Interviewer(s): I007
Interviewee(s): KI054

I007: My name is Mbaba Malaki, I am at Kibaya and I am with …..

KI054: Mr KI054, a chairman of CCM in Komnyuzi, Misima ward, Sindeni Division, in Handeni district

I007: Okay, chair I wanted to know for how long you have been in this village

KI054: In general I was born here and I have completed my primary education here also until now I am here at Kibaya

I007: How many years do you have in this village?

KI054: Aaah I have about 60 years

I007: Aah… how did you become a leader in this village?

KI054: Eeeh at the first I was a representative in the village committee and for the second time until now, I become a chairman for the ruling party

I007: For how long since you became a leader?

KI054: Aah… for five years I have been a representative in the village committee and for chairman position I am holding since the last election until now

I007: Aaah…what are the major changes you have observe in this village?

KI054: Eeh the major change I have observe is advancement of education

I007: Mmmh tell me about it?

KI054: Currently our education systems has changed, it has improved because our teachers are doing their jobs efficiently

I007: What other changes did you observe?

KI054: Other changes….. May be the lifestyle due to change of the government mandatory systems

I007: Mmmh how?

KI054: Eeh … first the community development, most of the people has improved their lifestyle

I007: Okay… I also wanted to know the rate of wealth people at the family level …is it increasing or decreasing or it is the same?

KI054: Recently the level of wealth group has increased

I007: Aaah ... How about the rate of poor household?

KI054: The number of poor households is decreasing a little bit when comparing with the past

I007: Okay… and what do you think are the source of these changes?

KI054: Mmmh … the source of these changes first is the current governmental administration system, and also the population increase has brought some changes.

I007: How does these changes affects the community? …. Example men

KI054: To my experience I think these changes has less effect on us men, because every man is struggling to conduct his activities efficiently to support life, and he is ready for anything

I007: How about women?

KI054: Same as women, we all struggle together because we are facing the same challenge in life

I007: And how do these changes affect children?

KI054: Recently children are not affected in large extent compare to the past because in the past children failed to get better education due to the higher school fees but after the cancel of school fees by the government now children are going to school freely. Improvement of the health services currently we are getting enough medication compare to the past. So I think children are less affected nowadays.

I007: How about the elders

KI054: Mmm to the elders, think still there are some issues going on bit to the health services I think they are getting something although it’s not satisfactory

I007: I would like to know how these changes bring some effects on the community health.

KI054: Until now I think there are no major changes which has affected the community because nowadays people have changes as we are having toilets of which we did not have in the past and we are also getting good services in the hospitals

I007: Thank you. Currently what are the major threats which have brought some effect in food security in your community?

KI054: Mmmh… extreme hunger… last time we were buying 1kg of maize flour for 1200tsh/=, but the good thing food were available but money was difficult to get as most of the people do not have good sources of income they just depend on cattle

I007: How about market system, were there any issues?

KI054: No there were no issues because everything was available in the market. The main problem was ways of earning income, in this village there are no productive work such as factory or company which is hiring youth or adults

I007: How about the decrease of some foods such as oil

KI054: There is no decrease of food or oil; we are facing income crises only

I007: How about water?

KI054: In this village water is still a problem because we do not have specific place where we can get water throughout the year. We are fetching water very far and from the well so there is no guarantee place to obtain safe water

I007: And what do you think are the main cause of that problem?

KI054: May you repeat?

I007: I have said what do you think are the main cause of this problem of water?

KI054: I think since our ancestors were using the same water from the well which is salt water and we have tried to the government authorities to provide us with safe drinking water but still they did not provide it

I007: Okay thank you… Also I would like to know why water is still a major problem in this village

KI054: I think is because in this village we do not have a major river where water flows throughout the year, we only gets enough water during the heavy rain season but after that we go back to our usual wells

I007: And how do people overcome the situation of scarcity of food and water in general

KI054: Mmmh due to the recent drought people learnt a lot because earlier we used to get some help from the government but after the announcement of this year that there will be no help from the government, all the people struggled on finding the ways of obtaining food. Also we have learnt that we should store enough food to satisfy all the household needs, if possible enough to pass us though the next harvest if God wish

I007: What strategies do you take to make sure that the family have enough food throughout the year

KI054: Aaah… the strategies which we are taking are intercropping, our main crop is maize but we are cultivating other crops such as cowpeas, beans, sunflower so that we can sell to earn income which can support other household needs, aim is to avoid depending on selling maize to obtain money to buy soap, salt or oil. The strategy is to keep enough maize for food.

