vehicles which got stuck in mud on the road – this took about 2 hours to

resolve. We proceeded to milk processing centre in Amani where milk

collection in the area takes place. Plate 11a&b illustrates the day’s

proceedings including group discussions and critical reflections on the field

session.

Plate 11a: Team visits to spice farmers at Zirai and Misalai villages

Plate 11b: Illustrations of the field visit at milk collection centre and the

presentations at the conference room thereafter

3.7 Reflection of the week and departure

The final reflection from the entire study-tour was made by Mama Natai of

TCSAA with complements from others facilitators and participants. That was

concluded by issuing of certificates of participation to all participants and a

group photo as illustrated in Plate 12a&b below.

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Plate 12a: Closing ceremony and issuing of certificates to participants.

Plate 12b: A group photo of the graduated participants.

4.0 KEY LEARNINGS FROM THE STUDY TOUR

Leaning ≠1: Collaborative team spirit

It was learnt that the collaborative team spirit introduced and insisted by Dr.

Harriet Smith during day one indeed turned into reality throughout the study

tour. The facilitators and participants were all determined to work together

through shared knowledge and experiences. The approach of shared

learnings was comprehended quite well in such a way that participants were

free to share and learn from one another.

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Leaning ≠2: Competence of lead farmers on technologies and innovations

It was learnt that project farmers, especially in Lushoto district, where CCAFS

programme has operated for almost ten years, were quite conversant with

what they were doing by being fluent in explaining the technologies and

innovations introduced by researchers. This was also the case for farmers at

Muheza study villages. That implies that farmers involved in projects have

graduated from the field schools to become trainers of fellow farmers.

Leaning ≠3: Limited adoption of introduced technologies by other farmers

It was observed throughout the study villages that despite the proven

benefits of introduced technologies and innovations, neighbouring farmers in

almost all villages hardly adopted. On probing why this has been the case,

project farmers hinted that neighbours don’t want to learn expensive and

hard to do activities like terraces.

Leaning ≠4: Limited promotion of indigenous knowledge systems

The lessons learned from Yamba village shows that despite the interesting

story about the use of indigenous knowledge on weather forecasting, local

experts are to a large extent elders who lamented that after the programme

no one seemed to support them.

Leaning ≠5: Limited understanding of the concept of M&E among farmers

During plenary discussions in Muheza district, almost all farmers complained of

not knowing M&E knowledge and methodologies to apply to their farm

projects. Some were even unable to define what M&E actually is and how it

implies in their day-to-day farm activities. However, that was contrary to

expert participants who seemed to be quite knowledgeable with the theory

and practice of M&E as it is one of their routine activities in their professional

career as extension and technical staff.

Leaning ≠6: Limited knowledge and application of the national level policies,

strategies and plans to local level by extension officers

When asked on their awareness of agriculture and food systems resilience

policies, strategies, programs and plans developed at national level,

significant majority of participants (except the group from Lushoto district)

were unaware of the climate smart agriculture policies, strategies and

resilience plans existing at national level.

5.0 CONCLUSION

The study tour was very informative and indeed participatory. Tour facilitators,

researchers, district level experts/extension staff, lead farmers and drivers

worked as a team in such a way that learnings were fluid among

participants. The two districts’ sites were more or less the same with

differences in spice farming characteristic and road networks. The access

roads to Lushoto climate villages were somehow improved and maintained

unlike those in Muheza highlands. Last but not least, the authors of this report

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are of the opinion that linkage between policy makers and policy

implementers seem to be missing, especially on matters of climate smart

agriculture development in Tanzania.

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Appendix 1: An overall itinerary for the study tour.

Morning field session Lunch

Break

Afternoon reflection session Evening

8am-1pm 2pm - 5pm

Sunday

15th March

2020

Arrival and introductions

Departure from Muheza District Offices 10am

Arrival to Lushoto at approximately 2pm

2pm-4pm arrivals from Muheza will have time to find suitable

accommodation in Lushoto town

Location: Lushoto Highland Hotel

4pm – 6pm

Introduction to the week

Introduction to the study tour and important

information for the week

Introduction to CCAFS programme

Distributions of stipends

Free

time

Monday

16th March

2020

Farm production systems

Departure 8am from Lushoto Highland Hotel

Visit Lushoto District Office

Visit to CCAFS villages to showcase the farm management

practices and technologies promoted by CCAFS

Lunch

1-2pm

Location: Lushoto Highland Hotel

2pm-5pm

Introduction to Food-systems' & Resilience

Group discussions and workshops for critical reflections

on the field sessions

Free

time

Tuesday

17th March

2020

Weather, climate and extreme risk

Departure 8am from Lushoto Highland Hotel

Visit to CCAFS village to showcase the project on integrating

scientific and indigenous knowledge for weather forecasting

Lunch

1-2pm

Location: Lushoto Highland Hotel

2pm-5pm

Introduction to weather, climate and extreme risk

Group discussions and workshops for critical reflections

on the field sessions

Free

time

Wednesday Travel day + Monitoring and Evaluation

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18th March

2020 Departure 8am from Lushoto Highland Hotel

Visit Muheza District Office

Arrive in Amani at lunch time

Lunch

1-2pm

Location: Amani Nature Reserve

2pm-5pm

Training on Monitoring and Evaluation for food and

agriculture programmes

Introduction and overview of GCCA+ project

Free

time

Thursday

19th March

2020

Innovation systems

Departure 8am from Amani Nature Reserve

Visit to GCCA+ village to showcase farm demonstration

groups, and meet with participants of the farmer groups.

Lunch

1-2pm

Location: Amani Nature Reserve

2pm-5pm

Introduction to innovation processes and institutions

Group discussions and workshops for critical reflections

on the field sessions

Free

time

Friday

20th March

2020

Off-farm systems

Departure 8am from Amani Nature Reserve

Visit to GCCA villages to showcase spice farms and spice

warehouse, and meet spice farmer representatives involved

in the spice marketing project.

Visit farmers with zero-grazing cattle and meet cattle farmer

representatives

Lunch

1-2pm

Location: Amani Nature Reserve

2pm-5pm

Visit to the milk processing unit in Amani

Introduction to off-farm systems

Group discussions and workshops for critical reflections

on the field sessions

Free

time

Saturday

21st March

2020

Reflections of the week + Departure Location: Amani Nature Reserve

9am – 12:30pm

Final reflections from the week

Presentation of certificates and group photo

Distribution of final stipends

Lunch

12:30

Departure after lunch

Transport provided for return to Muheza / Lushoto