Food culture and gender: men`s and womene`s knowledge and

Food culture and gender:
men's and womene's knowledge and perception and
their influence on food production, consuption
and storage in magubike village, northern
highland of tanzania
mary donati wariro
Department of International Environment and development studies
Master Thesis 30 credits 2008
FOOD, CULTURE AND GENDER:
MEN S AND WOMEN S KNOWLEDGE AND PERCEPTION AND THEIR
INFLUENCE ON FOOD PRODUCTION, CONSUMPTION, AND STORAGE
IN MAGUBIKE VILLAGE, NORTHERN HIGHLAND OF
TANZANIA
Mary Donati Wariro
M.Sc. Thesis in Development Studies
May 2008
Noragric
Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB)
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The Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Noragric, is the
international gateway for the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB). Eight departments,
associated research institutions, and the Norwegian college of Veterinary Medicine in Oslo.
Established in 1986, Noragric's contribution to international development lies in the interface
between research, education (Bachelor, Masters and PhD programmes) and assignments.
The Noragric Master s thesis are final theses submitted by students in order to fulfil the
requirements under the Noragric Masters Programme Management of Natural Resources and
Sustainable Agriculture (MNRSA) , Development Studies ( MDS) and other masters
programmes.
The findings of this thesis do not necessarily reflect the view of Noragric. Extracts from this
publication may only be reproduced after prior consultation with the author and on the condition
that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation contact Noragric.
c. Mary Donati Wariro, May 2008
[email protected]
Noragric
Department of International Environment and Development Studies
P.O. Box 5003
N-1432 Ås
Norway
Tel:+4764965200
fAX:+4764965201
Internet: http://www.umb.no/noragric
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DECLARATION
I, Mary Donati Wariro, hereby declare that this is my original work for a M.Sc. Degree in
Development Studies. The thesis has not been submitted to any other academic institution other
than the Norwegian University of Life Sciences for a degree. All materials other than my own have
been acknowledged.
Mary Donati Wariro
Ås, May 15th 2008.
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ACKNOLWLEDGEMETS
Writing this thesis has been a challenging and exciting experience. The whole process of preparing
and writing this work has built-up my knowledge. This would not be possible without technical,
moral and material from other people. Although I take full responsibility as regards to the strength
and weakness of this work, I would like to pay tributes to all those who contributed to its success.
In Tanzania I would like to thanks Professor Joyce Kinabo, Dr. Peter Mamiro and PANTIL
colleagues in Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro ,Tanzania. They gave me a warm
wellcome and a guide to achieve the field planned work processes.
In Magubike, it was wonderful, it is not easy to mention each by names, but many thanks to
Magubike people as they helped me, anywhere, any time and anybody I was asking a help during
my stay in Magubike. However, I would like to thank Leah, Severine and Peniford for their good
work as assistants in my fieldwork. I would also like to thank Magubike leaders, personnel in the
health centre and the village agriculture extension officer for their technical elaborations and for the
fruitful discussion we had.
In Norway, I would like to thank my co- supervisor Randi Kaarhus for introducing me into the
PANTIL project and facilitate the work, for all the help,and for following me up in the field in
Tanzania. Thanks also goes to Lars Olav Eik for financial support through the PANTIL program.
Words are few to express my gratitude to my supervisor Gunnvor Berg. She gave me inspiration
and valuable comments during both the fieldwork and writing process. Thanks for weekly meetings
and bundles of literature you collected for me. I should not forget to say thanks for cups of tea you
welcomed me with.
I would like to thank the Donati Wariro family in Tanzania, and the Gunnar Aaberg family in
Norway. They both gave me material and moral support all the way to make it possible to get this
work done.
Asanteni na Mungu awabariki!
Mary Donati Wariro.
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ABSTRACT
Food is important to the life and existence of living human beings. We all eat but we differ on what
we eat, when we eat and why we eat. Magubike is a village in the Northern highland of Tanzania.
The village is mainly populated by people from the Kaguru regions, but also some other tribes. The
thesis builds upon thirteen weeks fieldwork in Magubike from mid September to late December
2007
The study is a compulsory part of the requirement for my masters degree. It is also the fruit of a
collaboration work with the PANTIL nutritional project between Sokoine University in Tanzania
and the University of Life Sciences in Norway. This study aims at understanding how the
knowledge and perceptions of men and women in a household are influencing food production,
consumption, and storage. This was investigated in the households with an attention to gender
relations. In order to achieve the stated objectives, the processes of data collection and analysis
were carried out with the help of a livelihood framework combined with a gender relation
framework. These frameworks were the tools that guided and structured this study.
Among the findings were that people in Magubike depend most for their food on what they locally
produce. If they adopt new crops, they will choose a crop that both will be part of their food, and
possible to market. This was because they depend on agriculture. Men do take part in the
agricultural activities to the same extent as women or even more. This was because men have also a
traditional obligation of supplying food to his family and agriculture is the only promising means of
getting food. Women headed households were highly affected with the traditional distribution or
inheritance to land. They hey could not own land, and their access to land was possible through
brothers or renting.
Maize related food are important to almost every day and even every meal. The importance of food
in Magubike is explained in terms of its availability and by how the body feels after consuming that
type of food. Some of the food was poorly looked upon, as was attached to some crucial periods
such as food shortages and poverty.
Ugali food is stiff porridge made of maize flower. The are two types of ugali, sembe and dona. The
difference depends on the preparations of maize grains. For sembe maize grains needs to be piled?
its outer shell before processes to flower, while dona they are processes without the shells being
removed. The two foods means different things in Magubike society.
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The gender difference among the household members was seen in capital ownerships, control,
access and transfer. Women were seen to lack power for decision-making as she did not have
ownerships, control, and access and transfer properties. These properties are material and nonmaterial things and aspects that help household member to take part in daily activities and hence
transfer the outcomes in to consumptions and other necessary goods.
Consumption was an important aspect in this study. The choice of food between men and women in
the household were affected with the capital ownerships and control. Women could choose what to
prepare by choosing from what they have accessible at home, stored as food. When she had to go to
the market, what she could choose depended on the amount of money given her by a man or her
husband. At the same time, men choose what food crops to be grown in a season, and this decision
will influence what can be at stored as food. This was then showing men s control and superiority.
The PANTIL nutritional project has aimed at improving the consumption in Magubike households.
Their focus is on diet improvements through better combinations of meals. The important thing to
know is that women in Magubike prepare food, but they do not decide on what food to be
consumed. The diet in Magubike depends upon the choices taken at the production stage, whereby
what they choose to grow will influence their yearly consumption.
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Table of Contents
Declaration ........................................................................................................................................iii
Acknowledgements ...........................................................................................................................iv
Abstracts ...................................................................................................................................... .... v
Table of content.................................................................................................................................vii
PART ONE...................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Research objectives....................................................................................................................3
1.2 Organisation of text................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 Tanzania national geography..................................................................................................... 4
2.2 History and politics.................................................................................................................... 5
2.3 Economy and livelihood............................................................................................................ 6
2.4.1 Formation of Magubike village........................................................................................10
2.4.2 Formation of Magubike village........................................................................................10
3.1 Study area................................................................................................................................ 10
3.2 Sampling procedure................................................................................................................. 10
3.3 Participant observation.............................................................................................................11
3.4 Data collecting......................................................................................................................... 11
3.5 Limitations............................................................................................................................... 12
3.5.1 Language.......................................................................................................................... 12
3.5.2 Field assistance................................................................................................................ 12
5.3.3 Ethics................................................................................................................................13
4.1 Livelihood approach................................................................................................................ 14
4.2 Gender and Capitals.................................................................................................................17
4.3 Local production...................................................................................................................... 20
4.4 Multiple incomes..................................................................................................................... 21
4.5 Food and culture...................................................................................................................... 23
PART TWO....................................................................................................................................25
Finding and analysis ..........................................................................................................................25
5.1 Natural capital..........................................................................................................................26
5.1.2 Land ................................................................................................................................ 26
5.1.2 Water................................................................................................................................ 27
5.1.3 Forest................................................................................................................................28
5.2 Physical capital ....................................................................................................................... 28
5.2.1 Houses.............................................................................................................................. 28
5.2.2 Hand hoes.........................................................................................................................30
5.2.3 Machetes ......................................................................................................................... 30
5.2.4 Plastic buckets .................................................................................................................30
5.2.5 Bicycles............................................................................................................................ 31
5.2.6 Water pump machines...................................................................................................... 31
5.2.7 Seeds ............................................................................................................................... 31
5.2.8 Mills machines...................................................................................................................... 31
5.3 Human capital.......................................................................................................................... 32
5.3.1 Formal education..............................................................................................................32
5.3.2 Labour ............................................................................................................................. 32
5.4 Social capital............................................................................................................................33
5.4.1 Network............................................................................................................................33
5.5 Financial capital ...................................................................................................................... 34
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5.5.1 Pigs...................................................................................................................................34
5.5.2 Chickens and Ducks.........................................................................................................34
5.5.3 Goat keeping.................................................................................................................... 35
6.1 Households...............................................................................................................................36
6.2 Kinships................................................................................................................................... 36
6.3 Village government .................................................................................................................36
6.4 Non Governmental Organisation............................................................................................ 37
7.1 Crop production....................................................................................................................... 37
7.2 Gendered economic dimension on seeds ................................................................................ 39
7.3 Household labour and health .................................................................................................. 40
7.4 Income generating activities.................................................................................................... 41
7.4.1 Wood charcoal making.....................................................................................................42
7.4.2 Alcohol making................................................................................................................ 43
7.4.3 Making and exchanging home made utensils.................................................................. 45
7.4.4 Tomato gardens................................................................................................................ 46
7.4.5 Timber making................................................................................................................. 49
7.4.6 Other income-bringing activities..................................................................................... 50
8.1 Improved storage system......................................................................................................... 51
8.2 Local storage systems.............................................................................................................. 51
8.2.1 Maize storage ................................................................................................................. 51
8.2.2 Cassava storage................................................................................................................ 52
8.2.3 Storage of vegetables ...................................................................................................... 52
8.2.4 Food leftovers ................................................................................................................. 53
PART THREE .................................................................................................................................. 53
Aspects of household consumption ...................................................................................................53
9.1 Gender decisions on food ....................................................................................................... 54
9.1.1 Decision of men on food.................................................................................................. 54
9.1.2 Decision of women on food ............................................................................................ 54
9.2.1 Rich and poor food ..........................................................................................................56
9.2.2 Roasted and boiled mboga............................................................................................... 59
9.2.3 Scarce and available food ............................................................................................... 60
10.1 Division of meals in Magubike..............................................................................................62
Meals and food variations
..............................................................................................62
10.2 Art of eating and the body......................................................................................................63
10.2.1 The body .......................................................................................................................63
10.2.2 Harmony and food......................................................................................................... 64
10.2.3 Conformity and eating .................................................................................................. 66
10.2.4 Chicken meat as symbol for respect.............................................................................. 67
10.2.5 Eating togetherness........................................................................................................ 68
PART FOUR........................................................................................................................... ...... . 69
11.1 Rich and poor households ................................................................................................. 69
11.2 Land as a capitals and right ..................................................................................................71
12.0 Food shortage.........................................................................................................................72
12.1 Seasonality............................................................................................................................. 74
12.2 Coping strategies ...................................................................................................................75
12.3 Consumption during the food shortages................................................................................ 76
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ix
PART ONE
1.0 Introduction
The main objective of this study is to understand how the understanding and perceptions of men
and women in the household are influencing food production, consumption, and storage. The study
was conducted in Magubike village as a result of collaborative work with the PANTIL project both
in Norway and Tanzania.
Magubike is village located in the northern highland of Tanzania. The village in located in the
Morogoro region, Kilosa district. Smallholder household farmers dominate the village. Traditional
society s food is much more central element of life than in Western state dominated societies
(Sahlins). Food is central to Magubike people. Their daily activities are devoted to producing or
procuring food. Food related priorities influence the choices they make throughout the day. A
person would for example choose to attend the market located in eastern side because it would be
possible to get more food in exchange for own products on that side than on the other side. A wife
expresses her relationship with her husband through the choices that are made when preparing and
serving meals. Men express attitudes to their wives through what kind of food they procure for
consumption. A focus on food as symbols can help us make a sense of how a household, and the
village, organise their activity. This thesis will focus on both the practical and the symbolic aspects
of food in Magubike households.
What people eat in the village is both an outcome of what nature provides, and their capability to
access it. The local markets goods were dominated with local produce and the prices of local good
were always cheaper than the imported goods. This study about food in Magubike has the potential
to increase our understanding of how households and village are organised and how they respond to
different positive or negative events.
I spent three months in the field. Household members, both men and women, were the focus of my
study. The people living in Magubike belong to the Kaguru ethnic group, although there was some
few from other ethnics. The fieldwork was between months of September and December. In this
time of the year main farm works were over, few has little crops still remain in the farm some where
drying their food out in the sun before bringing it to storage.
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Magubike village is a study area chosen for the PANTIL nutrition project. PANTIL is the
abbreviation for Programme for Agricultural and Natural Resources Transformation for Improved
Livelihoods. The PANTIL project activities in Magubike village are implemented under a project,
titled developing nutrition interventions for improved health and productivity in Morogoro and
Iringa Regions; Tanzania. The project is coordinated under collaboration between Sokoine
University of Agriculture (SUA), Department of Food Science and Technology in Tanzania and
University of Life Sciences, Department of International Environment and Development Studies
(NORAGRIC).
The PANTIL project in Magubike has previously conducted a quantitative study on food and
nutrition in the village. The PANTIL (2006 ) study had the following specific objectives,

To identify types and causes of malnutrition and develop appropriate interventions (Dietary
modification, nutrition supplementation and nutrition education)

To determine the link between nutrition, health, cognitive development and productivity

To improve quality of labour force (work capacity) through prevention of malnutrition and
diseases

To determine the socio- economic benefits/impact of the interventions

To examine socio
cultural factors that influence attitudes and perceptions on nutrition and
poverty alleviation.
The project has the following expected outcome from the four years of implementations.

Enhanced understanding of the link between nutrition, health and productivity.

Improved nutritional status of participating communities.

Increased work capacity and labour productivity of population.

