Who said the President doesn’t listen?
By
Ronald B. Ndesanjo
During his recent tour in Southern Tanzania, HE President John Pombe Magufuli made some statements that might get critical political analysts back on the drawing board to try and reconstruct their impression of this interesting political figure in the region. He gave some statements that I would regard as contrary to his previous stance. In this blog post I will focus on just two: the settlement of outstanding cashew nut farmers’ payments and the country’s natural resource conservation agenda. I posit that the President actually listens and is ready to reverse his decisions contrary to what some have regarded him: a doctrinaire.
But the big question is: Who does he listen to and what gets him to listen?
What I was not expecting to hear is a directive that even once the government’s arch-enemy, the middle persons (alias Kangomba), were to be included in the payment from the government to cashew nut holders whom it still owes money to. This apparent-about turn caught many critical observers by surprise. But, first, how did we get here?
In November 2018 the government got into a row with dealers, including middle persons and big buyers, over cashew nut prices to be paid to farmers. When it was certain that business people were not going to yield to the government’s pressure that they should buy the nuts for not less than TZS 3000 per a kilo, the government made a difficult decision to procure the whole of that season’s yield; 200,000 tons of nuts at TZS 3300 per kilo. The Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) was mandated with the task of coughing the money and the military with taking care of logistics and part of the processing.
This made it very clear that traditional cashew nut dealers, particularly middle persons (Kangomba) and big buyers, were cut off from the cashew nut supply/value chain. It was “good news” that farmers were finally off the talons of predatory business people whose key interest is profit maximization at the expense of the sweat of a poor farmer. Just to show how serious the government was, the military and agricultural officers were ordered to verify even the farms where a given consignment originated from.
Then things started to go awry. The verification exercise become complicated. Farmers started complaining about delayed payments and that life was getting harder because they couldn’t meet their pressing needs, including that of taking their children to school. They even wished for the Kangomba to resume business since they pay timely, albeit peanuts.
Things were happening so quickly and simultaneously. At one point we could even hear the government pleading to businesspeople to come and do business. In another instance, we witnessed the controversial signing of a contract with a Kenyan firm, Indo Power Solutions Ltd, that had expressed wish to buy 100,000 tons of the cashew nuts.
The climax is possibly what has happened recently when the President was touring the southern regions of Lindi, Mtwara and Ruvuma. It became very clear that he has decided to reverse his decision and offered a compromise by ordering inclusion in the remaining payments of all those who were holding the nuts, whether they are farmers or not. We were even told that TZS 50 billion was already on its way to the south for paying 18,303 farmers and much more would be pouring in until all those with nuts in holding have been paid.
Cashew nuts aside, the President demonstrated yet another unexpected stance when speaking with the masses in Namtumbo District on the 5th of April. He bluntly made it explicitly clear that he was not going to order part of Selous Game Reserve, a United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage Site, to be made open to farming by villagers who had requested it. He explained his position by reminding them on the importance of conservation to national economic growth through tourism, i.e. the biggest contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Production (GDP). The President stressed that efforts to conserve our wildlife and natural resources began even before independence and were then spearheaded by Mwalimu Nyerere (the First President of Tanzania).
One might recall that in January 2019, President Magufuli ordered responsible ministries to formally recognize 366 villages falling within protected areas across the country. He added that herders and farmers should not be harassed. As if that was not enough, government authorities were told to take stock of all Protected Areas (PAs) to identify those with no wildlife or forests so that they can be opened for people to farm and graze.
To conservationists this came as a blow given resources that have been invested to conserve our wildlife and natural resources. I have no reason to believe that the 366 villages were wrongly deemed to have encroached into PAs despite the fact that PAs’ custodians (and the state at large) have been accused of gross violations since colonial times. But this a story for another day.
For the villagers the country over, this was wonderful news. Some even demonstrated to hail President Magufuli and bestowed him with gifts for a gesture they haven’t seen since independence. But the main question remains: What has really led to these antagonistic positions by the President?
