MVIWATA participated differently in this year’s Farmers Exhibition known as Nane nane took place in different regions across Tanzania. The exhibition began on 1st August 2019 to 8th August 2019.
MVIWATA participated from ward level, regional and zonal levels in Morogoro, Arusha, Shinyanga, Njombe, Kilimanjaro, Manyara and Kagera. This year’s MVIWATA slogan in Nane nane farmers’ exhibition is “Youth and Women are the Backbone of Our Agriculture”. At MVIWATA’s pavilions in all centers participants found a number of MVIWATA publications on climate change, peasant agro ecology, public expenditure tracking system (PETS), democratic leadership in the society and a number of brochures relating to smallholder farmers’ members of MVIWATA initiatives.
In this year’s Nanenane exhibition, there were numerous products made by smallholder farmers that are presented to the public by MVIWATA. These includes maize flour, nutritious flours, honey, processed groundnuts, processed rice, spices, processed mushrooms, indigenous seeds, processed hides products, handicrafts that are traditionally made and processed fishes.
In making sure that agriculture practices by smallholder farmers conserves the environment MVIWATA made a demonstration plot where there are numerous tree plots and vegetable plots of which its production process do not use industrial chemicals and pesticides from industries. The aim is to educate the public that farming is possible without using chemical farm fertilizers and pesticides which destroys the environment. This is with the understanding that agricultural practices should protect the environment, farmers and consumers for the wellbeing of the planet.
The weighing and measurement of smallholder farmers’ produces remains to be a great challenge in many parts of Tanzania. Most of smallholder farmers sell their produces by volume and not through weight units. This technique by businessmen exploits smallholder farmers intensively. This practice has put smallholder farmers in extreme poverty despite the good yields they harvest each year. In addressing this challenge MVIWATA through farmers Nane nane exhibition this year has made a number of educational materials and a weight measurement unit as a demonstration to smallholder farmers and the public to understand the importance and how to use the weigh measurement unit in selling their produces.
Processing of farmers produces like milk, spices, mushrooms, rice, fishes and products from animal skins were well displayed at MVIWATA’s pavilion in all centers of exhibition. For example, a milk (from goats) processing group named TWAWOSE a member of MVIWATA where a number of people were seen in that pavilion eager to learn about milk processing techniques. TWAWOSE is a milk processing group from Mgeta, Morogoro. This group has increased their income through increased sell of processed milk. Their markets keep expanding each year.
Indigenous seeds varieties, pesticides and herbicides processed by smallholder farmers were also part of the products found in MVIWATA’s pavilions in the Nane nane farmers’ exhibition centers. These includes ancestral seed varieties like maize, beans, rice etc. Also ancestral herbicides and pesticides made from roots, leaves, seeds etc, by smallholder farmers as inputs against pests and diseases in farms and for domestic animals raised by smallholder farmers. Demonstrations and explanations are part of the narration given to public in the MVIWATA pavilions.
Likewise, in MVIWATA’s pavilions chicken keeping where participants learn on how these chicken can best be kept in aspects of foods, dealing with pests and diseases by using indigenous knowledge pesticides and medicines were displayed.
MVIWATA invited the public to visit MVIWATA’s pavilion centers in all levels to learn different initiatives by smallholder farmers’ members of MVIWATA in aspects of agriculture, fishing and livestock keeping.