Improved skills, knowledge, and nutrition.
So far, the project has started its implementation. Among the activities in the village are those
focusing on objective one: To identify types and causes of malnutrition and develop appropriate
interventions (Dietary modification, nutrition supplementation and nutrition education) ( PANTIL
2006). A group of five young girls and boys from the village were recruited and trained to provide
nutritional in formations to the villagers. Different stakeholders from regional institutions and
government employees, and village leaders, where included in the education as a way to diversify
the means to deliver the nutrition knowledge to the villagers. In addition, the project undertook
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clinical tests on a selected sample of villagers. As a result of the tests the project distributed
nutritional supplements to those who has deficiencies, and tablets for worm infections.
1.1 Research objectives
My contribution to the PANTIL project will be to understand aspects around food, culture and
gender. My main goal was to understand how the knowledge and perceptions of men and women
inform the choices and strategies for food production and consumption in a household.
In order to address this goal, I particularly focused on the following six objectives:
1.
Map and understand different types of food consumed at the household level
2.
Assess decision making processes on food production at the household level
3.
Look at the responsibilities of different members of the household with respect to food
production and consumption
4.
Assess the role of norms and rules in determining intra- household food allocation among its
members, such as men, women, children, aged, and pregnant women
5.
Understand how the varying assets of households tend to respond to food scarcity or food
availabilities
6.
Assess the storage systems with respect to what is stored, how and who does the storage
estimate, and if the estimate meet the yearly consumption at the household level.
1.2 Organisation of text
This thesis is divided into three parts. Part one in this thesis will include four chapters. Chapter one
is introduction, and chapter two will include background information on Tanzania and the
Magubike village. It provides background information on Tanzania, and narrowing down to the
specific study area of Magubike. It focuses on history, polices ad geography of Magubike. Chapter
three will discuss methodological issue and the theoretical discussions will be covered in chapter
four.
opens by The theoretical approaches are placed, whereby important concepts and approaches are
provided and other aspects combined to form a topic and make it explicit. The research processes
are explained to show procedure to how data was collected. Part two provides the core part of this
thesis, on data presentation and analysis. Finding and analysis are accompanied with by discussion
on a number of issues of relevance for the topic of the thesis. The third part & & The work ends
with a conclusion and some suggestions on what can be done to improve food production and hence
consumption in Magubike village.
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2.0 background information
2.1 Tanzania national geography
Tanzania is the result of union between former Tanganyika (Tanzania main land) and Zanzibar
( Uguja and Pemba- Indian islands). It was 1964 when the nation declared as united republic of
Tanzania, three years after independence from British colonial government.
Tanzanian is located in Eastern part of Africa, it is the largest country. The national population
censer 2006 37.5 millions inhabitant in a land of 942800 square kilometer. Tanzania is divided in to
26 region main land and Zanzibar. Each region has people of different tribe background and that
make the country to have different cultures and different languages. Swahili language is official
language and spoken by all Tanzanian. English is both official and learning language for secondary
and high learning institutes (Nation Website).
Picture 1: Map of Tanzania
The nation has a tropical climate although you can experience different climate, varying from north
to south and across the country. Some areas have mountainous climates mostly in northern part of
North east regions of Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Tanga . In the middle part of the country region of
Dodoma and Tabora some parts have semi arid climate.
4
The variation of climate support different weather condition as a result it support different crop. For
example Kilimanjaro and Bukoba region are enjoying banana foods through out of the year, while
Mbeya and Rukwa and some part of Morogoro are enjoying high harvest of maize grains, while in
Tanga they are enjoying tropical fruits, at the same time there is area within the same region and the
country that do not have that glory. The national infrastructure connecting between the regions are
seasonal. The majorities of roads are in a bad condition and so can only be used during the dry
season.
2.2 History and politics
Tanzania got independence in 1961. Until then it was a British colony. Tanzania has experienced a
stable political situation initiated by late Mwl. J.K. Nyerere. Since independence, the nation has
been boosting its economy along with several policy frame works. In this work, I will discuss two
policies implemented between 1960's and 1990's, of importance for the development and activities
of Magubike villagers today.
These two are the Arusha declaration and the structural adjustment programs of the 1990s.
The Arusha declaration. The declaration was held under influential leader mwl. J. K. Nyerere in
firth of February 1967. The declaration formulated the policy known as villagesation policy.
The major aim of the policy was to improve agriculture production through socialism. This program
has a nickname of Nyerere version of socialism . The policy encouraged National Socialism and
self- reliance. One of the strategies of implementation was to deploy people from town and force
them to go back to their village and carry out agricultural activities. Another implementation
strategy was form Ujamaa villages (Sarris, A. H., and Brink, R. V. D 1993).
Ujamaa - is the Swahili word meaning socialism. In this policy the word was used as
mobilization of capital, in this case it was mostly human capital.
Magubike village was one of the villages where people where relocated from their land and moved
to form small towns.
Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) 1990 s. SAP were an external policy initiated and influenced
by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The policy came with several conditions
that recipient countries had to follow. Among the conditions was that government should cut down
all the subsidies. This included all the agricultural inputs that were supplied by the government to
5
the farmers. The result was collapse in most of cash crop production such as Coffee, Cotton and
Sisal. Another condition was private investments and free market. With free market, import and
export became open. The result was the influx of cheap food crops from countries such as South
Africa, whereby the market for internal Tanzanian goods went down.
Together with other negative impact of SAP, agricultural activities experience major setbacks.
Magubike farmers had cotton as their cash crop, but there after introduction of SAP, farmers had to
abandon the crops, as they could not reach the markets or meet the production cost any more.
Rural farmers were the subject of all these major changes. Government was no longer able to
support education and health systems. They were no longer able to control prices, where the
inflation has reached rural people whose now stress on income cash in order to meet basic need
(Ellis and Freeman 2005).
The positive outcomes were that people had to find other means for survival apart from farming.
This resulted in diversification in the sources of income including rural
urban migration and non-
farm activities. The majority in Tanzania opted for non-agricultural activities.
Today Tanzanian development programs have several policies that influence the implementation of
development programs. Some policies are initiated externally and some are internally initiated. In
this study, I will discuss two policies, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2015 and the
Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) 2000. The reason I chosen to focus on these two policies is they
all focus on giving people relief to poverty and it consequences to human life. While MGGs is
addresses from the international level, PRS is focusing at the details implementation at the local
level, with respect to special dynamics and needs of Tanzanian people.
2.3 Economy and livelihood
Despite the fact that the Tanzanian national economy diversified to different income sources, the
nation relies on agriculture. Eighty percent of the Tanzanian population lives in rural areas where
their survival depends on subsistence agriculture activities.
Agriculture in Tanzania includes crop cultivation, livestock keeping, forest and fishing. Agricultural
activities in Tanzania are concentrated in the rural subsistence farming and small scale crop
markets. 70% of the agricultural cultivation is performed by hand hoe. The sector employs 80% of
6
the population and contributes 43.7% on the national GDP 2006. Of this, crop production
contributes 45.7%, while livestock contributes 36.3%, forest and hunting 4.0% and fishing 3.1% of
the total national income. The other activities contributions to the national income are trades,
mining, industry and tourism (National Website).
Despite of a diversified livelihood, people are poor. The agricultural sector that contributes most in
to national economy does not secure the well-being of farmers. Among the major setbacks are a
uneven production due to natural hazards, pest and diseases, poor communication and infrastructure
both within the nation and with the outside world, and the ill health of producers.
Tanzania is a member country of the United Nation and hence is set to achieve United Nations
Millennium Development Goals 2015 (MDGs). The MDGs are international undertaking defining
development goals and set to influence development policies. They are goals to be achieved to
change the quality of life of the poorest, Tanzanians among them. Aid donors and some internal
efforts fund most activities.
The following are among the major MDGs objectives;

Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by half the proportion of people whose income is less
than one dollar a day.

Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and
young people.

Halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

To achieve universal primary education

To promote gender equality and empower women.

To reduce child mortality.

To improve maternal health.

