Preventive measures have top priority in the current corona crisis in Tanzania
The corona outbreak in Tanzania is in an ascending curve and is higher than in neighbouring countries like Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
In Tanzania there is no state-imposed lockdown, but gatherings are prohibited and schools are closed. The Ministry of Health advises to take protective measures such as social distancing, to stay at home if possible, and to ensure good hand hygiene with washing buckets and soap in every family. Wearing masks is recommended when meeting several people. Parents are advised to keep their children in the house.
The impact of the situation on farmers
Uncertainty about whether a national lockdown will occur is creating insecurity among farmers.n.
“We fear that the government could announce a lockdown, which would mean that it would not be possible to collect the harvest and all farmers would lose their crops. This would result in an economic crisis.
Even if we were able to harvest the cotton, we are still very concerned about cotton sales. If there were a lockdown, we would not be able to sell our cotton for an unlimited time. We are worried about not knowing what our future will look like,” says Michael Ndulu, a bioRe® farmer from the village of Ngoboko.
There are not many known cases of infection among farmers and workers in the bioRe® production areas, the Meatu and Maswa district.
However, the work of the bioRe Foundation and bioRe Tanzania Ltd. is affected by the crisis:
The training of the farmers must be postponed, and individual farm visits for training purposes cannot take place.
Bukombakomba, social groups in the villages that help with the field work, are now no longer used due to the preventive measures taken during the crisis. However, workers are needed to maintain agricultural activities, such as harvesting a 40 acre cotton field. With only 3-4 family members the harvest cannot be brought in.
The sale of sunflowers and mung beans is less critical because it does not involve large crowds of people, and the forthcoming purchase of organic cotton in a market where there are many people will be much more difficult to carry out.
bioRe Tanzania initiates preventive measures to protect people against corona infection and needs financial support
For the upcoming purchase of the cotton, bioRe Tanzania wants to organise health protection equipment for the protection of the farmers and the staff, i.e. masks, disinfectants, liquid soap, gloves and hand water buckets for washing the hands.
Women’s sewing groups, a livelihood project of the bioRe Foundation Tanzania, contributes by sewing reusable protective masks for the farming families. The support of the women’s livelihood project will enable a sustainable strengthening of the farming villages.