I007: Yes… I wanted to know, what are the basic strategies do you take to make sure that each household has enough food

KI054: Aaah…. I think first I you have enough land for cultivation and prepared enough cash crops which I have mentioned also when you have high income those will be major ways of getting enough food because when you do not have cattle and crops for selling you will not store some food because you will be in need of money so you have to sell some of your food to earn money

I007: Eeeh… but you didn’t tell me exactly the strategy which you’re taking to keep food

KI054: Strategy like a place to store food?

I007: Eeh

KI054: Oh…we only put maize in the bags with pesticides and store

I007: Who do you think are most vulnerable group to the food insecurity?

KI054: I think children and women are the most vulnerable group because they are staying at home waiting for the food to be brought by the fathers’

I007: Why do you say women and children are the most vulnerable group?

KI054: It because we men are doing more labor works that women and in the far places which you cannot take the children, and when you are going to work you need to live something at home because if you don’t those who remained will suffer from hunger, and their where you go to work you will get water and food so you won’t get the same effect compare to those who remained at home

I007: And what do you think should be done to overcome the situation?

KI054: First improvement of agriculture system, diversification of crop production so that people can sell other crops and keep the maize for food, the money obtained can be used to buy cows or goats

I007: Okay… also how does water being useful to reduce the scarcity of food and hunger?

KI054: When having water can help in cultivating some of the crops during the dry season as the irrigation system can be implemented and that help to reduce food scarcity. With water present you can cultivate tomatoes, onions and other different vegetables that you can sell and earn income to satisfy household needs

I007: Aaah… we are now moving to the second part of changes of livelihood and responsibilities. Last year in February we came here and heard in different household that there are some changes of weather patterns from one season to another. What do you think are the source of these changes?

KI054: Mmmh… I think these changes need lots of technical knowledge because changes cannot occur in the household it occurs all over due to the change of climatic condition

I007: Alright…and what are the climatic changes did you observe in this community?

KI054: Mmh the climatic changes which I have observed in this community are three different types of fever.

I007: Mmmh…..

KI054: Malaria, UTI and Typhoid, those are the major changes which I have observed

I007: Other major changes which you have observed perhaps changes of rain seasons

KI054: Like this year there were heavy rains which did not affect the community but last year there were extreme hot weather which made most of people uncomfortable to sleep at night

I007: And when do these changes occur?

KI054: Normally is around October to February

I007: Mmh… may you explain to me clearly about these climatic changes

KI054: Eeeheehee…. In the past there was a guarantee that in every February the rain starts up to March, April, May and June but recently things are changes; you might expect that the rain will come but it won’t

I007: Eeeh… and how does these changes occurs for past five to ten years back?

KI054: To that point I think it needed some experiences climatic expertise to explain what the reasons for these changes

I007: Aah… perhaps in this area what is the situation

KI054: Mmmh!! to this area …. things have changed because in the past for about three years we were having enough food due to moderate rainfall but other three years you might experience extreme drought,

I007: How these changes do affect the community?

KI054: These changes affected us because we are farmers when we failed to get only one season of rain it affects us generally, because we cannot rely on any other thing as the chicken, goats, cows are all affected due to lack of enough water

I007: How about in the environment

KI054: The environment becomes so destructed

I007: How about grazing areas

KI054: Also to the grazing areas everything become super destructed

I007: How about water availability

KI054: It also become so difficult, you might find and area which is so empty without grass and water…. Everything becomes dry

I007: How does the household livelihood looks like?

KI054: Mmmh it depends with the head of that household…. Because every household head has his own ways of ruling his home

I007: Ok, how does the household head manage the situation associated to different changes?

KI054: First it depend with the agreement between the household members because to overcome any situation it needed good compromise

I007: Is there any cooperation between people in doing different activities, example working together to support each other in production issues

KI054: Mh!! Currently we don’t have because each family works so hard to satisfy their needs but in the past I can say there was a little bit of some cooperation between people from the same clan.

I007: If it happens that there are some major climatic changes what are the activities which people might perform to earn money for their needs?

KI054: Mmmh … I think there are no joint activities which will be conducted

I007: How about individually

KI054: Eeeh individually, lots can be done because you might find a person selling charcoal, fire wood, and other activities

I007: How about the pastoralist

KI054: You might find him shifting for place to place and here at Kibaya most of them moved to Kilindi

I007: How about the number of cattle they keep

KI054: It depend with the number of cows a person has, example Maasai they have a plenty of cows, so most of the time the youth shift from one place to another but elders and women remain at home

I007: And what types of crops are you grow when there are extreme changes of weather patterns

KI054: In the past we were growing sorghum, cassava and potatoes but currently most of them have disappeared but last year we started to grow cassava, and all was due to extreme drought