To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases to ensure environmental sustainability.
Apart from MDGs, Tanzania developed its own policy strategies known as the National Strategy for
Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP) . This is the second national organizing framework
with emphasis on poverty reduction policies that has gained high attention on the country s
development agenda. The NSGRP is informed by the aspirations of Tanzania s Development Vision
(Vision 2025 from National Website). The police is national base strategies which aim at improving
the life of people by putting emphasis on agriculture sector, disease, education, and infrastructure.
7
The following objectives are to be achieved under NSGPR ;
(I) Reducing income poverty; (ii) Improving human capabilities, survival and social well-being;
and (iii) Reducing extreme vulnerability among the poor (National Website)
Table 1: Major categories of impoverishing factors from Tanzania PPA (2002/03)
Category
Description
Environment
Weather extremes (e.g. flooding, drought),
stresses from gradual degrading of forest, soils,
fisheries and pastures; health effects and loss of
confidence in future well-being
Macroeconomic
National economic decisions such as
privatisation, elimination of subsidies on
productions inputs, cost sharing in health,
reduced spending on agricultural services,
employment, rural livelihoods, costs and access
to social services.
Governance
Coercion, extortion, all forms of corruption,
unsatisfactory taxation (multiple taxation,
coercive tax collection methods); political
exclusion
Ill-health
Malnutrition, injury, diseases, HIV/AIDS, other
physical and psychological disabilities
Life cycle-linked conditions
youths and children being particularly vulnerable
to special problems
Cultural beliefs and practices
Impoverishment resulting from cultural norms /
traditional belief, diminishing their freedom of
choice and action
e.g. those discriminating
women and children
Source: adapted from United Republic of Tanzania, 2004, Vulnerability and Resilience to Poverty
2002/03 Tanzania Participatory Poverty Assessment: Main Report Dar es Salaam
The National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP) has a goal to reduce the
8
obstacles that deprive Tanzanians and the government from achieving the goal to combat poverty.
Poverty is itself impoverishing the development. The above table aims at identifying different facts
that impoverish the poverty reduction efforts.
The graph starts with environmental issues. Environment is seen to be the most problematic at least
at the government level. Weather extremes (e.g. flooding, drought), stresses from gradual degrading
of forest, soils, fisheries and pastures; health effects are highlighted. My Magubike case study also
shows that the villagers are affected by weather extremes, gradual degradation of the soil as seen
from gradual low harvest, and gradual degrading of forest as a result of expanding farm land and
wood charcoal productions.
Macroeconomic issues that explained as national decisions on elimination of subsidies on condition
for agriculture inputs, cost sharing in health, reduced spending on agricultural services,
employment, rural livelihoods, costs and access to social services. Magubike villagers can be
defined as vulnerable based on the above definitions. Elimination of subsidies as was noted earlier
from structural adjustment programs has made it difficult for the farmers to reach the cost of farm
maintenance, low income per individual made it difficult to meet the cost added for health. Hence
today Magubike farmers highlighted diseases as the major setback for their production activities.
Disease and other mentioned setbacks remain the challenge that need to be addressed while we are
addressing the poverty issues and rural well-being in Magubike.
Governance is and will remain an important factor for poverty reduction. Corruption killed skills
and innovations. I will explain what I mean by a single example from Magubike. There were claims
from the village on food (maize) aid to come to the village in a particular acute food shortage.
Villagers were claiming that the responsible public workers were distributing little out of what they
had, and that the rest was sold in the market for prices that only business people could afford. This
story is an example of how corruption affects smallholders who needs help from their government.
In my opinion, political excluded villages such as Magubike that do not have highly income
bringing activities such as mining tend to receive less interest. They villagers in Magubike said they
only see politicians when they need votes.
In Magubike, some cultural beliefs and practices diminish the freedom of choice and action. I will
link this to gender issues in Magubike village. I will take an example of property rights and women.
According to the Magubike village s traditional customary law and the rest Tanzania villages
9
traditional customary law, women have limited land rights. Land rights are attached to inheritance,
and women do not have right to inherit. Without land, women cannot produce food for their family,
they cannot receive loan as land mostly are kept as collateral. Together with other cultural beliefs,
such traditions and practices may be seen as barriers to the poverty reduction, and need to be
addressed.
2.4 Study area
2.4.1 Formation of Magubike village
The people in Magubike are from the KAGURU tribe, and they speak the language Kikaguru and
Swahili. The village population is approximately 7000, increased from 5000 in 2002. This figure is
obtained by counting the number of newborn in the health centre.
2.4.2 Formation of Magubike village
Magubike village is among the ujamaa villages. People are called Kaguru people, but also there are
a few from other tribes. Before the ujamaa policy, the villagers homes were scattered. The
distances between the households were big as people stayed in their own farms. The ujamaa villages
formed under the socialism policy were based on the he government wanting the villagers to live
close in small communities. The government wanted this so as basic welfare services such as
school, hospital, security, information and markets could be formed and provided easily. The choice
of location of villages followed the possible roads and other infrastructure services. That explains
where Magubike came to be. One of the impacts of villagesation was that livestock activities were
not favoured in the new homes. This was because animal pastures are located far distances. As they
were walking to meet pastures animals were destroying crops and course every day conflicts.
3.0 Methodology and fieldwork
3.1 Study area
Magubike village is divided in to ten hamlets. Each hamlet has more that fifteen households. Each
hamlet has a leader who represents them in the village council.
3.2 Sampling procedure
The PANTIL project had selected a random sample for the base line study conducted 2006 in the
village. A random sampling is a Sampling whereby the inclusion of a unity of a population occurs
entirely by chance (Bryman 2000: 543). My sample was selected from the random sample selected
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by the PANTIL study. A small mathematical calculation was done to determine how much percent
would represent thirty-two households that were needed. The obtained percent was then allow each
Hamlet to be represented by between two to four household's depends on number of household's in
respective hamlet. The household's was represented in number (anonymous) and a lottery was done
on each hamlet respectively. Household's where then identified by names. Thirty-two was more
than five percent of PANTIL selected household's. This is equal or more than five percent of the
households in the village. Boyd et al (1981), described that five percent of population is a minimum
representative sample size.
Apart from random sample, purposive sample was also carried out. Purposive sample is a sample
that is selected for a specific reason. In Magubike I visited a health centre and interviewed the
health workers such as those responsible with clinic for children and pregnant women, and medical
doctor. A government agricultural extension officer, village leadership, a non-governmental
organisation, and private people owned shops were also visited and interviewed.
3.3 Participant observation
Participant observation was the main method I used during the fieldwork. Participant observation
according to Bryman means an activity where the researcher immerses him- or her self in
observation, unstructured interviewed, questioning and field visits Bryman (2000). My fieldwork
was three months.
3.4 Data collecting
The data collection process involved different methods as far as my study was concerned. The first
method was qualitative data collection and the second was quantitative data collection.
Qualitative data collection involved participant observation as explained above. Information was
collected and constructed in an ongoing process during the fieldwork. Farmers fields were visited
and markets events for observation and questioning.
An open-ended questionnaire was then made with questions of production, consumption and
storages and administered to households members. Another small open-ended questionnaire with
three questions on consumption was made and administered to a class of thirty-six students, both
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boys and girls.
Secondary data from the PANTIL base line study were also used as data and allowed for
comparison during the study and writing processes.
3.5 Limitations
When carrying out a study, researchers encounter different barriers on environmental, cultural,
economical and methodological a long with the aim of peruse the field work. As I am a young
professional, I faced several difficult during the field work. I did, however, find some solution and
get on with the study.
3.5.1 Language
Language is a means of communication; it involves symbols, gestures and words. It is also about
how to ask and how to respond. One might think that since I am a native Tanzanian and speak
Swahili I should not have communication problems in Magubike. I thought the same, but it is
absolutely wrong and an advantage in a one way. Tanzanian tribes have their languages besides
Swahili. And they prefer to use their local language when they are clarifying things related to their
internal life at homes. I also speak my local language when at home.
Language became an additional problem when we were discussing important things with elders
especially. They did not have Swahili words for them. The solution I found was the note book I
had, where I could store the words for further clarification in the evenings with my host family.
Some times misinterpretation of meaning comes within the Swahili language to English. For
example is it common to translate the Swahili word chakula to food in English. The word chakula
was used in the same way for both when they speak Swahili and kikaguru languages. But that was
not what they meant by that term in the village. Chakula meant cereals, mostly maize. I could not
understand this unless the work was repeatedly mentioned and forced me to have a special focus on
it. Language is an important prerequisite in research, special attention is needed in order to avoid
misquotes.
3.5.2 Field assistance
Part of my introduction was to meet with people in the village who were going to be my field
12
assistants. The PANTIL nutrition program in the village had already trained five youth who were
responsible for facilitating nutrition education in the village. I was able to use them as field
assistants. It was an easy way to get assistances from people who were well informed about the
project.
Among their responsibilities with me, was to introduce me in each household. I asked them to
inform each household one day before the day of my visiting the household. And they could pick
me and show the responsible household every second or third day. I just have to give this story in
order to help you understand point I want to make with field assistances. The first household I
visited. In the morning when we were there with one of the assistants he made an introduction using
the Kaguru language. And the meal in that day had Ugali (starch) kidney beans (protein) green
vegetable (vitamin). I was surprised because I heard before peoples in the village had poor diet
plans. They did the same on the other visit. The second household did the same. And the second
households also did the same. But as I asked them if that is how they usually ate they said no, some
times. And since I listened to the words used by assistants in the introduction, I went back home and
asked the meaning of these words in Swahili. I found out that the assistants had told the households
were to cook a balance diet as a means to show that they attended the nutrition education programs.
Along with the explanation above, misinformation from the field assistants or other informants can
mislead the data and give a false picture.
The solution I found for this particular problem was that I had an evening meeting with the
assistants and reviewed my objectives with them. The next household I observed changed which
was the reality.
5.3.3 Ethics
Ethics involve what people can do and what they can not do, with regards to different circumstances
such as gender, age, and traditions. Women in Magubike are traditionally obliged not to speak much
about their husbands. They can only speak about themselves. The fact that men were away from
home during the day and could come in the evening after works I spent my days with women and
children when they came back from school. At one time in the first week, I discovered that
information that was given by a women about men and households was less informative than what a
man could say about him self. I made several observations and asked more about that when I was
talking with people out in informal meetings. They advice me to ask women questions regarding
themselves and their role in the household and men questions about the men themselves. As the
13
talking goes on when a woman was not happy with her husband I was able to speak much with
them about their husbands since they where initiating the discussions by them self.
Qualitative methodology involves a lot of difficulties. And one needs passion and time to come
through.
4.0 Theoretical framework and literature review
4.1 Livelihood approach
Livelihood is a social science term. Livelihood is used as a term and as approach to poverty.
Livelihood as a term means peoples means of life. As an approach livelihood includes assets or
capitals that people own or have access to. Livelihood include people, it also includes peoples
activities that involve the use of different capitals to meet their demands. Livelihood approaches
include problems or barriers that people meet with while they perform their activities. Finally, it
includes institutions and policies that inform the process of attaining a livelihood. (Scoones 1998),
(Ellis and Freeman 2005).
I chose a livelihood approach for my data analysis. Livelihood approaches have been used for the
analysis of rural poor by different authors. My aim was to understand the perceptions of people with
respect to food production, consumption and storage in order to understand how people organise
themselves within a community and within the house. What assets do household's have, what
activities do the household members perform, where do they get help, and which problems do they
face.
The livelihood approach seems to be down to earth and to be able to provide a model for answering
these questions. The livelihood approach did not have a space where inner interaction of people
with in the household or communities can be discussed. In order to analyse my core questions using
the livelihood approach, I went further to discuss relationship between people and key stakeholders.
These discussions approached the issues of gender differences, providing information on types of
capital and access, the decision making process between men and women with in the household,
and traditions practices. Food is a livelihood outcome. Linking the livelihood approach with
analysis of concepts of food, the capitals, activities and informed institutions performance was then
analysed on how they impact on food productions, consumptions, and storages.
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Figure: 1. A livelihood framework adopted from Scoones (1998).
From the livelihood framework above, capital is an important part of (concept for) my study.
Capitals includes natural capitals such as land, physical capitals such as hoes, human capitals that is
labour power, social capitals such as education, and financial capital. Through capitals, I was able to
assess ownership and access between men and women in the village. Traditional structure relieved
with in the capitals on who is included and who is excluded. The nature of capitals shows the
production abilities and disabilities. This is for example human capital is central in production,
inability to work due to diseases or any form of absence that creates dysfunctions among the
household member. The ability of household overcome dysfunctions will depends on the capital
available for them.
Through analysis of capitals, I was able to put PANTIL in to the context of my work. The central
objective of the project is to improve human capital (PANTIL 2006). The assumption is
15
improvement of human capital will act as a catalyst to the improvement of other capital and hence
there will be transformation of livelihood of Magubike people. Magubike people are among most
poor people, whose bodies are important for their daily survival. In other words they do not have
assured insurance if they can not go out and produce. Therefore their health is central to their
present and future well being though productions. Institutions and organisations are a part of
frameworks. Institutions and organisations include international agencies, government leadership,
and Non Governmental Organisation kinship and household.
There is a debate on how to define a household. Some studies said household to be single unity,
other said they are composed of people lived under the same roof hence its member function
together (Evans 1991, Quisumbing 2003). These explanations are either based on the household
structures (unity) or its compositions (same roof). According to Magubike village household and
my understanding on household's the existing understand on household are close to reality, their
differences depend on what one intends to study and to explain. Explanations of household's as a
single unity and or same roof can be used at different places and both at the the time, for example if
you are conducting censorship you will understand household in terms of physical location and its
composition. If you want to understand decision making, roles and access to capital within the
household, , you cannot see the household as a unity. The experience from Magubike shows that it
may be useful to use a flexible understanding on what a household is. The composition is dynamic,
the roofs are split, and people eat at different tables and from different houses.
Kinship in Magubike is the institution formed by joint households from the same clan. Kin is usual
comprise of structure of leadership. Kinship holds the customary law. These laws are traditional
passed to every household's member. Most of these laws are unquestionable and do not have further
explanations. The existing rules and norms are informed by ancestors, therefore no room for change
or negotiations. Household's and kinship are important institutions in a rural livelihood, as they play
key roles in asset ownership and in the transfer of assets from one generation to another. They have
a role in livelihood improvement. For example these institutions in Magubike village exclude
women from land right through inheritance.
Capitals ownerships and accesses, and institutions which inform them are together informing the
livelihood activities. Available capitals are most criteria for individuals and household capability
achieve sustainable livelihood. Lack of ownership and access has direct impact on activities and
performance. Having recognised the importance of capitals and failures of structures and improper
16
processes. The gender issues are important to be analysed. In the livelihood approach, improved
food security is among expected outcomes. In order to answer my research questions I will draw on
the gender analysis frameworks in so as to able on the processes and the distribution of capital
within the household whereby the livelihood approach is weak.
4.2 Gender and Capitals
The analysis of household state of poverty pays attention to intra household members and
distributions. Focus on gender will respect the difference between men and women in access,
claims, own, control and passing capitals. These differences so far has been in favour of men, is due
to this women said a poorest member of the poor household. What people has as capital inform
what they can produce and their abilities to with holds changes brought by shocks, seasonality and
trends.
Studies about men and women are complex. In attempt to understand men ad women relations there
have emerged several models. Each models or framework has both advantages and disadvantages.
Women in Development (WID) and Gender and Development (GAD) are two main existing
debatable ways of integrating gender issues in development interventions. WID came before GAD,
WID said to understand women in a different context with men. WID is criticized as women should
be understood on the same context with men, and what ever intervention should follow the same
existing relation between men and women. GAD came to replace WID. One of the arguments for
GAD is gender mainstreaming. (Razavi and Miller 1995, Burnell and Morrissey 2004 :256).
In this study on food, culture and gender in Magubike I will adopt elements from two different
gender frameworks, the Gender Role Framework and the Social Relation analysis.
Gender Role Framework. Men s and women s activities were observed separately and also on the
points where they interacts. Capitals ownership control, and access, were examined whereby the
focus was to understand what men claimed as his and what women claimed as their properties and
why they do things those properties belongs to any of them. Understand on activities and capitals
were then followed with the decision making between men and women in respect to activities,
capitals and outcomes with respects to food.
Contexts were respected as what was happening between men and women within the household and
17
outside. Specifically I was examining if superiority or inferiority of men or women was extended to
context out side home the places where most of activities are performed. Men domination was
extended to outside home. Who dominate in the private sphere dominate also I the public sphere.
Social relations analysis is another approach I have chosen to use in order to understand food,
gender and culture in Magubike. Social relations analysis seeks to understand particular dimensions
of social relations.
Within this approach,
-
Gender relation refers specifically to those
dimensions of social relations that create differences in the positioning of men and women in social
processes (Razavi S and Miller C 1995: 27).
Social relation analysis provides a mechanism for understanding what is within the social structure
that underlies the existing relations, including between men and women. Within the society there
are social processes that influence the relationship between men and women, including traditions,
norms and values. Understanding these social relation processes will help to plan mode of
interventions.
Inability to hold capitals are caused by several reasons, including the cultures, lows, and policies.
These causalities for holding capital affect an individual or a group of individuals, more over it
limits possibilities to perform livelihood activities. Women are the most affected on the category of
individuals. Ellis saw that in the development programs of today, if ever plan to consider gender in
plan and implementations they should know that,
The exclusion of women from land ownership can be regarded as one of the most pernicious of all
gender inequalities and therefore one of that most urgently requires commitment to change (Ellis
2000: 157).
Richey, in a journal edited by Burnell and Morrissey (2004), on their recommendations they prefer
that to communities to directs funds specifically deals with gender issues within the development
programs that will aim at eliminating gender differences. Women exclusion from asset ownership
has created a chronic dependence on men. This is not as they are not able to produce but because
they do not control the out come wealth from their produce.
Land is a fundamental (capital) for rural poor , (Ellis 2000) for mostly small holder rural farmers
The ownership and access to land is cultural design to fall along the hands of men. This is