I think one important aspect that the government overlooked (or just chose to ignore) is the fact that middle persons – Kangomba – in the cashew nut value/supply chain play a critical role in keeping the industry afloat. Since they have liquidity, they are the ones who have always enabled farmers’ access to highly needed inputs and other farm requirements until they harvest and pay back the dues based on terms agreed upon between the two parties. This might equate to what government subsidy could have done to the farmers had it been actively involved with them all along the chain rather than showing up only when harvests are due.
No wonder whenever the government intervenes in crop markets most of the farmers question where it has been all that time when they were breaking their backs in the fields with no substantial support. I cannot say with certainty that this is indeed the actual reason the President finally became considerate and changed his mind recently. But who knows?
I have vested interest in the country’s conservation agenda, so, let me say a little more in connection to the President’s statement in Namtumbo. Admittedly, I was moved by it. But, going back to the January 2019’s order, I am left wondering what exactly does it imply to years of conservation efforts.
As a country, we formulated policies and enacted laws that discourage and criminalize extractive human activities in PAs. I must admit this is a sacrifice we made as far as local livelihoods are concerned. But it is a choice we have deliberately made for greater good. Plans to rid our PAs of human extractive activities are implemented according to policies and regulatory frameworks we sanely passed for posterity. That aside, a lot of resources — human, financial and time — went into conservation.
The Namtumbo statement also left me wondering whether expansion of farming and livestock grazing is the only threat to our conservation agenda. This took me back to one of the current administration’s flagship development projects; the Rufiji Hydropower Project at Stiegler’s Gorge expected to generate 2100MW of electricity when fully operational. As I have noted in one of my previous blog posts, this is indeed good news given our ambitious industrialization and infrastructure led development.
However, to the national conservation agenda, this was a huge disappointment. It might even turn out to be the greatest environmental blunder this administration will be remembered for. Why? Because the Rufiji Hydropower Project is implemented right inside the Selous Game Reserve, a World Heritage Site since 1982.
When Tanzania ratified the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, it agreed to conditions that came with it, including not to undertake any development activities within the Selous Game Reserve and its buffer zone. It came as a surprise, therefore, that Tanzania has plans to implement the project contrary to an agreement we entered into with UNESCO. What ensued thereafter was a hot exchange between project proponents lead by the government of Tanzania and pro-conservation groups led by UNESCO.
Conservationists made a lot of noise about long-term negative impacts of the project on social and ecological systems. It should be noted that biodiversity conservation and livelihood sustenance downstream the project were part of the reasons that led to failure of the project to take off during Mwalimu Nyerere’s administration.
But even now the sustainability of the project is not certain. Climate change is wreaking havoc with an increase in extreme events like droughts and flooding. This is intensifying water abstraction upstream, threatening sufficient water supply for the project. I cannot tell for sure whether these worrying environmental factors were considered or not during the project design, not least because of the contention over the comprehensiveness of its impact assessment(s).
Burning questions I keep asking myself in that regard are: What were we thinking then when we agreed as a country to enlist the Selous Game Reserve as UNESCO World Heritage Site? What were we thinking this time when we decided to dishonor that treaty and went ahead doing the contrary? For how long are we going to keep on disbanding commitments we willingly get into and what will be the long-term effects?
I am not sure the President will ever back down from the Rufiji Hydropower Project for the sake of heritage and conservation. We have been told that the project will be implemented come sun come rain. Contractors are even already on site and construction work is underway.
So, I only pray that we don’t discover gold deposits in the Serengeti and Tanzanite on Mount Kilimanjaro. Or oil and gas in the Ngorongoro Crater. Fore sure, there were several alternative energy sources we could have sought but only one Selous Game Reserve; once gone it’ll be gone forever.
Critics of President Magufuli’s leadership style have accused him of not being a good listener but the incidents I have cited in this blog post prove them wrong. The President listens. He hears very well.
He listened to the poor cashew nut farmers and dealers. Now they all will be paid. The President heard that unregulated human activities like farming jeopardize our conservation efforts and heritage. What matters, then, is who does he listen to and what does he hear?