I007: Where does the non-pastoralist earning their income

KI054: Most of them depend on selling charcoal and firewood but for those who failed to do so they may move to Tanga or Muheza and Lushoto for other labor works

I007: And how about the changes of milk availability

KI054: Milk is available from March when there is good climatic condition similar to this year up to September, October, November and December

I007: So when exactly do you get maximum milk production

KI054: We get maximum production from May to August and started to decrease from September when the drought start up to December when there is no milk

I007: Eeh so what major changes usually occur when there are changes of climate in milk availability

KI054: First when cattle lack water and enough feeds there are no milk, mostly during the extreme drought season

I007: How does the role and responsibilities of men and women change when there are occurrence of different calamities

KI054: It depend with the time of calamity

I007: Example the shortage of rainfall what type of activities do women perform

KI054: In this situation most of women do not have much to do but they may go to fetch water in the wells and selling to the food venders

I007: How about men

KI054: Men are selling charcoal

I007: I would like to know if it happen that their some climatic change, who in this area has more activities than others

KI054: Nowadays we are conducting similar activities because of the changes of lifestyle

I007: I would also like to know in the presence of climatic changes does the conflict increase or decrease

KI054: Normally the conflict happen during the dry season and it’s among the farmers and pastoralist because you might find some of the pastoralist takes their cattle to farms while those farms has never been grazed before hence conflict arises

I007: And what is the conflict situation when the pastoralist moved to the far areas for grazing

KI054: When their moved to far areas there are some conflicts along the ways because they are taking large herd of cattle which sometimes is difficult to manage but after that there are no conflict because they are moved to far places outside of this community

I007: What about when moved to the water sources

KI054: Mmmh when moved to the water sources such as Ruvu river there are no conflict because the river is large and has plenty of water to sustain everyone needs but when moved to the small wells and ditches which most of the villagers used to fetch water, conflict may arise because water will be not enough for cattle and human

I007: And how do you think this conflict should be minimized

KI054: Mmh may be when we increase the number of wells but still is not enough to control all the conflicts

I007: And how do people overcome the scarcity of food and milk

KI054: Mmh… the scarcity of food and milk is due to lack of grasses and drought and there is no way out to overcome it…. Laughing…..

I007: Which coping strategies do people take to overcome the situation of food and milk scarcity due to extreme drought

KI054: That is why most of the pastoralist shifts from one place to another so as to get enough feeds for their cattle in order to improve milk production and cattle’s health for better prices. The obtained money will be used for food purchasing even when there is scarcity of milk

I007: Mmmh… we are moved to the other part….how does the livelihood system change in this community… example ways of managing the herds

KI054: Mmmh it depends when you are having large number of herds the management is difficult but when having a small number of cattle like ten cows the management is easy as the expertise emphasize on zero grazing to you will be possible, also you will maintain the hygiene and having a reserved area for feeding

I007: How about to the farm area

KI054: To the farm you need to use the advanced agricultural method and follow the advice from the expertise

I007: Mmh… are there any other activities which people are involved in apart from farming and livestock keeping

KI054: Yes … we have people who are selling charcoal, firewood, food vendors, fruit vendors and other small business

I007: May you explain more to that context?

KI054: You might find a pastoralist sells two or three of his cows to buy maize but after some time he may buy two calves and moved on with his life

I007: Does this changes brought positive or negative effects towards the community

KI054: I think they have brought some good impression to the society because when cropping we get enough food and when selling some cows we get money to sustain our other needs

I007: With your thought what are the source of these changes

KI054: Mmh I think is because of advice provided by the expertise; they brought new knowledge which changes the community.

I007: What about in the education area

KI054: Mmh… nowadays children gets better education because our teachers’ taught well and when they pass they pass due to their efforts it’s not plagiarism

I007: How about changes of traditions and norms

KI054: …there are lots of changes, nowadays most of the norms and cultural practices has disappeared such as traditional dance and songs

I007: And what do you think are the reason for these changes

KI054: I think is due to the advancement of technology and globalization because currently in the ceremonies people plays New modern songs instead of traditional songs

I007: Is there any conflicts brought by immigrants

KI054: Mmh they used to be their but now we don’t have it because most of the people nowadays have been educated and settled to the lands which they bought

I007: I would like to know the reasons for changes of women roles and responsibility in the household because women used to do household chores and small business. What do you think are the reasons for these changes?

KI054: In the past women were not going to school but nowadays they are which made some major improvement to them and in the community because they have the power to perform similar work with men such as different works in the offices. Example you might have six or seven female children in your home but all of them might not do any household chores such as grazing due to schooling. In general this has brought major changes in women role

I007: What do you think are the effects of these changes in the household?