transferred across the generations. It is not only Magubike village but it is a traditional for majority
of customary laws in Tanzania.
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Ellis (2000) suggests that one of the means to achieve gender equality is to stop discriminatory
customs against women. As far as inequalities is one of the factor for persistence of poverty women
access to land will reduce the number of people living below the poverty line.
In Magubike households men and women are seen to be different in terms of decision making,
responsibility, power relations and consumption behaviours, his will be addresses in further
chapters.
Productions and consumptions within the household are seen to be heterogeneous as the decisions
on what to produce and consume are not done only by the household member men and women but
also influenced by the need for cash. That is, women decide on the domestic products and men
decide on public products mostly wage income (Evans 1991).
Gender relations and gender ideologies are crucial in understanding patterns of resources flows
with the household and & ..these results of systems of redistributions are on going processes which
give rise to loci of productions, consumptions and investments (Moore 1992: 131).
Ellis (2000) points out that the reason why men are in a position to diversify their income, is due to
the fact that they are controlling private spheres where all this activities are found and hence control
income they got in additional to household's farming. He suggests that if women will be helped to
control the income, these will have direct effect to household's basic needs. It is seen across the
culture in Tanzania that women pool resource to household's basic needs expenditure, and one of
the police statement from gender activist in Tanzania is 'if you educate a woman you have educated
the family'. This statement comes after realizing that women development has positive feedback to
the change not only for her newly formed family but also for the parent s siblings and guardians.
There need of putting gender into all aspect of development polices and implementation is reflected
in the importance it is a accorded in the Millennium development Goals.
This limit their production and the possible means they can diversify their income as much of what
they earn invested in food and services rather that other productive works. This situation brought
about recurring of difficult situations such as food shortages. Chambers (1989) Swift (1989) saw
that Household's with low number and diversity of productive assets may be more vulnerable to
shocks and contingencies .
Women who do not own land in Magubike engaged in various activities that could bring cash, and
multi relationship that could provide security.
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Redistributions systems are seen by Moore (1992) and Quisumbing and McClafferty (2006) as they
are linking household unity with external networks such as kinship, village organizations, regional
political, the state and international context. Women and men within the household tend to form
network, both ascribed ones and achieved ones. In a study of the Zumbagua society in South
America, Weismantel saw that household survival depended on kin ties (Weismantel 1998: 187).
The major aim for these networks is insurance, they assist when there is crisis mostly consumption
crisis. In Magubike household's men and women have external ties with both kin and none kin.
These ties form networks which in turn provide social security whenever there are problems. This
includes help on burial ceremonies and sickness situations which are difficult to handle by a
specific household's.
4.3 Local production
Discussions about local production about the village like Magubike, need to start with an
understand land available in the village. This is because local productions are highly depends on the
land as a major capital. Land in Magubike is an important capital on which majorities of the
livelihood activities based. The ownership and access to land based on the male side of kinship
rather than the woman s side. Traditional inheritance of land allows only men to get land ownership
rights and not women. More of this will be covered in the next session on different types of
capitals. Here I want to describe the characteristics cultivatable land in Magubike. The cultivated
land has three characteristics.
Valley wetlands are lands owned by less that five percent of the people in Magubike. Valleys keep
wet soil for a while after the end of rainfall in the village. The valley is economical multi purpose as
one can grow crops and vegetables and can rent out land for commercial tomato gardens. Due to its
multiple, purpose those who own valley wetlands have a livelihood hood advantage over others.
Flatlands are lands owned by the majority of the male population. These land are only cultivated
during the rains. Lastly, there is the land on the slopes. These lands are located in the several folds
of the mountains found in the village. The soil in the slopes is exposed to severe erosion, mainly
water and wind erosion. According to a village extension officer, crops in slope lands are week as
the land is less fertile.
It is due to these land difference that villagers think thus they have land shortages. Tanzania has a
20
population density of 33.5 people per kilometre square. It can be said the density is low, but likely
Magubike majority of these land are not conducive for farming activities.
Local production is a concept used by Hartmann (2004). He has related agriculture with culture by
dividing the word agriculture to 'Agri
culture', this shows that we cannot separate agriculture from
local peoples traditional. He went further and state that
Food production and consumption are ultimately connected to culture and social
systems (Hartmann 2004: 8). I find this to be particularly true to Magubike village with regards to
the villagers choices of productions and classification and preferences on what they eat.
Hartmann (2004) in his article on agriculture and food production in Africa; found that people
preferred mostly what they produced locally. This is particularly important to understand Magubike
village. People were preferring maize that they produce than rice they was imported. The most
reason was the imported rice was expensive than local produced maize. Hartmann s main focus was
hunger and he explained the importance of movement of food along the region as one of solution.
This is a case for Tanzania village and Magubike particularly. In most cases of hunger, you can find
that within the same region, there are areas that enjoy high harvest but do not know where to sell.
Infrastructure improvement will facilitate export within the region. Hartmann also explained the
importance of production beyond subsistence as this will facilitate exportations and also will enable
production for other use such as production of milk from maize corns.
Culture form total ways of people s life, it includes what they eat, why and how they eat. The
experience from Magubike shows that people produce what they traditionally like to eat?, My data
suggest, however, that people were likely to change to a different crop if the other crop could
produce both food and cash.
4.4 Multiple incomes
Multiple incomes have being used in vulnerability approach to poverty. Increasing poverty creates a
situation whereby poor people tend to diversify their activities to improve their incomes (Ellis 2000,
Ellis and Freeman 2005, Hartmann 2004).
Agriculture is the major means through which rural families obtain their sustenance. It reaches a
21
point whereby the sector does not provide sufficient yield for a family survival. Existence and
survival of this people is a major concern in livelihood studies of today. Vulnerability and risk
management strategies are important to be understood among the rural farmers. Ellis and Freeman
(2005) saw that there is a different between poverty and vulnerability. As vulnerability, focus on
risks such as natural disasters while poverty is a situation of being poor economically. I will argue
also that poor are vulnerable, when we talk about their condition (poverty) we need to talk on their
vulnerabilities and in turn their resiliencies.
Hartmann (2004) wrote about sub-Saharan African on poverty reduction and hunger. He first
highlighted that poverty and hunger are inseparable. He went further to denote the outcome of
poverty and hunger, the two result to poor health, the outcome of poor health is load of costs, not
only cash, but time and lose of human labour through deaths in turn lower productivities. He went
further and saw poverty leads to poor education, wasted minds and crimes, and inequalities as a
result of choices of favour to one group at a cost for others. To overcome the misery of poverty and
hunger rural household's has different activities engaged for survival.
The livelihood approach points out migration of household members as one of the strategies opted
by poor families to survive. Hartmann (2004) also observed migration as among the risk
management strategies in Sub- Saharan Africa. Ellis and Freeman (2005) saw that people migrate to
other villages where they had had high harvest. Migration was observed in Magubike village people
migrate to urban areas and to near by villages where they could exchange labour or commodities
with food.
Experience from Magubike also show that young girls were taken to town performing domestic
jobs. Family back home could receive either whole or portions of their wages as remittances. Boys
were moving to town to seek for small businesses commonly know in Swahili as 'machinga'. How
ever, they say more girls where in a good position to move than boys as girls where attached to
specific families, where boys could not. Hartmann (2004), explains the strategy where by rural
farmers grow different crops at different plots of land. This is one strategies and growing one crop
at different plot is only possible to farmers who has more than enough land. In Magubike, farmers
where growing different crops at the same plot. The reason was just more than a harvest security. It
was also due to lack of enough cultivatable land.
Hartmann (2004) classified risks as was perceived with Sub -Saharan Africa, from his findings,
22
biological risks seen to be much threat to farmers. Biological risks include plants infections such as
fungus, viruses, bacteria others are locusts, pest and weed. Political risks rated second. This
includes political instabilities, poor policies, and bad governance. Commercial risks, I will link this
with political risk as it includes markets regulations, prices fluctuations and infrastructure
improvements to enable farmers to reach markets. Natural disasters, it includes floods, droughts and
uncertainty rains. The study in Magubike however show that human diseases where among the
major risk for their production. They also mention seeds, both lack off and improper seeds as a risk
to their production.
It is therefore that risk varies, dependent on geographical locations, and frequency. Natural hazards
for example in Magubike occur every several years, but human diseases and seeds related problems
occur almost each season. There is existing risks within the household's and among the household's
members even when food is available. Having explored different livelihood activities, their risk and
management strategies, lets now focus on food itself. Here I will address one of the important
objectives of my study as if the income obtained from off farm activities directed to household's
consumption improvements. The study in Magubike shows that there are difficulties in changing the
household's consumption structures. This includes adding more varieties of food substances to
improve diet. The income which was received could feed the family in a usual was, mostly to make
their stomach full.
The income which was remaining was likely directed to other household's or personal expenditure
like buying iron sheet for houses and personal use like buying clothes and alcohol. This show that
the problems is more than just having food, it is also on how they handle what they got. It includes
the choices of exchanging and the redistributions within the household's and among its members.
4.5 Food and culture
Food is among the aspects of what culture is composed of. Within specific cultural settings, food
has roles. This roles played by food are varied between the cultures and between the members of the
societies. Food form identity, speaks about events, express feelings and separate as well as or unify
people. Weismantel saw how food can be taken as material artefacts, how a certain kind of food
production and consumption of some key food sent a message to community on whom they are
An expensive food stands for wealth and cheap one for poverty
(Weismantel 1998: 7).
Kaguru people in Magubike created meanings on ugali food. Ugali is staple food made of maize
23
powder. Sembe and dona are types of ugali whereby in Kaguru society meant more to consumers.
For them sembe was associated with availability of food while dona was associated with lack of
food.
Weismantel comments that;
We are what we eat: our food defines us as individual women and men, families and communities
and member of our race, our class and our nation (Weismantel 1998).
Despite of the common understanding on ethnic group identified by its food, here we also see food
differences between the households status as rich and poor, health and unhealthy families.
This shows different households by different types of food consumed with rich and poor families. In
Magubike carrying Dona powder home will mean to others that your family is facing food
shortages.
..Who do we eat with.
Delaney (2004). Sitting arrangement while eating in Magubike is
organized in such a way that they tell something about the composition of the household. When
girls reach puberty they can t eat with her father or elder brothers any more, and a son who reaches
puberty cannot eat with his elder sisters or mother. In the ceremonies men eat separate from women.
...Eating and body feeling.
(Delaney 2004). People associated what they eat with the out come
that is feeling of their body. In Kaguru they were differentiating between maize and cassava. For
them when you eat maize related foods, especial ugali you feel active and energetic contrary to
eating cassava where you become weak and lazy. It is through this Kaguru people have justify their
options to eat ugali as main meals and cassava just as breakfast meal.
The facts that household influenced by the structured which inform knowledge about food and
hence allow the knowledge to be passed over generations.
It is not difficult to accept the fact that cultures do create rule
bound structures that govern the
way foods are prepared and eaten (Weismantel 1998: 14).
Girls are accompanying their mother in the kitchen . At the market they learn to choose mboga
through this they get oriented to kitchen techniques and get prepared for future mothers. There is no
specific age a girls should start learning kitchen facts in different communities in Tanzania, at least
many learn in as quick as possible to help her siblings.
For the case of Magubike it starts between six and eight years. They first start by washing plates
24
and swept the kitchen. Then will start making fire and gradually will make porridge for their young.
These processes continue until when they take over and make a complete meal. Most of girls who y
reaches this menstruation they are regarded as their foot are on the door out to be married.
Understanding about women, food and kitchen gives an important understanding of household
members relations and food. Seen the positions of men in decision-making on food and what a
woman do, it is there fore understood that educating only women and girls will not help to
improvement of diet. We saw how decisions on production and consumption are made with men.
We also saw the role of women around decisions on food. This will be a necessary factor for
nutritional interventions programs like PANTIL project in Magubike.
PART TWO
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
This part of the thesis will contain four chapters. Chapter five will be about types of capital
controlled by household members. Chapter six will be about household's activities. Chapter seven
will be about food storages. Chapter eight will be about institutions. Household’s capital will
include the social, physical, natural and financial capital that households used in their productions
and income bringing activities. The activities chapter will include crop production activities and
income activities. Chapter seven will includes the means to which household store their food.
Chapter eight will include institutions, which inform people’s activities. These institutions will
include household, kinship village government and non-governmental organisations. Chapters five,
six and seven will emphasize production and consumption within the household. They will show
how Magubike households get their food, how they obtain cash and how they use obtained good
and cash for household food.
5.0 Household capitals
Households capitals presentation is a usefully means one needs to understand about household
livelihoods. Examine about household need to understand capitals and relations of individuals
within the household in relation to access, claims, ownership, control, transfers and forms of
investments. This is because capitals determines choices and constrains of livelihood strategies.
There are five main capitals. The first is natural, second is physical ,third is human, fourth is social
and fifth is financial capital. The presentation of my findings will, in this section, be structured on
25
the basis of these five major forms of capital.
5.1 Natural capital
Natural capitals include land, water, and forest. These are called natural capitals because they are
product of natural. That human being come and find them existing. They are used by villagers to
produce goods that are necessary for their well-being.
5.1.2 Land
Land is the heart for survival of subsistence household farmers. Subsistence farmers are most of
time limited to cash income activities, especial when they are isolated like Magubike village.
Gender segregations of women from land titles, helps to keep them in poverty and impoverished.
All the visited households owned land except women headed households. The land in Magubike is
of four types. Valley wet soil land, plane land, steep land along the mountains, all these three are
used for agriculture activities and the last type of land is plain or steep land which is mostly used for
grazing and fire wood collections.
Valley wet soil land. These land keep flooding rainwater and leave the land wet after the rain
period. Very few households own valley land. None of the visited women claimed to own wet
valleys. Second is the land located in a plain area. This land is cultivatable only during the rain
seasons and majority owns this type of land. All the cultivatable land in the village is own by
individual who has bought it or get as a family inheritance. Third is plain or steep land. These are
mostly used for grazing and fire wood collections. These lands are either under village ownerships
or owned by individual but not utilised. On my presence, people with animals set the bushes in to
fire. They explained it as a simple way of clearing bush and allow new grasses for Goats to grow
after the December Vuli rain.
To obtain land in Magubike one should buy it, rent, or inherited from parents. By traditional both in
Magubike and other cultures in Tanzania, women are not inherited land. Men own land and
inheritance goes along with men sex. This is also called patrilinear clan system where only the men
are recognised. Women headed households did not own any land instead they could rent or
borrowing. Gendered land inheritance in the village excludes daughters to inherit land from their
parents. Instead, they will share the land inherited to man partner.
Land right in the village is along the clan inheritance and if you buy it, the village leadership will
26
register and grant a owner ship. Household men own land. Majority they inherited from their
parents, these lands received when they starting up their own family separate from their parents.
The land is allocated to sons and not daughter. The reason to which daughters and women can’t
inherit land is that land is family property. It need to be protected and should not be given away or
transferred from the clan blood relationship. This is patrilinear system. The fact that women are
married and moved out of parent home, and their children will belong to the new family of her
husband, therefore giving them land will mean to shift wealth to another clan. We see here clan is
identified along with blood relationship and men are believed to carry and transfer the blood for the
existence of the clan. Women are not able because her kids will receive blood from a man from
another clan, her clan end on her and become responsible to develop other clans.
Land should be under the control of sons, if it will happens a daughter need a land she will have to
meet her brothers and he will decide on how they will give it to her. That means they told to use
land until when the owner will want it back. The time to which borrowed land will be needed back
by its owner is not known. Discussion with women and men in the village shows that brother give
away to their sister’s land that is unproductive, land that they do not want to use it. They will sell it
or give it to their son later.
The vulnerability here is a woman and her family they are not sure, when the land will be taken
away and what will be next. The alternative future survival will depend if she has a grown up son
who will marry and claim land from his father, and perhaps they will depend on it for food
production.
5.1.2 Water
Water is a prerequisite for the life of every human. Its importance is both for very direct
consumption and for domestic purposes. Water is also for transportation and it is a source of life to
plants which are the main source of the villagers’ consumption. There are three main sources of
water in the village. First there are short wells, second river water, and third there are deep wells
with manual water pumps.
Deep wells as well as manual water wells are located only in the village centre. And mostly
accessed by households located in the town, when it is necessarily other distance households use
can come and collect water from deep well. Deep wells are owned by the village leadership ship. To
get water you need to pay a little amount of shillings per bucket. Short wells are located within the
rainwater valley. They are holes of about five to ten meters. One needs to go down with a bucket to
collect water. These are open access.
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Picture 1: Short well
Rivers are located away from the homes and mostly seasonal rivers. The water is mainly used for
irrigation and animal to drink. Majority are seasonal rivers.
5.1.3 Forest
A forest is known in Swahili as “Porini”. This means a place with no defined property ownership.
Around the village there is land which is open for any use. This includes collecting fire wood,
building materials, pastures for animals and other use. These lands are also explained in 5.1.2 on
land capital. As I saw this land all the available trees were small and naturally growing. Big trees
had all been cut down Today there is a law restricting activities related to deforestation.
5.2 Physical capital
Physical capital includes all the capitals that are the product of human being innovations. Contrary
to natural capital, physical capital is purposefully invented by human being to be able to both utilise
natural capital and for other human use. These capitals will include houses, hand hoes, machetes,
plastic buckets, seeds and bicycles. Seeds can be both natural and physical capital, but here it is
placed in physical capital as an appreciation to human being choices out of millions of seeds that
can be found globally
5.2.1 Houses
Houses are important assets for production not only because they give people space they can rest
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after working but also keeps their production tools as well as a storage for their crops after harvest.
Identity of the villagers is known along with the location of house which is his or her home. Apart
from resting and storage houses can give a person living in the house trust to outsiders. When a
home is identified as a permanent place to stay and where your relative can be contacted, he or she
might borrow something and succeed because people know their home. Houses were not used as
bonds for loans. Houses are owned by men who also own the land too.
Picture 2: A household's member standing outsides their house.
Female-headed households had mixed ownership to houses. Four out of five lived in a rented house
while only one household built the house in a land given by her father after the divorce. Most
