Tanzania

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)/Belgian Survival Fund (BSF) Joint Programme.

Teresia Augustini collects water from a shallow well by means of a hand pump in Intella Haubi. The well, dug in 1997 provides clean water to the village for the entire year.
IFAD Photo by Christine Nesbittthe United Republic of Tanzania - Water Supply and Health Project in Marginal Areas

The rural population of the central dry areas of the United Republic of Tanzania faces severe constraints due to the lack of safe water supply and health services. Agricultural production increases alone are not sufficient to bring about all-round development. The Water Supply and Health Project in the Marginal Areas is complementing the production-oriented IFAD Smallholder Development Project for Marginal Areas.

The project is being implemented in an area that has been categorized by the Government as being threatened by famine and is eligible for food aid. This area encompasses Dodoma Rural and Kondoa districts.

The project’s major focus is on providing the rural population with better access to clean drinking water in order to reduce the incidence of waterborne diseases and the time spent in collecting water, which is estimated at 3.1 hours each day by the women. Some 336,000 people are expected to benefit from improved access to potable water and sanitation. A community health care delivery system to support and strengthen the district health system is being established. The project is also aiming at strengthening local government capacity to plan and implement a water sanitation development programme.

Despite the difficulty in isolating the poorest of the poor, special attention is paid to women-headed households, households facing chronic malnutrition and poor health, and villages without a safe and reliable water supply.

In Kelema Balai Village (Kelema Mbuyuni Sub-Village), Kondoa District, a borehole was drilled in September 99. 33-year-old Adam Bakari recalled that as water supply was a need felt by all the families in the village, every household contributed 2000 shillings to the creation of a Water Fund. When the borehole was installed and became functional the residents of the village were encouraged to cultivate at least two troughs each for vegetables. The plantation belongs to the sub village and every woman has a patch of land to plant her vegetables. The vegetables are for domestic consumption and the rest is sold in the village. Bakari’s family benefits from the vegetable garden as his wife uses the money earned from the sale of vegetables to buy soap and clothes for her and their children. Before the borehole, the villagers had to walk three kilometres to get water and Bakari used to help by bringing water by bicycle. Now water is pumped in their own village everyday between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. The villagers have decided to buy each 20 litre bucket of water for 10 shillings; these funds are used for repair and maintenance of pumps to ensure sustainable supply of water in the villages.

Susana Masinga, her husband and two children live in the Chiboli village which now has access to water from a borehole near by. Before they had to walk far and fetching water became a full day’s work. The family members took turns to go for water and this too on alternate days. Those who had bicycles used them and those who did not went by foot. They had water to wash clothes once a month and take a bath once a week. Susana related how water borne diseases had now reduced as they had a borehole in the vicinity. The water is not free but they are happy to pay 20 shillings for a bucket. An ordinary day for Susana starts at 3 a.m. when she prepares the dough for making buns, she fries the buns and prepares tea for her tea stall business. She starts selling tea at 7 a.m. until the tea is finished. Then she starts with her house chores; sweeping, washing utensils, preparing tea for her husband and children. She pounds maize to make flour; this she normally does by hand. It is then time for washing clothes, collecting firewood and making lunch, which often consists of ugali and vegetables and occasionally beans or meat. After lunch it is time for the children to be washed; and by 6 she starts preparing the evening meal. The borehole has made it possible for Susana to to set up the tea business and now her biggest dream is to expand, so she could sell tea in the market in Fufu village.

Olivia Mgoba, 25 and Moreen (Lyawa) Yusuph, 23 are both married and each have 2 children; both live in Chiboli Village. These two young women have been friends and neighbours from childhood. They started to help at home at the age of 5 by carrying a 5-litre container of water from the river everyday. They would leave home at 7 a.m. to go for water and sometimes went without eating because the process took about 6 hours, it was a really tough time. Although there was a lot of water in the river, distance was a problem. They went on alternate days, so having a bath everyday was a problem; if one did not go for water, one could not have a bath. Those who did not go stayed for days, or even weeks without bathing because they had to rely on the water available in the containers at home. Washing hands before eating was impossible and as a result they often suffered from diseases like diarrhoea and other stomach ailments. Dispensaries were situated as far away as Fufu village; patients usually looked for some traditional treatment. To make the construction of a borehole possible, every household had to contribute at least 1 500 shillings, those who were well off contributed 5000 shillings. Today, the families can afford around 5 buckets of water a go, at a cost of 20 shillings for each bucket and they also have a bath whenever they want. For Olivia and Moreen the borehole has made it possible to set up a business. They have invested in a café business where they sell tea and buns; this would not have been possible some years ago when they had to save water only for cooking. Now that she has spare time, Olivia has also become a member of a choir group.

By the age of 15, the girls in the village start working as adults which includes preparation of food. By 18 they are married. Both Olivia and Moreen married at 18 and their parents gave a dowry of cattle, 4 for Olivia and 6 for Moreen. The number of cattle depends on the different agreements between the families. Both girls live happily with their respective husbands and practice family planning.

Monica Mhadi left Arusha for the Dodoma Rural District in 1979. She has 4 children, three boys and one girl. She has delivered 8 times but 4 died; 2 were stillbirths, 1 died of malaria and one of pneumonia. Monica’s husband, (a Masai chief) has 15 wives and she is the 7th. Their household is quite well off and they contributed 100 000/s for the borehole. Monica, who is from the Mangati tribe, wakes up at 6 a.m. and after praying, milks her cows (she has 30 cattle given to her by her husband). She later divides the cows into two groups, the calves remain around the house and the cows are given to the herdsmen for grazing. As in the Masai & Mangati tradition she pounds maize flour and processes ghee (purified butter). The processing is a daily affair and the ghee is not used after 10 hours. Normally cooking is done separately for men and women; the men eat first. Monica has benefited from the dispensary in the area and in fact visited the dispensary several times before her eighth child was born (the baby survived). Although the borehole in the locality is functioning, she sometimes still goes to the river for water. She says ''the water is expensive and I want to save money to be able to visit my mother in Arusha who I have not seen in 21 years.''

Gema Mtuli and her husband and 7 children live in Fufu Village where she has been living ever since she was born in 1953. Formerly the villagers were using a borehole, which also was used by other villages; Manzase, Ikondo and Suli. This borehole broke down in 1968 and during the 1972 villagisation programme in Tanzania another borehole was drilled and was used for ten years until that also broke down. Since then they have been using traditional wells, dug by cattle owners. If one does not have a well it means sneaking out at night to collect water as the cattle owners would not allow water to be taken from their wells. Recently the village has drilled a new borehole with plenty of water but they are still waiting for the installation of a pump and engine. For three years the family contributed 1000 shillings per annum for the construction of this borehole. Contributions depend on the number of cattle one owns. The more the number, the higher the contribution. Gema underlines the advantages they will have when it starts to operate, and that it will help them a lot.

IFAD Operations in Tanzania | IFAD Through Photography - Tanzania |
Monica Mhadi story sited in UN-Works for Women | Monica's Day (Video) | UN Chronicle (Volume 39 - Number 2 - 2002) - WatchWatch - Dodoma: Where the Elephant Sank