KI054: Until now I think there are no effects in the family because these changes bought some development

I007: In the past you said women were doing different household chore but nowadays most of the activities has decreased due to education, now what is the effect resulted to these changes example change of children health, family income and meals

KI054: Eeh.. during the past the family income was still low because most of them were not educated but nowadays most of the women are educated so they are doing their activities with higher knowledge….if they cultivate they do it efficiently due to education, if they prepare food it also perfect, so they are some benefits of taking women to school

I007: Alright we now shift to the next part of changes of intercommunity.., I know there are high rate of migration between people, some moved in and some moved out. What can you say about that?

KI054: Mmh in this village we don’t have that situation of people moved out and in, may be they move to near place for small activities and then coming back

I007: What can you say about the increasing of population rate in this community?

KI054: Mmh, some of the people from different tribes moved in and the birth rate also increase although is not that much, I think that the only way of population increase in this community

I007: What are the changes brought by them?

KI054: There are no major changes because they came with the same ideas

I007: Which tribes are migrating to this area?

KI054: Sandawe, Mang’ati , Mbulu and Waarusha.

I007: Why are they moved to this area?

KI054: I think it because of the land like Arusha

I007: And who shift from one place to another?

KI054: Mang’ati … because some of them did not get land for grazing

I007: And do they go to school?

KI054: Not really… some of them did but few of them. When you talk about Mbulu and Arusha most of their children are going to school because they are having permanent settlement

I007: Are there any people moved to far places for work?

KI054: Yes they are… some moved to Arusha, Moshi, Mwanza, and Dar es Salaam most especially youth.

I007: And how about those who went for schooling do they come back or stayed there?

KI054: They are coming back

I007: How about youth?

KI054: Some may come back but some they establish their life to the new places but it depend and what kind of activity a person is conducting as well as the income earned

I007: How do these changes affect the community?

KI054: Mmh… somehow it affects the community but for those who went to other places and never coming back but for those who went and come back there are no effect

I007: How about youth of the same age?

KI054: Some of them may be affected such as those who are involved with the use of drugs

I007: What are the changes which you have received due to the immigration of people in your area?

KI054: Mmh we used to crop one variety but after they have moved here we are practicing intercropping such as cowpeas, maize, beans at one farm, also we were having cows but we did not know how to use them but they have taught as to use them in farming

I007: What else?

KI054: Also they taught us to do some business which improves our money circulation

I007: And when people move to other villages what change do you get in this village

KI054: We might get some changes because if your neighbor moved to another village and when your used to him or her you might get some effect of losing a friend

I007: How do people perceive these changes?

KI054: People perceive that farmers need their land and pastoralist need their land so that each activity should be conducted efficiently without any conflict

I007: How do these conflicts happen in this community?

KI054: These conflicts always happened in the community sometimes they might occur between farmers to farmers when they are fighting for the boundaries, or farmers to pastoralist when they are fighting for crops which the cows ate, or pastoralist to pastoralist when they stole each other’s cows. So conflicts are always there but not so much nowadays.

I007: Okay and how does these changes affects the diet patterns of the community…example when the youth leave in the community how does that affect those who remain?

KI054: On the contrarily it does affect those who remain because if the youth left their olds’ will fail to get enough food as they are weak to perform productive works

I007: Whose does that really affect the availability of food

KI054: From my knowledge the youth are the ones who produce so when they leave the elders becomes unhealthy

I007: From your experience when does the conflicts occurs

KI054: They happened during the cultivation season, when people are preparing the farms for crop growing… some needed more land while they have less but when it happened the government came and solved it but dividing the land

I007: How these conflicts do affect the role and responsibility of women and men?

KI054: It has some impact because at the time when people needed to work in the field they were in the meeting solving the conflicts which affects food availability.

I007: How does the community struggle to fight against these conflicts?

KI054: They have left to the government but for the case of the minor conflicts they are trying to settle with the fighters on both sides

I007: Thank you for your time since we have started but now I have few questions to wind up.

KI054: Mmmh…

I007: Where do people learn about food and nutrition for better health?

KI054: Mmh I think there is no where they can learn that but for women they get the knowledge at the hospital from the nurses

I007: How this information can be useful to you?

KI054: Information like health eating, good food and nutrition for better health

I007: Yes

KI054: Eeh the information are very good if you heard about it for expertise because when you get them you will take back home and help your family.

I007: And how does the community perceive this information?

KI054: They receive it happily and with good heart

I007: Okay and do you have something else to add before winding up?

KI054: Mmh I am grateful for the discussion because I liked everything and I don’t have something else to add up.