Magubike houses are made of soil, combined with wood sticks and their roofs are made of grasses.
Few are made of iron sheets and blocks walls, and others are made of grasses walls and roofs.
Internally the houses are divided in to three parts. A bedroom for parents on the one side and the
two remaining parts are used interchangeably. The centre part is used for sitting, talking, eating,
storage, chicken and ducks sleep there, as well as some of the children during the night. The
remaining part can be used as a kitchen room during the day and a sleeping room for other children
at night.
The kitchen comprises three stones set opposite and making it possible to hold cooking pots. Very
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few used the kitchens made of iron materials, and use wood charcoal fuel. The location of the
kitchen is not permanent, as it can be inside the house when the household members do believe that
a witch can bring bad spirits to their food and hence affect their bodies. A kitchen can be placed out
in open space or under a small house made with roof grasses in front or besides the main house.
This temporary kitchen has to be brought inside during the rains. When it is he farming period, the
kitchen is moved to the farms and the meals will be made during the breaks. Wool charcoal fuel ? is
also used in the village, but on my observation only households who where involved in charcoal
making and the food vending kiosk were using charcoal for cooking. This can be explained as it is
understood that buying charcoal is an unnecessary expense that people can overcome by collection
firewood from the forest. Apart from the kitchen outside the main houses there is a small house
which is used as a toilet. Households with grown up sons might have a small building aside where
boys stay and sleep in.
5.2.2 Hand hoes
A hand hoe is a digging device used by the farmers in the village. It is a very important device. Each
household has an average of two hand hoes. They do not have other means like the use of animal
and tractor machines. This is an indicator of small scale procedures, and shows households need
human labour to be able to take part in production.
5.2.3 Machetes
All visited households had at least one machete. These are knives for cutting, They cut trees used
for fire wood, making charcoal, building houses and cutting grasses during the farm preparation
they are also used as a security device in the bush and at homes. The fact that machete has a
security purposes means men own them.
5.2.4 Plastic buckets
Plastic buckets are used for domestic purposes and as market measurement devices. Domestic uses
include fetching water and washing, the plastic buckets are used for irrigation, collecting water from
wells for tomato gardens and vegetables. Also they are used in the market as a measurement device.
This measurement device is used not only in Magubike but in a majority of Tanzania crop markets.
The price per a certain measurement is not the same even within Magubike village and is much
negotiated.
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5.2.5 Bicycles
Half of thirty two visited household men have a two wheel bicycle. Women headed households did
not have bicycle unless they rent. The households men own bicycles and they are used for all
possible purposes, including travelling to neighbouring village markets, transporting food from
farm to home or along the main road to be sold to retailers, travelling for visiting and also carrying
water buckets from distant wells to home. The village has a centre where you can rent bicycles and
pay per hour or per day. Apart from transporting food, bicycles are used to carry sick people to
neighbouring hospitals.
The main road passes between the Magubike village connecting parts of the village of Dodoma and
Morogoro town. This road is in use in all seasons. The presence of that road has brought a major
change in the livelihood of villagers. Food traders can travel to the village to buy food from
villagers and sell it in other part of the regions.
5.2.6 Water pump machines
Water pumps for irrigation in Magubike are important for practical gardens work, how every it is
too expensive and luxury technology to be afforded by Majority. During the discussions with
household on capitals, I found out that, only one man owned water pump machine and three other
men claimed to rent from him for tomato production. The one man own this pump has been a
government employee in Morogoro town, before he was forced to retired from work and turn back
to his native land. He use the pump machine for his tomato gardens but also rent out for price of 5
Nok per hour, where by renter should buy fuel him or her self.
5.2.7 Seeds
Seeds are important capital for production. Men and women in the household begin the processes of
selecting seeds from the particular harvested crops right after harvest. Men gather information to
see which crops had high harvest that season so as he can buy its seeds. They gather seeds all the
year, but this depend on the amount of crop harvested that year. When the harvest is low, they
always fail to keep seeds enough for the next cultivation season. They choose and grow available
seed types.
5.2.8 Mills machines
Mills machine in the village are machine whose engine consumes diesel fuel. These machines are
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used to grind cereals for further food preparations. For example maize grain needs to be grinded to
get a powder for making ugali. Mills are private property. Some are owned by the village
households but some are own by migrants villagers who lived in other villages or town. For a
villager to get a service in the machine they need to pay. The cost is 300 Tsh equivalent to 1, 50 nok
per plastic bucket of twenty litres filled with cereals.
5.3 Human capital
Human capital includes all the necessary conditions that enhance human performance.
5.3.1 Formal education
The village has two primary schools and one secondary school. Both are government institutions.
There are also has two kindergartens owned by churches. The secondary school was introduced in
the village less than five years ago.
PANTIL baseline study (PANTIL 2006) shows that out of 50 studied households, 84 % of men and
women had primary education, 0 had secondary education and 16% did have neither. And of other
member of households they found that out of 120 studied 83.3 had primary education, 1.7
secondary education and 15 had neither.
The above findings show that the village has little skilled labour for production and marketing.
5.3.2 Labour
The production tools section shows that all the activities in a farm are based on tools which have
been labelled primitive tools of production. Lack of mechanised technology makes a human
physical labour a very important part of production, and not only human abilities but also their
quantities. The households with members who are able to take part in farming activities are in a
good position of cultivating more land compared to household with member who are children. The
average household size in Magubike is 6.1 (PANTIL survey 2006).
Boys are preferred higher than girls within the household. This is because the time that girls are
efficiently taking part in production is also the time when they are married or moved to town for
domestic servant jobs (house girls): Boys spend much more time in the village before they migrate
or start up their family after marring. Having seen the importance of human labour on food
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production, the PANTIL nutrition intervention project did analysis of the household members’ body
condition to undergo the production activities. Their objective was to improve the nutrition status of
the household members as a way to improve their physical capability in to efficiently participate in
production and hence increase harvest. The human labour capacity of a household is a criterion for
a good or bad harvest to a household, apart from natural hazards.
5.4 Social capital
5.4.1 Network
Both men and women said that networks with neighbours, friends and clan relative could give
support in emergences. Household members develop relationships with other village members and
with relatives as a solution to different situations. Women are active to form networks for domestic
exchanges. Men are active to form networks along the clan through attending rituals and form
village networks through attending meeting and other collective activities for village.
Shocks such as household member death and disease, food shortage or any ceremony the existing
external bonds help, and play a major role to support. When a problem of shortage of food has hit
the village like the 2005 food shortages, the villagers experienced that it was difficult to get help
from other villagers as the majority were out maize. Even then they helped each other, but when the
problem has spread to the whole village the villagers can only depend on food aid from external
institutions and sources.
Specific problem which face few households at a time can be helped through existing social
networks, for example problems related to sickness. These are contributed to solving by clan
members. Death ceremonies are exceptional as each household must contribute something such as
food or things that can be turned into food to support the affected household. This is done along the
village leadership whereby the leader will give that donation to intended household members. If you
refuse, you will get a sanction including they will not contribute to your problems.
Women neighbours can exchanged food cooked or uncooked. I observed this in two households. In
one of the households the woman was out of maize powder and asked her son to run to a neighbour
asking for maize powder for lunch. In another household a woman came and was interested with
that which was made in the household. I visited and she asked to get some to bring home. The
exchanged of cooked food is common between parent homes and married son households living
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close, such as in a compound.
A married daughter who has moved to a man who lives close in the village can exchange food stuff
with her parent home or with other siblings’ homes. This depends on if they still have close
relationships. In the first visited household I observed two kids belonging to the household's
daughter who joined in afternoon meals, since their parents were away that time. These are different
kinds of help that they get through kin networking.
5.5 Financial capital
Financial capital in Magubike comes not only in monetary form but can be also invested in live
goods. Magubike’s main food activity is farming, however they keep some livestock. Livestock are
not considered as a source of every day food, but is kept mostly to get income from selling this
capital. They are kept in small numbers per household.
Some households keep more than one type of animal all in small number and some they do have
neither.
5.5.1 Pigs
From observation three out of thirty two households keep pigs. They are for markets purpose within
and outside the village. None of them slaughtered their pig for home consumption. The owners of
the pig are men they are the capital owner and control its market, but the household members are all
responsible to take care of them. One pig weighs between ten and twenty kilograms. At the
butcher’s a kilo of pork was 2500Tsh equivalent to 12.50Nok. Pigs eat maize remove bulks from
mills machine. The cost is between 200 Tsh and 400Tsh per pig equivalent to 2Nok. Pigs also eat
grasses.
5.5.2 Chickens and Ducks
Two third of the thirty two households I visited own either chicken or\and ducks. They are
managed by women. The marketing discussions are, however, done by men. Chicken and ducks are
both elevated for the market, witchcraft and for consumption in selected importance occasions like
new baby or a rare guest, for example a migrant child coming back home. Migrant children are
rewarded chicken because, most of time they send money or food home while they are away. When
a migrant child has come back home, the parent warmly welcome them with chicken if they have
any.
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Maintenance of chicken and ducks are friendly compared to other animals because they are out
looking for their own food all day long and you do not need to feed them. The number of chicken
per household is between four and eight chicken and fewer that five ducks. One could think that
maybe all households should keep them and in bigger numbers but that is not happening. Chicken
and ducks are vulnerable to wild cats, dongs, and prey birds who are day and night hunting them,
also there are diseases which kill them and human being who eat and sell them.
5.5.3 Goat keeping
Goats were kept by a majority of the households before they were moved to a new ujamaa village.
Today five out of thirty two visited households keep goat and all were owned by men. They number
of goat varies from two to ten goats per household. During the discussions with households mostly
men, said that keeping goats in the new location was difficult. This was because they had to walk
with the goats for long distances to look for pasture and again to walk long distances to their farms.
They found that this had been difficult and the majority had sold their goats and continued with the
farming activities. Goat do not contribute to their every day meals, they are mostly kept for the
market. Keeping goats require labour and time, and since their production competes with farming
most chose farming and neglected the goat keeping.
6.0 The institution
Institutions are usually defined differently from organizations. An institution is a term used to refer
to norms, rules and regulations. Organizations are organs that follow rules that informed by
institutional (Scoones 1998). The term institution is used in this thesis to refer to influential
formally organised means by which relationship between capitals and activities are mediated. In this
thesis I will start with households because most of the capitals and activities in the village are under
certain members of the household and identified as owned by a certain household or one of its
members. This will be followed by kinship. Kinship composed of several household and work
specifically to household who are the membership. From kinship I will go on to discuss village
leadership. In village leadership deals with inter-household affairs. The village leadership is
composed of representatives from the ten hamlets which form Magubike village. From village
leadership I will introduce external institutions mostly non governmental organisation who has an
aim of improving capitals available in the village to enhance activities out puts.
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Capital control and access and the activities carried out to support the lives of Magubike people are
mediated by different institutions. I will introduce a household and kinship as an institution in
livelihood frameworks of analysis. Apart from households and kinship, the village has a village
(leadership) government and private organisation that are doing interventions on the peoples
livelihoods.
6.1 Households
Household members have rules and regulation which inform how the capitals should be used and
who should assess them. Men are the head and have a control of household and capitals including
human being who are the member of the household. For example, a woman cannot give permission
of the child who wishes to travel without the father’s acceptance. The farm can not be cultivated
without a man’s agreements. The reason I am putting family here is that the livelihood of Magubike
people mostly depends on land, human labour and the asset available at home.
6.2 Kinships
Along with households, kinship ties have a leadership system. Normally they do have an old man
and woman who is said to have wisdom and memorises of all customs. The kin form a chain to
which the new generation is updated on norms and values around their kinship. This includes assets,
activities, and choices on consumption. Women's role in kinship has been not to decide but to
facilitate decisions. For example when there is a kinship meeting, the women’s obligation is cook
food and supply other services the men will need while talking. Important decisions will be made
and men will later brief their wives about what they have agreed on. Women always have to agree
even without a consensus. The meeting is secret to women. It is within this setting the women lost
their rights across the generations.
6.3 Village government
Apart from households and kinship the village has leadership. Together with the general national
laws they make and inform law specific for the village settings. With this system the village has a
local judgement system which helps with all misunderstanding including properties and family
issues. The village leaders also create village laws and implement the law from the regional
government. For example have they recently introduced a law against any illegal tree cutting. And
the villagers whose livelihood depends on trees as a capital have to find another means to cope with
the new limitations in the use of nature. The leadership helps to locate ownerships of assets when
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there is a need for that. The systems also help to communicate with the regional government for
more information and help. They also work with the government agriculture extension officer for
further agricultural information.
6.4 Non Governmental Organisation
Apart from the above, the village has NGO’s that are responsible with their social as well as human
capital. This includes World vision international. Its responsibilities are to assistance when food is
needed, children's welfare support and disability and PANTIL Program that is responsible with
nutritions. Much about PANTIL has being elaborated before. Their emphasis is to improve village
livelihood and to the moment, they are concern with people nutritional health. This is part of human
capital improvement.
7 .0 Household activities
The previous chapter informed about the main assets of men and women in Magubike, structured in
the form of five main types of capitals. In this chapter we will discuss different activities that men
and women in a household are engaged in for their sustenance. The capitals presented above give
the understanding that households which we see are poor, their have a widely diversified activities
ranging according to the time in a year, which at the end become their resistances to shocks.
Magubike household had different activities for income and for subsistence food production. Even
though crop farming is their main activities they have a vast number of different activities which at
end help them secure their basic needs.
7.1 Crop production
Crop production in the village is mainly for subsistence. The production depends on rain water, a
little irrigation, and wet valleys farming.
Table: List of crops produced in the village
Maize
Banana
Beans (kidney)
Cassava
Castor oil
Cotton (very few)
Lablab beans
Okra
Paddy (very few)
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Sorghum
Sugar cane
Sweet potatoes
Sunflower
Tomato
* This table aims to provide a general overview of crops produced in Magubike. The arrangement is
based on their food- and financial importance.
I will argue that farmers in Magubike responds positively to new crops that have a well a market as
a food interest, in comparison to crops that only have a food interest. I base this view on the
introduction of tomato gardens and lablab beans on one hand and cassava on the other hand. The
former two were introduced in the village through the villagers’ networking with a neighbouring
village. The latter, cassava, was introduced the same way but also introduced as a crop that can
sustain weather uncertainties. But since the market for cassava is very low compared to tomatoes
and lablab beans villagers prefer not to grow cassava even when they have an environmental
advantage. The other crops are produced and managed without any use of imputes such as fertilizer.
The historical background for maize production and sorghum tell the same story. The reason why
maize production over turned sorghum production in the early 1970's was the increase on the
market for maize while maize at the same time formed their main staple food. We can learn a lesson
along with introduction of new crops, where by not only the new crops will be accepted because of
the good output but farmers has criteria to which they will attach to it and allow to be grown on
their land. Cassava has a chance to improve production in Magubike village, but so many
explanations are carried on by farmer against its production. In addition they have no economic
advantage on it hence cassava will only be attached in a maize farm or planted on the horrible land
that maize cannot grow.
Men and women had discussion on the influence of uncertain rain water on one side, and the other
side natural calamities such as pest, diseases and flood. For them their land has natural fertility. The
land does not, in their view, need any input to support a good harvest. They associate the low
harvest with bad luck from the God who does not want to bring rain. Elders try to think that there is
a need for villagers to go back to their old ways of asking for rain as the existing way of praying
does not give the outputs prayed for. This debate went along with the result of low harvest of 2007
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season. The harvest was 50 kg of maize per hector, which the villagers thought was catastrophic.
In my discussion with the village extension officer who was responsible for livestock and farming
issues, the conclusion was that the land used by Magubike villagers has lost its fertility and especial
its nitrogen content. Taking example from the crop production of 2007, the extension worker argued
that the rain had been enough to give them more harvest than they had received, but the maize
which is more in needs of nitrogen faced yellow disease. This is a disease where the plant’s leaves
turn yellow and dry before maturity. Contrary to the Magubike farmers who believe that the rain
was small and its water was bad, and so it killed their crops. The village extension think they were
suppose to add fertilizer with nitrogen phosphate which is available in the shops but unavailable in
Magubike.
Along with above discussion the village needs a help on ways of production, their minds are rigid
pointing on the way their ancestor was cultivating and they do not accept the fact that their land is
no longer fertile enough and need some additional fertilizer. According to my own data fertilizer
was not known by 95% of the households visited. They had heard about it but they do not know
how it worked. The majority of household members asking were not ready at any moment
accepting the use of it. The villagers had heard that fertilizer destroyed the land from the other
village farmers and through media. Only households which were having tomato garden used and
understood fertilizer but they were not using it for maize production. A bag of fertilizer is expensive
compared to income of the farmers in the whole country, but for Magubike the price is not the first
issue, it comes third after knowing it and acceptance of its usefulness.
7.2 Gendered economic dimension on seeds
The decision made on seeds choices, influenced household’s storage and consumptions. in this I
will first draw data from PANTIL. PANTIL finding show that, 27.8% and 14.8 of men and women
respectively where deciding what kind of crops to grow, while 45.1% men and women responded
that they decided what to grow together. Only 1.6 % of other family members were involved. My
study shows that there were variations on decisions depending on type of seeds and the source the
seeds will be obtained, as explained below.
It is men’s responsibility to make sure that seeds he wants to grow are available. Women have less
possibility to get seeds especial when seeds have to be bought. Men are more involved in cash
39
income activities than women and they control cash at home. Women sometimes can get income
through casual labour, the choice of seeds to them will be mboga-related seeds such as beans, but
when it is necessary they buy maize seeds too. Root tuber seeds such as potato and cassava are
easily found by women, this is because of two reasons. One is their breakfast meal and that is
women’s responsibility except buying sugar and tea leaves. Second is because root tubers are given
for free from relatives and friends, and if bought is very cheap compared with other seeds.
Men and a few women have the possibility of exchanging home made utensils with seeds in nearby
villages. Women claim that men are more capable that them as this trade involve long walking or
biking and sometimes needs you to sleep over which is rarely accepted for women. A man can go
and come back followed day but not a married woman. This is a traditional social control of a
married woman; in this respect men are free since they are allowed to marry more than one woman.
7.3 Household labour and health
Men are key labour in farming activities. I found out that men labour force in crop productions is
visible. What I found in Magubike was that the most important for the household was food. And
crop production was the main channel which brings most food into the household. Since men are
traditionally obliged to ensure food supply in the household, hey had to invest their labour power in
to farm production. Also since crop production is a main cash income activity, men need to put
whatever possible to ensure good harvests. For that case men's contribution in the farm work in the
village can not be left unexplained.
High demand of cash, high intensive individual physical work, human diseases and high rate of
reproductions are key issue when we discuss the labour problem in Magubike households. The
downfall in production output has been the main reason the households are now depending on the
market for their food even when the cash flow is minimal. During the farming season people need
to divide themselves between both cash activities and farming activities. Before they were able to
sell their farm product especially maize and buy food ingredients and other basic necessities. Today
the harvest is low cannot feed the family from one season to next season as it used too be.
Women are also going out looking for cash labour as men are not able themselves to satisfy the
household. Women in additional have long time bearing a pregnancy which I estimated about every
2 or 3 year. All these activities lead to overworking of individual men and women in a family.
Human diseases, especially malaria, typhoid fever, and pregnancy-related sicknesses, are among the
40
major risks in a household as once the man or the woman are sick there will be a shortage of labour.
Women expressed that men’s absence had a larger impact in a family than when women are absent.
The above discussed has direct implication for the production cycle of the family, and is the main
cause of food shortage s and under consumption and in a household. The PANTIL base line study
showed that the villagers are suffering from worms, urinary bilharziasis, mineral deficiencies, and
malaria. However, discussions with the health centre showed that typhoid fever and cholera are the
major disease for adults and children. The population depends on deep and short wells for clean
water. Water is available in the village; the problem seems to be on its hygiene.
Water needs to be boiled for domestic use. None of the households visited were ready to boil water.
The problem is not energy as there is abundant wood fuel, the problem is not time as they do not
need to look after the pot all the time, nor equipment as they have pots used for cooking food. The
problem is the mind altitudes of the men and women in the household. Both men and women
believe that even if you boil water you will get sick. They believe that bodies are used to non-boiled
water. They have been using non-boiled water since they were born, they do not think if is
important today to change. Children regardless of their age they are given non-boiled water. So
instructions are delivered to them through the health centre and the PANTIL Nutrition group.
There is a need for an activist like PANTIL to help the villagers to draw a line between beliefs and
facts. It is true that they have been used to non-boiled water and also used to diseases related to its
effects. They are not shocked any more. If the clear long term education will be provided regarding
prevention from primary school to the church and other village social gathering, we may observe
changers.
7.4 Income generating activities
The months between August and January, is the period with less crop production activities. There is
no rain and people have finished with the harvest. In this time of year people engaged in different
income activities. Most of these income activities depend on the nature around the village. The
capital which enables them to perform most of these activities is natural capital. However some
cash might be needed too. Bellow I will discuss in detail each income activity. Men and women had
different ability to access this activity. I will argue that traditional exclusion is among the reasons
That has kept women in a marginal line with respect to income.
41
7.4.1 Wood charcoal making
This includes cutting trees and half burned to produce a wood energy for both domestic use and
selling. This activity has been marked as main income activity in the village as the demand for
wood charcoal is high in near by regions of Morogoro, Coast region and Dar es salaam .
Historically this activity is for men and not for women, this is because it involve a lot of physical
works including walking long in forest, cutting down big trees, cutting in small pieces, arranging
them and fire them up for at least seven days, taking them out parking in the bags and transporting
them by bicycle out to the main road for sale. Women thought this activity was hard, and should not
be done with them. Recently women have become involved in charcoal making, some are using
their money to pay men to work for them and some are out in a bush themselves working.
The perception of women in Magubike was that women who are out in the forest making charcoal
are having troubles with their families including being irresponsible but this is not a case today. In
Magubike today, there is television show in two private restaurants and people come and see what
other people are doing in other parts of Tanzania. Through this and other kinds of interaction they
get to see women working and changing their life. Also the change in life, they also need cash apart
from the crop production. Men are no longer able to support fully. Women see that they can make a
change for them self and for the family by engaging them self income activities like charcoal
making.
None of the female-headed households practised charcoal making. Rather they would buy charcoal
from producers and sell it in small portions for domestic customers. Only their men where talking
about becoming involved in the business at the forest. According to different discussions with
women involved in the charcoal business, their explanation reveal that men are no longer able to
fulfil their basic needs, as the household’s food is coming from the market much more than before:
There for the women need to do some activities to close the income gap in the family.
Is charcoal making have contributions to household food and other basic needs?. Those household
men and women who are practising charcoal making do not think that the business is helping them
enough. According to them the activity requires a maximum of their time and energy. They need to
work there full time until their charcoal is finished and that is when they will get cash. Even if they
get money from selling charcoal it takes time from one income to another income, and the cost of
waiting is high as the household needs every day services including food, energy for light and other
42
basic necessities. They borrow money or services hoping to pay back when their charcoal is ready,
once they sell, they end up paying loan with no surplus. Often the charcoal burning gives
unexpected results and the owner get a loss and enter to a long term debt from the borrowed money
or services.
Charcoal making is done by machetes and axe, it is manual work and process and hard to perform
by a single individual person, once they sell out they need rest of at least two weeks to recover
before the go back for a new production. It is then clear that during the rainy season the charcoal
activities can’t be performed properly due to rain water and they also have to do crop farming. For
them charcoal making is a not permanent activity and its income is little realised. As it was
observed the majority of the household whose main income activity is charcoal making has their
house roofed with grasses and none of them has a child in secondary school.
Therefore charcoal making income has not realized in households change in food supply or diet,
middlemen who buy from procedures and sell to retailers or domestic users are benefited, few of
them are Magubike villagers and none of them formed my sample.
7.4.2 Alcohol making
Alcohol is a popular activity with a lot of sellers and buyers. Among the visited households women
are the main actors in this alcohol business. In three visited households, women were involved in
locally made brewing. Both families with married couples and single women and their families are
selling alcohol. In two households daughter also have shares in that business either by having their
alcohol as personal property to sell or by working for their mother. Their potential customers are
both women and men in the village. The number of consumer is enough to keep business income
stable and make it interested to large number of producer and sellers. The consumption is frequently
in a day and even at night.
As was observed the alcohol which was frequently consumed was local made alcohol. Very few
consumed industrial beer. Compared to charcoal making and tomato gardening, household's what
were selling alcohol has opportunity for income and stable life than others. Majorities go to farm in
a day and sell alcohol in the evening. Their income is daily and trend of their income is monitored
as during the farming majority of customer they are broke they tend to consume less or enter into
credits. The producers cope with the situation by reducing alcohol production and spend more time
43
in farm activities. They have more than one channel to bring food in their table. Their livelihood is
much predictable compared to other households. The alcohol business has fewer constraints for
women that can affect its production and selling. They could to continue with business even when
they were sick. But other constrains like capital could affect their supply
Picture 3: A woman sitting with her beer customer.
Alcohol consumers are addicted do use all the means to get money for alcohol. Some customers do
ask for alcohol and promise to pay later but they will not turn back hence negatively affect the
brewer’s capital. Among the three visited households making alcohol, one household consisted of a
married couple and two households were women headed households. The households were headed
by women were female-headed due to divorce. They did not have a house of their own nor farms
on their own and they where living with at least five children. With income from selling alcohol
they are able to purchase food, renting a farm, buying medicine and paying house rent.
Some get help from the respective children’s father but the help is small compared to their daily
income from alcohol selling and the general household needs. Household living couple their only
44
different is, a woman is responsible with alcohol business, a man has also his income activities, and
they don’t pay house rent as a man had inherited farms and a plot where they have built their house.
As I observed the alcohol making and selling business is much stable than other income activities, it
was seen in terms of food that the income helped specific household to improve food supply but not
improve diet contents.
All the visited households are part of the PANTIL nutrition intervention project. Despite of the fact
that they where informed on good diet, none of those households was ready to accept the cost
associated with a good diet. They think that if they will accept that cost that will mean that they will
continue to work for their stomachs for the rest of their life. The nutrition education program is
needed, the processes will take time but there are possibilities that eventually people will
understand and change.
7.4.3 Making and exchanging home made utensils.
Some men and women in the village have knowledge on how to make some useful tools for home,
such as carpets and baskets. They make for their home use and for sell with in the village and
outside the village. The majority of the women who are making home utensils depend on retailers
who are buying and export outside the village, while men are both making and selling outside. The
home utensil business is open markets. Locally known are Minada\ Gulio . In this place men bring
home-made things and exchange them according to the daily market and their needs. When there is
no maize inside the household, men look for the village where they can exchange with maize or
with money but has possibility to get maize with cheap prices. The home utensil business is directed
to the search for food in a nearby market as instead of going with money which they don't have you
can bring something for good to good exchanges. This business involves long walking or riding
bicycle if you have. When a person did not get what he wanted, can sleep over going further to
other market on the next day. Women think it is difficult as they have kids at home for breast
feeding and other care. Market information is important to a success of this business.
45
Picture 4: A man making home utensils for sell.
They need to know where they will get what they want before travelling. Basic information such as
where they had good harvests of maize, and which market has a lot of customers, are needed. The
flow of information here depends on the main road where they ask each other what has happened,
while they are passing in the village. The use of mobile phone in this village is not yet popular as it
is still expensive for majority.
7.4.4 Tomato gardens
On its way to the changes in farming system from subsistence to small scale commercial farming
and from rain fed to irrigation, tomato gardening has become popular activity. It is done by
household member or by individual persons within the household. During my observations and
interviews, a tomato garden is not owned by a household. Men were the owners, but the rest of the
families were asked to work on the gardens. He could not hire labour from outside the family. It
should be understood that the payment will not be done, but the family must assume that the
46
product of their labour will be supplied by the father as basic needs.
In the village in general there are some women who own their gardens separate from men. It is only
in tomato gardens that villages are applying manure, industrial fertilizer and chemical pest control.
However some they are not using them, believing that the land is fertile enough to give good yields.
Tomato gardening depends on irrigating water. The irrigation is done manually by using water
buckets to majority of gardeners.
Picture 5: Tomato sold in local market
Picture 6: Tomato and cereals wait to be transported.
On its way to the changes in farming system from subsistence to small scale commercial farming
and from rain fed to irrigation, tomato gardening has become popular activity. It is done by
household member or by individual persons within the household. During my observations and
interviews, a tomato garden is not owned by a household. Men were the owners, but the rest of the
families were asked to work on the gardens. He could not hire labour from outside the family. It
should be understood that the payment will not be done, but the family must assume that the
product of their labour will be supplied by the father as basic needs.
47
In the village in general there are some women who own their gardens separate from men. It is only
in tomato gardens that villages are applying manure, industrial fertilizer and chemical pest control.
However some they are not using them, believing that the land is fertile enough to give good yields.
Tomato gardening depends on irrigating water. The irrigation is done manually by using water
buckets to majority of gardeners.
The market for tomatoes depends on local consumers, and the export to near village or towns. Very
few can themselves bring tomatoes to the external market. Retailers come to the village to buy
tomatoes for export. Some women from Magubike are taking tomato to nearby villages and
exchange their tomatoes for money or other food items such as maize and beans. Despite of the fact
that tomato needs initial capital, village household prefer tomato gardening to other income
bringing activities. This is because tomatoes are consumed daily as food spices, and production of
tomato does need minimum supervision. There for responsible people have time to participate in
other income activities.
The income from tomatoes was observed use for different purposes. One of the households used
tomato money of this year to pay school fees for secondary education of their son. Another
household bought an iron roof for their new house. The women who are trading tomatoes use the
money to buy food at home from the same markets. The control for initial capital and the selling of
tomato are in men responsibilities, this is because tomato needs capital and women in the village are
far from holding large money that can support the tomato production. From my observation men
focus on the expected cash and they do take responsibility some times with help of sons and
daughter in irrigation and very seldom from wives.
None of the households which were headed by a woman had tomato gardens Most of them claim
that they do not have capital for renting a land, nor buying seeds, fertilizer and pesticides. In the
whole village few household are practising tomato gardening due to the same reasons. Tomatoes are
among of the important ingredients in their food, and income contribute to food supply, along with
tomato plants growers are also mixing with some vegetables plants where they are able to get some
mboga for ugali. The price of tomatoes is higher than for vegetables; due to that very few have
tomato gardens. When I was there in October to December tomatoes were harvested. The price in
the local market was five tomatoes fort one hundred shillings equivalent to 0.5 nok, while
vegetables of the same price were enough for a family single meal. Since a tomato was a spice, they
could use only one tomato per meal.
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Tomato garden activities look to be promising to the livelihood of villagers as they have adapted
well to this production and the number of producers is expected to rise every year. Several
challenges are face this production, including low skills on production and management. Some of
the growers are reluctant to apply fertilizer and the price of fertilizer and pests- and plant diseasechemicals are expensive to buy. Due to lack of information about proper markets and prices,
external markets are unreliable. Tomatoes are a perishable good which cannot wait long for
markets, especially because of poor storage facilities.
Increased production of tomato increases the possibility of villagers to use tomatoes not only as a
spice but as a fruit separately from the main meals, as a way to improve their nutrition.
7.4.5 Timber making
The use of natural resource is a backbone for the livelihood of Magubike people: we first saw land
as source of food, now we continue to see trees as another important resource for survival of the
villagers. In the previous discussion we saw that charcoal making and house making depends on
forest trees, now you will see timber making from the same trees. Later I will discuss the fire wood
energy as a domestic product for use and for markets too.
In two out of 32 visited households men were involves in the timber making business. No women
said she was involved in timber making business. Timber is needed both in the village and highly
needed in the regions of Morogoro town and other nearby village. The timber market is also high
for the whole country of Tanzania. Timber was used in the village for, domestic tools such as chairs,
beds and tables, also house roofing support, doors and windows. The demand is constant every day.
Before I continue I will discuss the government’s response to the utilisation of forests and trees both
individually owned and common areas tree. The Government has recognised deforestation as a
problem nation-wide. People are putting much effort into cutting and done northing to replant new
plants. I observed this in Magubike village. In response to the deforestation problem they asked
foresters (Magubike has one government forester) to stop tree cutting and supervise the tree
planting ( this has slowly been implemented in the village). Due to this it is illegal for a use of forest
which will mean to cut down trees unless you get special permission from forester and village
leadership. During my presence I observed the business of timber and charcoal were not done in
open markets any more as you need to order wood and they will bring it at night.
The timber making business is done in groups of at least two men, and the prices of one peace of
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timber length of six feet was between 3500, three thousand and five hundred shillings and 4000
shillings, equivalent to 17 nok. On the discussions with timber making households, the business
needs them to work full time. They sell not every day as one tree can take a week to be finished;
therefore unless they save from previous sales, they always need cash while they are still working.
Women said that they were receiving money from their men for food so they believed it was from
the timber business as their men did not do any other income-bringing activities. During the total of
four days that I stayed with them I did not observe any difference in consumption, as they were
eating the same way as I have observed in other households.
As the business is restricted, the transportation of timber will also be restricted by the revenue
authority; there is possibility of fall in the market which will affect their business. They did not
think that there was a shortage of trees as they said there is a lot of a tree in the bush for timber.
The eating behaviour of these households was the same as the others and the number of chocks was
explained particularly in relation to sickness as when a man is sick the income will be affected.
7.4.6 Other income-bringing activities
This section will include income-bringing activities done in the village that have not been covered
so far. These activities were observed in the area which is called “Mjini” in Swahili, which means
town, a place concentrated with a lot of people and different activities and business goes on. This
includes the following activities: food vending, tailoring, bicycle renting, house making, furnisher
making, selling vegetables in the markets, shop keepers and house renting and the formal
employments like teachers and nurses.
These activities are not minor, as they employ a number of villagers who own their own small
invested money. In mjini the customers are both villages and travellers, who make a stop for
different needs in the village and car breakdowns which I observed so often and passengers could
go in the shops or buying foods. I had informal talks with them as I was their customer too. These
businesses are all done together with farm work too. None of the villagers depends on them for their
survival, so for example the shop keepers would close their shops in the morning and open in the
afternoon after their back from farm. One of the shop keepers said he could pay people as casual
labour to help his wife while she was on the farm, another man selling industrially made beer,
teachers, and nurses, said the same. This gave me the answer to who employed others, and why. For
them they see they have short time to work in the farms so they better employ people, they will
continue to gain income in their business or works. Presence of these activities help the circulation
of income in the village, the importation of new goods, as well as attracting people to come and
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conduct different activities.
8.0 Food storage
Food storage is a big challenge to Magubike farmers, the means and spaces to which their food shall
be stored has a relationship with the food availability as well as marketing. Currently there is two
options by which the food can be stored: the use of industrial chemicals which is translated as the
modern way, and the use of traditional means of storage. It is losses caused by bad way storing
crops that pushes farmers to sell their crops during the pre-harvest period and the moment after
harvest to avoid poor storage which destroys their food. The outcome is both getting low prices and
also that stored food finished before the next harvest. Below different ways of storage will be
presented and explained.
8.1 Improved storage system
The improved storage system includes the use chemical liquids and powder for maize and beans the
mostly used is know as Actelic supper. This is availability in the shops especial during the harvest.
Their response to the modern storage ways has a mixed explanation, but the direction on how to use
them effectively are difficult to follow by the majority. This results in improper application which
has negative effects. Again the harvest had dropped recently and the use of actelic supper. It needs
maize or beans to be left unused for three months before consumption, and the chemical application
needs to be reapplied after six months. Villagers always want to consume the food before three
months have passed and it is expensive to reapply the chemicals in six months for those who have
more.
8.2 Local storage systems
This includes several means of storing different kind of foods.
8.2.1 Maize storage
Between the ground and the roof inside the households kitchens there are chamber located upright
to the cooking stones. Maize are placed there under the everyday heat and smoke from cooking, the
seeds get dry and more difficult to attack and the smoke make it difficult for the pests to survive.
The method has been used for several years dating from their ancestors, it is inherited. Their
argument for this method is that it does work but the food will only survive around three months.
After that the food starts to be destroyed. Alternative solution is to sell out.
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Picture 7: Maize stored by smoke.
Picture 8: maize stored by sun heat.
Taking maize out in a sun day is another storage means where the maize and beans will be spread in
the ground in a heat sun and hot soil; they do so as the pest will die out of high temperature. Sun dry
works but the few surviving pest they will multiply and continue to destroy the food.
8.2.2 Cassava storage
The storage of cassava is a bit of a challenge as far as the way the villagers prefer to use it. Cassava
is used for morning meals, and they prefer to use cassava not more that three days after harvesting.
They use them either boiled with water, or fried in deep oil. Cassava is a seasonal plant in this
village because of limited rain. Once they are forced to harvest as the land become too dry cassava
roots will be piled and sun dried for ugali if and only if there will be maize shortages. Some
households’ cassava gardens are far from home that they cannot go there every morning. Therefore
they store cassava by burying them and water them once a day, with this method cassava will stay
fresh for at least ten days.
8.2.3 Storage of vegetables
Vegetables are stored through sun drying. Dried vegetables can be stored an unidentified number of
years, cassava roots (kisamvu), potato leave (matembere) and wild vegetable (mlenda), they are
52
harvested and sun dried, grinded to powder and stored in dry vessels. This means of storage was
originally copied from the Gogo tribe originally from near region of Dodoma, a region experiencing
little rain.
8.2.4 Food leftovers
Modern families will have a kind of cooling system to keep leftovers, but that is not the same to the
village where there was no electricity and only a little kerosene was bought together with matches
to light up in the evening. Food was prepared carefully according to the number of household
members and was supposed to be finished the same day, very seldom the food could be kept to next
day. There is no half made or finished food in the markets.
PART THREE
Aspects of household consumption
Food is a central livelihood outcome in the Magubike village. Part three of my thesis it will present
and discuss the aspects around household consumption. This part includes two chapters: eight and
nine. Chapter nine will be on gendered decisions on food and on three different classifications of
food. Chapter ten will be about meals, and discuss different aspects around meals preparation,
allocation of food, understandings of the body and social responses.
Magubike households carry out a vastly diversified number of activities which therefore diversifies
the channels of bringing food home. Those activities are therefore done using capitals as was
elaborated in the capital chapter. Capitals and activities are therefore informed by in the institutions
as was elaborated in the institutions chapter. All form the source of livelihood of Magubike
households.
9.0 Food
A day of a man and a woman in Magubike begins well when food is available at stored to be
prepared or when they know specifically what they will do and get to bring food home. When they
do not know where to get food, the day is difficult to be started and how its end will depend upon if
they will get food or not. A discussion on food production improvements was always welcome. And
open discussions on what are difficulties they encounter while doing farming activities was also
always welcomed. Open discussions on important issues for them like productions and constrains
53
made it possible to understand the importance of food and the way they made priorities from
production processes, storages to consumption. It was also a means to get to know how
responsibilities and roles were divided in food related activities.
Different aspects of food will be presentation and discussed. The first part will be classification of
food, and the second part will be about decision making and role allocations around the household
food.
9.1 Gender decisions on food
Within the household there are norms and value are guiding concerning the allocation of food. My
intra – household food allocation discussion will include the distribution of meals, and different
household members’ responsibilities. Women are responsible for preparing and distributing food
and they can be helped by their daughter. Making and distributing food is seen as a state of
harmony.
Food availability expresses harmony as the household will function when food is
available, prepared, distributed and eaten. Along with making and distributing also the art of eating
style, on who eat with whom, respect, and the symbol of togetherness will be presented and
discussed.
9.1.1 Decision of men on food
Men are traditionally responsible to bring food both through buying and\or cultivating. He is also
responsible to buy food and\or give money to a woman to buy mboga and other food requirements.
It is very seldom a man mentions specifically what to eat at home; instead he will make sure the
food is at home or he will give out a certain amount of money for buying. He can decide through
buying and giving certain amounts of money. A woman will have to buy whatever, as far as the
money given will be enough to purchase.
9.1.2 Decision of women on food
Traditional responsibilities for a woman is to go to the market buying mboga, prepare meals and
distribute the meal to the household member. During my observations and interviews in the market
place I noticed that women are the most common buyers. Men are rarely seen in the market buying
food. Women can also take initiative to find mboga out in a bush which is not so much available
during the dry season.
Women decisions on food were said to depend on the availability of food. There are two situations
54
that a woman decisions depends on. The first is when the food was available in the household's
stores or taken from bush and household's gardens, and second was when they have to buy out in
the markets.
When the food (maize) is available and mboga is available women take responsibility to decide
what combination should form a meal that day. If the food must be bought she will decide around
the amount of money given by her man. When they have to buy, their decisions will depend on the
amount of money received from her husband for food.
In general women can take a control of money given by men and make a decision on what mboga
should form a meal. The amount of money given out speak directly what kind of meal can be
consumed that day.
The decision of men and women on food is therefore women can decide by choosing what
combination of ingredient to form a meal. Her decision will always relay on men amount of cash
given for food. The only time she can have control is when the choice comes from the food crops
inside the household’s stores.
Women headed households could only control choices when the cash was the outcome of their
participation in the casual labour. The women in four out of the five visited female headed
households have relationship with men as partners. Together with other services men were
responsible for supplying food or capital to help the family secures its food. For example one family
had a pig which belonged to a male partner. They had to care for the pig and a man was obliged
with their daily needs even the cost was of the outcome of selling pigs. Another household they got
a maize farm that they where cultivating from the male partner.
When a woman is in a relationship with a man, even if she is a household's head, the important
decisions on food are done by the male partners in the same way as for married couples. The
difference is that when a woman lives without any partner, she becomes the head of household and
she is the one who decides.
The assessment of the organisation of men and women in decision making in both male headed
households and female households show that, men was granted household heading because they
own land as it a main channel which bringing food and they also control cash flow and cash
55
activities in the public. Women headed household assumed the head as they are struggling to gain
access to food and feed their family. Therefore a household’s head is the one which bring most food
at home. This view of households might change when the household’s focus will be achieving more
than food, when food is no longer what they are struggling for.
9.2 Classification of food
Kaguru people in Magubike village eat different kind of foods. These types of food can be classified
according to how they perceive them. The people have different ways they considered while eating
a certain kind of food. This ways of perception, I call them a classification of food. There are three
main ways to which Kaguru food could be clarified, including Choices or priorities made on food
which are scarcity and food which are available, on foods which are boiled and those which are
roasted, and on food which are poor and those which are rich foods.
Classifying Kaguru food on priorities or choices will be important means to understand how and
why they value one food over another.
9.2.1 Rich and poor food
Some foods are labelled as poor or rich in Magubike. This labelling can be on the type of ingredient
or they way food was prepared. The labelling of food also affects their consumers. Certain foods
send a message of poor situations or a shortage of food to a respective group of consumer. Maize is
an important grain in the composition of meals. Maize is sometimes used in the village
interchangeably with the word food when translated into Swahili.
Maize constitutes life for a Kaguru society. Having maize in their food storage is a big relief for a
household. Often in discussions it was stated that maize as a food should come from household
storage and should not be bought. It was seen to be a sad and shameful situation to have to go out in
the market and buy maize and it was felt to be disappointing when someone had to sell their maize
while they had little food at home. This shows how maize is important for them.
Maize is the basis for two main staple foods consumed in the village and the rest of Tanzania that is
ugali and makande. Ugali is a stiff porridge made from a maize powder mixed with warm water in
a steel or clay pot on the heat. Makande is piled maize grains and half cut, can be prepared by boil it
water with salt, oil and or beans. The process of making ugali starts with making a powder from
maize grains. There are three main ways of preparing maize powder which each result in a different
56
kind of ugali: fermented sembe, non-fermented sembe, and dona.
Sembe
Fermented sembe and non- fermented sembe
Fermented sembe
The procedures of making fermented and non-fermented sembe are different and that brings
different results. The fermented sembe procedures starts first with bringing maize grain and taking
out the outer shell by hand tools or mills machine. Second they put the processed maize grains into
a bucket and add water and leave them for two or three days. Third they take the maize grains and
wash them with water. Fourth they dry the washed grains by spreading them in sun. Fifth they take
them and grind them to form maize powder.
Responses from especially elder people show that ugali made from fermented maize powder were
seen to have three main goods for consumers. Fermented sembe has a bitter taste which is found to
be a nice taste when eating and has a soft texture so it is nice to eat even you do not have nice
mboga. ‘Nice’ mboga is about roasting versus boiling mboga will be discussed more in the
following section. Fermented sembe is also said to not make their stomach full quickly hence when
they eat, their stomachs can receive a lot and they get nice full stomachs for a long time. Fermented
sembe stays in the stomach long time so they can withstand hunger and wait for the next meal.
Some elderly people said the reason why fermentation was more preferred before than today was
because of the facilities used by their ancestors to prepare maize powder. The present technology of
mills machines has replaced the hand made one. Fermenting maize grain could make it easer for
them to prepare maize powder by fermenting with water first. Today we have a new way of making
sembe hence fermenting is not preferred by young generations.
Taste, feeling satisfied and technology were all explained in relation with fermented sembe. Those
preferred most fermented sembe said much on technology and those preferred most fermented
sembe said more on test and energetic body feelings after eating. The two kinds of sembe have
nutritional differences. The PANTIL nutrition’s advisor's, who were also my field assistants, advice
people to eat non-fermented sembe or dona. Fermented sembe powder has less protein and
carbohydrates.
Non-fermented sembe
57
Non-fermented sembe is a result of the introduction of mills machines that are able to grind maize
into powder while dry. It is clearly now that only elderly people prefer fermented sembe and young
people are not interested in fermented sembe.
The adaptation of non-fermented sembe was explained much in relation to changes of preparations
of mboga and introductions on mills machine to process maize grains.
Roasted mboga and fermented sembe, the use of industrial oil for cooking and frying and presence
of an interactive market which brings spices has made people prepare spiced mboga which they
believe taste nice. According to them they find the combination of roasted mboga with non
-fermented sembe has a good combination of test. This has come to oppose the use of boiled mboga
know as chukuchuku. chukuchuku is perceived to be cheap and poor mboga and preferred with
fermented ugali. The consumption of roasted mboga in opposition to chukuchuku reminds people of
the difference in consumption between the old way of consumption and the modern way.
Introduction of cooking oil for frying or roasted has brought modern mboga. This modern mboga is
called roasted mboga and will be discussed after the discussion of dona below.
Dona
This kind of ugali is formed by taking maize and grind by hand or mills machine without removing
the outer shell and form Dona maize powder. This kind of ugali is less preferred. The Kaguru
people related dona with food shortages. They think eating dona is by necessity only. There is a
situation which forces someone to bring dona powder home. This kind of explanation was often
repeated that when a person is carrying maize to mills machine and grind it without taking away the
outer shell (prepare dona powder) we directly think she does not have enough food at home. It is a
shame to bring dona powder home. During the food shortages, when we do not have maize, we are
ready to eat that bad ugali. Dona is a symbol of food shortage in our community. Why? Answers
from household members have something in common. They said the taste and smell of dona was so
horrible even children never enjoy to eat it, if you want to enjoy dona you need to make expensive
mboga such roasted mboga with meat or fish all the time. Meat and fish are scarce foods in
Magubike.
Discussion on maize preparation is important in the Kaguru diet. This is because maize forms their
meals. The quality of maize is important in their nutritional improvement. Dona maize was said by
PANTIL nutritional advices to contain all the nutritional value. Preparation of dona powder does not
58
remove anything. They were advising people to consume dona, an advice which received less
interest. Kaguru people where defending the importance of sembe to them and did not want to
change, unless they waited to be forced with hunger.
9.2.2 Roasted and boiled mboga
Mboga is a small composition of Kaguru meal. It is always made with vegetables and or beans, and
some times with fish or meat. Mboga is made to accompany meals made of cereals such as maize,
rice or sorghum. What is called mboga can be compared with souses, soup, or cooked salad
accompanying the staple.
I tested two kinds of mboga as and their difference was both on taste and names. Children could
smile when they felt the smell of fried onions when they were out playing in the home ground. They
could say wow! Today we will eat fried mboga. There is one Swahili proverb which says 'Mgeni aje
wenyeji tupone'. This means “Let a guest come, this will rescue us”. This means that fried mboga is
rare or that it is a long time since they had it. My presence made it possible for them to eat roasted
mboga.
Classification of mboga as roasted and boiled denotes the poorness. The richer the family the more
often they consume roasted mboga and the poorer they are the more they consume boiled mboga.
Roasted mboga which is made with spices is fried with cooking oil. These spices can be onions,
cooking oil, tomato and salt these are commonly used spices. Also okra may be added to mboga
when available. This kind of mboga is considered to have rich status as it is expensive. The spices
are said to make it tasty and nice to eat. Onion, salt and oil are always products from the market
cash is needed to purchase these. Onions are added in a mboga for a good smell. Once they are used
in a salad know in Swahili as kachumbari they have to be washed to be less strong and to only give
the smell.
Boiled mboga is an mboga known in Swahili as Chukuchuku. Its preparations in by boil it with
water, and salt added. This mboga has poor status as it is cheap. Chukuchuku is mboga boiled with
water ad salt. This kind of mboga has common ingredients boiled green leaves or beans. Okra can
be added during harvest seasons. Ingredients for mboga, and especially chukuchuku are grown by
the villagers and so its price is affordable to them.
They do look down upon chukuchuku. I was welcomed for a meal in one of the households, and a
woman said: “Mary, welcome to eat ugali but the mboga is only boiled. I know people from town
59
are used to roasted nice mboga”. She looked down upon boiled green vegetables as a shame food to
a guest. I will bring into discussion the nutritional status between boiled and roasted mboga.
PANTIL nutritional advisor sees that boiled mboga, if made properly, is healthier than fried one. It
is not bad if they boil it, but instead of boiling to finish as they do, the advices them to half boil and
keep the greens alive. This means that what is poor mboga is richer in nutrition than what is rich
mboga. This then show that when we want to change peoples’ habits we do need first to understand
what people eat and why they prepare as they do, before we introduce interventions related to
nutrition
9.2.3 Scarce and available food
Foods which are expensive are always from the market and are not grown in the village. This kind
of food is scarce. The food which is grown in the village is always cheaper. These kinds of food are
available foods. These clarifications on scarce and availabilities are therefore drawn from
household's daily consumptions. This classification show that the choices of food in Magubike
focus of what is available and cheap to get. Maize is an example of food which is preferred most.
Apart from many other reason to why they consume more maize related food, but its availability is
most important. Examples from other villages also show that people prefer to eat what is most
available, especially when it is harvested each season.
Preferences due to scarcity
All the foods which are normally found in the market and not grown in the village are preferred
more than the grown are which are consumed often. Food items such rice, meat and fish are rare to
be prepared. The consumption of meat and fish is once or northing a month and consumption for
rice is once or twice a year for the majority.
The rice is expensive and the majority of the household's size was large and that made it too
expensive to meet the cost of one meal of rice. For example the price of rice was 1000 Tsh per
kilogram equivalent to 9 Nok. That was enough only for four people, a household with eight people
needs two time plus the cost of ingredient for mboga. This is too expensive to afford, instead they
could eat rice for major celebrations such as Christmas and Idd.
Preference due to availability
Maize related foods, vegetable and beans are preferred because of their availability. They are
60
produced by the household and almost consumed daily. Their price in the market is also reasonable
according to the villagers- income situation. The price of one kilogram of maize is equivalent to the
price of twenty kilogram of maize during the harvest seasons. A price of one kilogram of meat is
equivalent to up to forty kilograms of maize. And twenty kilograms of maize can be consumed up
to four days, ugali being a meal for both afternoon and evening meals.
Looking at how local people classifying food, shows how they perceive the food they eat. Men and
women had the same explanation on how they think on food. It was difficult to draw their
differences if any. People create meanings on food which then influence their choices on
consumption. Poverty was associated with types of food preparation and consumption. Those poor
foods are, however, rich in nutrition. In the following chapter I will relate villagers’ feelings after
eating a certain kind of food with nutritional knowledge.
10.0 Meals
The day in Magubike starts when the sun rises. The sun brings light. The time when people get out
of bed differ from men to women and also depends on a season as well as some one's plan of the
day. During the crop cultivation seasons women get up at four o’clock. She will have to prepare
break fast for the household members to eat before they leave to farms and carry with her ingredient
for lunch to be prepared in the field. They leave from home around five o'clock. Off season, this is
after harvests, there were variations it time, but women are the first to wake up and light up a
cooking fire. The time varies between five and half past six in the morning.
Households eat three meals per day when the food is available. When there is shortage of food they
eat two meals, but they can eat one meal per day or northing when the situation in catastrophic. The
time of eating in a day varies. Break fast is taken at ten in the morning, lunch is taken at one in the
afternoon, and dinner is taken eight in the evening. The indicated time is taken as average from the
student responses.
Pupils drink porridge at school when food is available at school and return home before ten in the
morning to eat at home when there is no food at school. Parent who have children at school
contribute food to school, the amount contributed depends on the amount of harvest in that year. For
example low harvest on last season of 2006 \2007 led to low contributions hence when I was there
is September 2007, children were home around ten in the morning to eat before they went back and
continue with classes.
The table below shows variation of food that are eaten. The foods mentioned below are available in
61
the village, by being grown by villagers or sold in the markets. The foods which are main sample,
their ingredients is dominated with maize. This shows how maize is important part of every day
meals of Kaguru people. Only those who have access to extra income are those can spend on main
meals and snakes. Some fruits like sugar cane are grown in the village.
10.1 Division of meals in Magubike
The table below show different types of foods varieties that can be consumed at the three different
daily meals. It does not mean they all can be consumed in one day, rather the table shows the
variety in foods.)
Meals and food variations
Morning meals
Left overs from
Afternoon meals
available
-Ugali (sembe and
dona)
-Mboga (beans, meat
source, vegetables)
Boiled cassava
-Makande (maize)
Boiled sweet potatoes
-Wali (rice)
Boiled magimbi
-Chik peas
Eggs
-Eggs
previous day if
Chapati (pan cake)
Maandazi (Bans)
Vitumbua ( rice bans)
Morning drinks
Poridge (maize
powder)
Tea with sugar
Tea with milk
Evening meals
Snacks
French fry
All the meals
consumed for lunch can
Fry sweet potatoes
also be consumed for
dinner
Fry cassava
Sweets
Biscuits
Fruits
-Beef
-Chickens
-French fry
-Fish (smoked, sun dry
and fry)
Local foods
-Pilau(brown rice
made with brown
spices)
-Kimboya (mixed and
boiled Potatoes
+beans)
-Chidwari (Maize grain
62

Sugar cane

Mangoes

Oranges

Banana
harvested before dried
mixed and boiled with
beans which are also
harvested before dried)
-Ngenda (dried maize
grains boiled with
pumpkins)
-Dibandiko ( pumba
mixed with water 1 day
before cooked as
Ugali)
-msange (piled millet
mixed with beans)
-Msukulu ( Piled maize
and boiled with salt
with or without oil).
10.2 Art of eating and the body
During the discussions about food we saw what Magubike eat, how households are organised to
make major decisions on food supply and preparation, and the social classification of food based on
meaning and values attached on them. Yet the story about food and society is not over. Magubike
society structure is explained through meals. Here we will see how Kaguru tradition has developed
meals into an art, he way they have constructed the values embedded in the meals they eat and with
responses to their body feelings, the way they respond to their feeling and give a certain meals type
value over others. Moreover the meals say something about societal harmony, conformity, respects
and togetherness. Finally I will discuss the government as institution and its views on feeding
school children as among the means to improve enrolments, attendance and hence academic
performance.
10.2.1 The body
The body of a living human beings needs food. Some people eat while observing what nutritional
science requires a body to receive in order to be complete, those people have nothing to do with
immediate responses, rather a long term well being. This can be seen in another way in Magubike
where men and women’s understanding of maize, cassava and other serials as a part of meals is
63
influenced by how their body feels after eating. Peoples’ preference of maize over cassava is
explained in terms to what they feel after they eat.
During the discussions with different household members some common expressions were given.
Such as when I eat ugali regardless of whatever mboga I had my body feel fresh and energy
flowing. But when I eat cassava I feel tired and I feel no energy flowing in my body at all, and later
I will find ugali and eat. Households which were able to eat rice often could prefer to eat rice as
evening meal instead of afternoon meal. The explanations of rice were closely the same as cassava.
The rice does not stay long in the stomach and once you eat you get temporary energy different
from eating ugali. Also in additional in order for rice to stay longer you need to eat a lot. This was
explained in relation to income that can be spent on food. So they need to buy a lot of rice to meet
their body feelings energy requirements.
The body feeling and energy flowing in relation to maize and cassava can be reflected to the
amount of calories available in maize which can bring energy than cassava and rice. Their feeling
inform the different nutritional status between maize and cassava. The same explanation was given
in comparing eating ugali in combination with meat as it has a different feeling from eating ugali
and vegetables. Sugar can is used a lot between meals. I often saw that when kids started to ask for
food from their parents, the parents asked them to eat sugar cane and wait. They also asked me to
eat sugar cane while waiting for lunch. Eating Sugar cane was supported with explanation such as
when you eat sugar can you get relief from hunger and it can stop your thirst too. They were
explaining the importance of food using their own word, they are responding to the feelings of their
body when they eat a certain kind of food.
10.2.2 Harmony and food
Harmony is a social agreement. An agreement made whereby their members are bound with both
written and unwritten law. Household members in Magubike had roles. Some roles are ascribed,
such as such as being a woman or a man. Some roles are achieved, the one acquired in a real world
such as household head. Cooking in Magubike household is a responsibility for the woman.
Household born daughters can take part, working at the kitchen together with the mother to learn
and later make food herself. Cooking and kitchen duties are attached to femaleness. It is then
understood that being born female, you are born with a kitchen role. It is socially agreed that when
they are well performed the society, as well as the family, is in a state of harmony.
64
Picture 9: A woman making breakfast, besides are her daughter and son.
On the other hand when food is available, cooked and eaten, it means that the house is in harmony.
Household food is central to achieving a harmonic state. Choices of what kind of meal the
household should eat every day meals are reflected in the worked “shibe”. This is a Swahili
expression which means that to have a full stomach; therefore the choice of food should make sure
the household members will be full in their stomach. Availability of food makes people happy and
full of energy to produce and reproduce. When there is dissatisfaction and hence disagreement
among the household’s men and women, the state of the food in the household will be affected.
Whether it is men and women roles in food that will be affected depends on who is not satisfied.
When a woman is not satisfied, even though the ingredient are at home she will refuse to cook as a
way to convey message to her husband. If the man is dissatisfied he will not supply the required
ingredients as a way to convey the message, and when a member of the household is dissatisfied he
or she will refuse to eat. This is always used as an immediate response to disagreement within the
household.
As food is central solution to the same problem will be sorted out with food. This can be either
65
disagreed part to resolve themselves and decide to take part in meals supply or preparation or by
inviting responsible clan member where a meeting with be held with food and sometimes drinks.
10.2.3 Conformity and eating
Societies are guided with norms, rules, values and standards by which it is expected of its members
to act or behave. Once a member is able to follow the rules this is considered to conform to a
society. Some of these standards are expressed through eating. Eating make people to come together
as a family share the fruits of their labour. Kaguru people eat together sharing a single plate. Food
portions are allocated by the woman who prepared them for her household members. The first
portion of food is allocated to men, the children and then women separately. Men are the first to be
served at home and or in ceremonies, this is because it shows respect to them.
A Kaguru family has two stages of growth, the first stage is when the children are young, and they
haven’t reach puberty stage. The second stage is when the children reach puberty. This stage
changes the eating arrangement in a family. When boys reach puberty they undergo male
circumcision followed by an initiation ceremony where they will be informed that they have
become a man and what is expected from them as a man. Through this each boy will learn the
traditional expectations of a man. When a girl reaches puberty and start her first menstruation, she
will be kept home, absent from any formal meetings, such as schools. She will be informed how to
be a woman and what is the traditional expectation from a woman. A circumcision for girls (Female
Genital Mutilation) is prohibited as was explained not to take part. After these ceremonies girls and
boys will start to assume maleness and femaleness responsibilities.
The growth of children in a household changes the eating arrangements as follows.
When the children have not reached puberty stage
In this stage the members of the household eat together in sharing plates and place. Children who
are young and need assistant to eat get help from the mother. Often a woman will have to feed
babies while they are eating themselves. Babies were not only fed with meals but also breast fed.
When the children have reached puberty stage
Traditionally girls who have reach puberty stage can not eat in a sharing plate with her father or her
elder brother. And boys who have reached the puberty stage cannot share a plate with their mother
or her elder sister. The eating structure changes as women and girls eat together, and men and boys
eat together separately. Son who still need assistant when they are eating will join the female group.
66
A girl is prepared to be a wife and a boy is prepared to be husband. When men and women are
eating it will be considered ‘indiscipline’ when a woman happens to show her private organs to her
sons and for the girls to her father. Also farting is indiscipline when eating. It is worse when a girl
or woman fart in front of boys or men tan vice versa.
Dividing the meal into two or more portions also meant that the meals size has to be increased. In
this stage the household, human capital has a role to increase crop production and also provide off
farm incomes. Labour power is increased and the size of the cultivated land will increase. Through
this they manage to cope with increase in food needs. Boys and girls were involved in income
bringing activities such as casual labour or selling food in the markets respectively. Mothers could
leave girls with their young at home and go out for casual labour.
Increased size of a household, and mostly when you have member who can take productive roles,
was not necessarily negative, as initiatives could be taken to make it to an advantage and a security
to the household’s consumption.
10.2.4 Chicken meat as symbol for respect
Chicken meat and ugali are the valuable food for a family and for an invited guest. The preparation
of chicken is meat source, the division of chicken during the meal has respect symbol. Kidney is a
very important part of chicken body as it process food to be distributed to the body, there for a
father as an important person in finding and distributing food at home get honed to it. When this
part of meat is eaten by other person it will give a message of indiscipline and no respects to him.
When a guest is invited, even if that guest will be accompanied with friends or relative the invited
person will be honed Kidney as respect. A guest who is has just dropped by will not receive the
same attentions as they will not have expectations attached to him or her to receive a valuable
kidney meat. However any guest is always welcome to eat.
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10.2.5 Eating togetherness
Kaguru community and families have a culture of eating together when they are in the ceremonies
and at homes. It is morally unaccepted for a person to request eating alone. He or she will give a
message of not being one of the societies. This is mostly associated with witchcraft. When you are
eating together it is not possible fore someone to send a bad spirit to the food as he or she will be
affected too. Eating together makes the food safe from magic; the one who do not want to eat with
us will probably want to affect us through this food. She or he is not together with us.
Picture 10: A female household's member gathered for a meal.
History of eating together in Tanzania culture is associated with lack of enough plates, spoons and
other relevant tools to make separate portions of meals. This was also the case in Magubike. The
differences between rich and poor households were also seen in home utensils. Rich households
were allocating portions of meals on separate plates, while the poor were sharing the same plates.
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PART FOUR.
Part four will comprise of chapter eleven, twelve, and thirteen. Chapter eleven will talk about the
classification of households. Where by it will comprise explanations aiming to understanding
village household. Capitals owned and the different livelihood strategies practised by household's
members will be focused upon. Livelihood strategies and the capitals of the household will inform
us about how diversified activities are and how the outcomes have an impact on household’s
consumption. Chapter twelve will be about food shortages. Food shortages will be explained as
failure of capital invested and the natural causalities. Different aspects around food shortages will
also be explored, including the nature of food shortages in the village, and their coping strategies.
Rural poor farmers tend to diversify their incomes activities. These incomes bring about narrow
result but once they collect them together they bring a significant difference. There difference are
what can be believed made them to survive when there is emergences. Magubike village households
have much diversified source of income. The chapter on capitals and the livelihood activities
showed household's capital and the activities with which they are engaged. Some households and
individuals have limited access to some capitals, mostly referred to women and inheritance, and
traditional customs. These limit their ability to take part efficiently in productive activities and
hence placed them at the bottom line of poverty ranking. Together with all those differences
Magubike people have their own way of classifying people as rich or poor. The differences are more
based on outcomes of capitals owned. Chapter thirteen will include conclusion.
11.0 Classification of households
In this section I will look at the household’s status as poor or rich in relation to assets, livelihood
strategies and food security. Village understanding of being poor or rich will be explained as well as
the household’s capitals and household status.
The external appearance of household members and their physical home tell a villager whether to
believe that there is a rich or a poor one among them selves. Households with member who had
formal employments was claimed to be secured due to a monthly flow of salary. This was due to
income cash and their purchasing power. The number of individuals who have formal employment
is low compared to the total village population.
11.1 Rich and poor households
In my observation to Magubike households, there are two kinds of households. The differences are
based on capital owned and livelihood activities they are doing. Households whose members have
more than only farming activities are seen to be better off. Farming itself in the village is no longer
69
considered as enough activities to make a family survive. The falls in farming outcomes was
previously explained in relation to policies and also change in climate. These two major differences
create the difference that makes one say there are poor and rich households.
People's perceptions on household differences, outside the house, in the public a village household
is judged according to external outlook. This includes the housing, capital invested, dressing and
consumption in the public kitchens. The judgement is done based on one or several things. When
children are going to secondary school that will mean their family are income rich to manage that. It
is generalized that houses with block walls and iron sheet metal are lived in by rich households
members, and a household with its member dressing nice and kids having good uniforms for school
are kids from rich households. When a certain member eats meat from a public kitchen and or
drinks industrial beer in pubs they are considered as rich. Ownership of bigger farm than others is
also considered as rich. And also if a household member owns a kind of investments such as shops
are seen as rich.
All these criteria or richness mentioned are exceptional in the sense that very few village members
are able to be part of it. Hence those who do are seen as having something more than others. The
history about development of the village says that before 1980's it was dangerous to do anything
which is different from the rest of the villagers. They would always punish you through witchcraft.
These beliefs created fears which are said to exist less to today. The habit of judging others from
external looks has influence people, mostly men who prefer to put an effort into things that can be
seen with public than private domestic needs. It shows that to gain this prestige you need to invest
on visible thing, on land even when you do not have capital to cultivate it, on clothes and other
things. This can explain why an increase in income does not necessarily change their diet.
Food at home is private, is it is not visible from the outside. When you it meat no one will see it
outside the door. When a guest is invited or expected a household's tends to make food which is
exceptional. My observation on public perception saw that women could show there are rich
through goods and new dresses while men could show being rich through ownership of the house,
shops, eating and drinking.
Within the households, members have different economic status. My observation is that men, have
more opportunity to access extra income. The income from these activities will not be disclosed to
the other household members at the end of day. These incomes are among the one used for luxury
spendings. In talking with a beer seller, it became clear that on several occasions he observed
70
women coming with their children into his bar to confront their partners for not supporting them
with basic needs at home but instead spending money on alcohol and eating out. Also a village
leader committee received cases of couples, where the wives blamed their husbands for spending
cash for luxury goods rather than on household members’ consumption.
Observational follow-up on two households where men were seen out in the beer bars eating went
as followed. While I was meeting them out in bars we were discussing about the expensiveness of
the bottle of beer and household expenditures. The cost of one beer that was consumed was more
than their home food budget per day. The cost of one bottle was one thousand and two hundred
shillings equivalent to approximated 6 Nok. As I new them, their family spend less than one beer
per day for food. But they had children in secondary school and were living in block houses with
iron roof.
The fact is households with several livelihood strategies are seen as rich and having better lives. It
depends on who is controlling the in come. Men are the main controller and their spending
behaviour limits the possibility to improve family consumptions. If we compared households that
were believed to be poor and those held to be rich in relation to food consumption en from poor
households spend large percent of their income to household foods and services than the men from
rich households. Consumption is both outcome of peoples behaviour, and preferences.
11.2 Land as a capitals and right
Men get hold of land either through inheritance and buying. The quality of land depends on the
nature of land. According to Magubike farmers land located along the rain valley which keep water
and stay wet for long time during the year is most good fertile. This land can be cultivated year
long. Plain land, this are those can be used only during the rain seasons. Plain land is most land in
Magubike. This land are good, its productivity depends on amount of rain in each season. Steep
land, start from the Fold Mountains around the village are the most poor lands. These lands are said
by farmers to be less fertile and vulnerable to erosions such as wind and rain water. Most of this
steep land was abandoned. Lands located along the rain valleys are small in size. Fewer numbers of
villagers own valley lands. Its possession is along the clan inheritance. Land is distinguished assert
it is not in the market. A household would not choose to sell land first if they get a problem which
needs quick money.
The rain wet valley gives more yield than plain farm lands, and off season periods they are rented
71
out for tomato gardens. Very few people who have a capital for tomato garden, although some are
trying to buy fresh tomato and prepare seeds from them instead of buying seeds. Households can
grow vegetables in these wet valleys for their own consumption and market. The household which
own plain farm land luck the advantage that those who own water valleys has. Plant can survive
longer on valley when the rain is short and secure their harvest. Human beings assert play a key role
in production, as physical well being of the households can determine the next harvest. When a
member of the households is ill health, the production will be in risk, especial if the family do not
have replacement labour such as paying casual labours.
A household which do not own land are at more income and consumption risks. These risks are due
to the fact that land brings most food. Their food supply will either depend on market prices or
possible available plain land for renting, as well as the income and prices. During the high farming
seasons the productive lands are not in the markets. As a result landless people have to rent land
which is located in the mountain slopes. These lands are said by villagers do not gives guarantee
harvest. Poor harvest mean low food supply.
Women do not have independent land rights. If by any reasons they separated from their husband
and lived alone with their children they fall into a group of landless people. Their food production
depends on renting land, borrowing for free from family members and \ or buying. Buying is very
rare to happen due to economic constrains. The risk is higher as their production and their harvest is
uncertain. Female headed households believe land to be a problem to their survival and their
children. They have different mechanism to overcome their family problems. Apart from getting
land and engaged in casual labour or small income business like alcohol making, women can get
assistance from men that they will decide to be their partners.
12.0 Food shortage
Food shortages in relation to capital in an emergency situation and is termed in Swahili as 'dharura'.
Food shortage situations are commonly known and experienced in Magubike. The villages did not
have experience from any occasion when people had staved to death as a result of food shortages.
This shows that they have managed to deal with the situations using the available capitals as was
listed and explained in the capital section.
The livelihood approach adopted from Scoones (1998) starts with the vulnerability context, which
includes shocks, trends and seasonality. The approach seeks to link this situation with capitals,
72
institutions and activities and outcomes. Food security is among the livelihood outcomes. Absence
of food security is part of what Scoones mentions as seasonality, trends, and shocks. Food shortages
are both cause and effect. Food shortages in Magubike are outcome of several causes. Natural
hazards and man made causes are major. Natural hazards are those of insufficient rain, drought, and
plant pests and diseases. Man made is those that result from shortage of land due to human
diseases, lack of seeds and land.
Food shortages in Magubike differ in extent. When the shortages are caused by natural hazards,
they often affect the whole village and will need external interventions such as food aid. Food
shortages causalities result in ill health. Some food shortages are result of both natural hazard and
man made. When the food shortage faces a single household within the village, the reasons are
always associated with diseases, deaths, lack of seeds and land. Relief from these problems is
obtained through household networking, and the importance of networking as a social capital was
explained in the capitals chapter. When the food shortages face the village, the causes are more
associated with natural hazards like drought, floods and critical human diseases like HIV and AIDS.
The solutions come from outside the village including institutions such as government, non
governmental organisation and international agencies.
Table 4. Problem affecting crop production in Magubike
Female%
Male%
Total
respondent%
Unreliable
33.4
28.2
61.6
24.4
33.8
58.2
Pest and disease 24.4
26.8
51.2
Seeds
12.8
8.5
21.3
Flood
2.3
1.4
3.7
Witchcraft
2.3
1.4
3.7
Total
100
100
rainfall
Ill health and
pregnancy
After interviewing household members and the village agricultural extension officer, I administered
a questionnaire to the visited households. The respondent was allowed to indicate more than one
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problem they faced in crop productions. The above table shows the result.
The above table
indicates six main problems including ill health, seeds, witchcraft, flood, animal and plant pest and
diseases, and unreliable rainfall. These problems are both man made (practises and beliefs) and
natural. Both men and women found that diseases, unreliable rainfall and ill health were the main
problems which faced their crop production. Seeds did not appear as a problem from this
questionnaire. During the interviews with households and village extension farmer seeds were also
explained as a major problem in production.
Witchcraft believes and practises in both farm activities and off farm activities exist. During the
discussion with household’s member they showed fear on witchcraft, but they ended up arguing that
today witchcraft is not so focused on crop production but exists much in business and people who
want to do revenges. Flood happens but it takes a lot of years from one flood to another: When they
appear they much affect those who cultivate in a steep land and sometimes in rain valley farms.
12.1 Seasonality
Seasonality is understood in the Swahili language as 'msimu'. The naming of different msimu is
along with the important food which is available or type of rain. When mangos in the trees are
ready to eat, that is referred to as 'msimu wa maembe'. Mango is in Swahili called maembe. This
example of naming seasons with rain and food show how food and rain is important and moreover
it show how available seasonal food give relief to a people or a certain group of people in the
society. Food shortages are subjected to seasonality.
Table number three shows that people in Magubike were aware of the unreliable rain. There are two
main rain seasons. One is called Masika this is the longest season start from months of late March
to early June, this kind of rain cover the whole Nation. The extent of rain varies. Vuli is a rain
season start months of late October to December. Vuli rain is inconstant as it can rain once in a week
or twice a moth, varies according to regions and years. The importance of understand rain season in
Magubike is due to the fact that the crop productions and forest foods, mostly vegetables, are
determined by the amount of rainfall. Due to this seasonality of food consumption in Magubike is a
case to be understood.
Masika determined the food to be consumed in every year. Low rain during the Masika affects
consumption. Taking an example of the 2006-7 seasons, Magubike experience late rains, the first
rain did not continue, as was followed with weeks of sun. People used the first rain for cropping.
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New young plants did not get enough water and the growth was affected. The other rain could not
rescue the plants. This together with other reasons affected the harvest. The month of November
2007 they where hoping to get enough Vuli rain that could help to bring some vegetables and they
could grow sweet potatoes to have food before the next harvest in July and August. Consumption in
Magubike is highly determined with seasonality and seasonality depends on rain. Low Vuli rain
could result in less mango fruits in December – January. A good season will be dependent on rain
and hence the amount of harvest and a bad season will be the absence of rain.
12.2 Coping strategies
Households and individuals within the households have different mechanism to cope with food
shortages. The village has no neither its independent plan for emergency food situations nor any
formally organised economic alternative when there is food shortages. When the occasion is
reported as a social problem to the regional leadership, the government might respond with food aid
as a quick solution to the shortage.
Apart from the government there are other private institutions that responded to the previous village
food shortages such as World Vision programs. The village has experience several food shortages,
this situation has diversify their means livelihood, as was explained in part of non farm activities.
Low harvest of maize which they have depends on both for food and commercial crop and Charcoal
making business that has been stopped by government forest department, with a lot of restrictions
and tax are imposed now. The extent of tree hunting is not seems to be higher but the problems can
be inability of villagers to replace new trees by planting instead of waiting them to grow natural.
These changes lead the villager to think about different means to which they will obtain their
livelihood and hence develop their resistance to food shortages. The two key source of livelihood
have face barriers, in turn several income activities have been introduced including vegetable
gardens, tomato gardens, long distance trades and casual labours (working in other people farms,
fetching water and fetching fire wood for sell).
Livestock capitals are kept for emergencies to provide relief to unexpected situations like food
shortages. Animal will be the first to be considered for sale, followed by borrowing money. If
productive capital like bicycle will be sold or kept in bond for money and land is a last choice if a
problem is too critical. Land brought to market mostly when it is a problem that threatens the life of
a household's head who is man, the land owner. Small animals kept at home are always sold out,
75
they do sell not only because they need food but also those animals face food shortages they should
sell them no matter how cheap it is.
In one third of the visited households with married couples, the women went out to perform
different income bringing activities, such as selling vegetable in the local market, fetching water for
pay, working in others farms, bringing vegetables for exchanging in a near neighbouring village. It
is held that a man who loves his wife cannot let her go out struggling for money to buy food, and
this view still exists even today. Market dependence on food shows that the man not only can not
manage to feed the family, but as alternative to under supply of food from men, women are now
going out for casual labour or for business. Women get money as financial capital through men or
through borrowing from women friends.
People living in Magubike have relatives in the near by village. Those relatives either moved there
because of marriage or a home a woman married. They do travel out to see if they can find relief.
Exchanging or selling home made utensil was mentioned early as among non farm income activity.
They mostly travel with home utensils to this village to exchanging with food it or money. Some
travel with hand hoes and machete knives to see if they can get a casual labour to work in the farms.
12.3 Consumption during the food shortages
Households secure one meal per day, and that meal will be taken between three o'clock pm and five
o'clock pm. The time locations of the meal means that its both lunch and dinner, and each meal is
obtained dependent on that specific day’s findings, that means every day parents will go out
expecting to come home with something, as they leave home five o'clock AM, some times they can
come even late.
Food supply as aid comes where the shortage is critical and is for the whole village. Food
consumption when the whole village has an acute problem is different from when a single specific
household has a food shortage. This means when the village has food problems in general, the
market price of food is high, this is because most of goods comes out of the village and food traders
in Tanzania use the advantage of food shortages to increase the prices by blaming transportation
costs and increased prices where they buy food. When food is too little in the local market, they said
76
small retailers do not survive in business and their businesses are hence closed down. Also my
observation in the local market shows that fresh vegetables dominated market goods. And once a
food shortage is caused by drought, vegetable disappeared in the farms and in the village local
markets. During the food shortages even income activities from the village are not available, long
distance trades and going to neighbours for casual labour are alternative solutions. They mostly
travel to the nearby village.
Food at that time will never be specific and they eat what they have got from the place they were.
Dona ugali will be used with any mboga which will be available that day. Pumba these are the
maize grain shells taken out when piling shells for sembe or makende, in this time they make ugali
for it traditional name is dibandiko. This is commonly used as business people bring from other
towns and the price is low suiting the situation of people in the village.
The figure bellow aims at giving a picture on how the flow of capital and consumption in the
household goes along with the shortages of food. This illustration is an outcome of idea presentment
in Maxwell and Frankenberger ( 1992).
-Land.
- Bicycles.
- (Possible external interventions).
- Possible support from networks.
byshdfuohfriuh
- Consumptions of famine food.
- Livestock marketing.
- Change in diet.
- Consumption from the markets.
- Labour sale and
migrations.
- Eating remain in
house store even seeds.
Figure 2: Time line during the crisis
The arrangement of the movements of capital and consumption in done in a way that in the bottom,
it is a time when a situation is on initial stage, and they are not sure how critical the food shortage
77
problem shall reach. In this time they might be believe the Vuli Rain will come and change the
situation. As the diagram, get narrow the situation is getting critical and the movements of capital
goes much to difficulties choices, such as selling bicycles and land. This illustration is just a way to
give a small picture of what happening when they face food shortages in Magubike.
13.0 Concluding discussions
The main objective of this study was to understand how the understanding and perceptions of men
and women in the household are influencing food production, consumption, and storage. The study
was based on information gathered among thirty two households in Magubike village in the
Morogoro district of Tanzania
The following sub-objectives were addressed to achieve the main objectives. First was to map and
understand different types of food consumed at the household level. Second was to assess decision
making processes on food production at the household level. Third was to look at the
responsibilities of different members of the household with respect to food production and
consumption. Fourth was to assess the role of norms and rules in determining intra- household food
allocation among its members, such as men, women, children, aged, and pregnant women. Firth
was to understand how the varying assets of households tend to respond to food scarcity or food
availabilities. Sixth was to assess the storage systems with respect to what is stored, how and who
does the storage estimate, and if the estimate meet the yearly consumption at the household level.
The data collections and analysis processes borrowed on approaches of livelihood and gender
relations. The Gender Role Framework was chosen as it allows men and women activities to be
observed separately and also on the points where they interact. And social relation analysis provides
a mechanism to understand what is within the social structures that underline the existing relations
between men and women.
The livelihood approach includes asset or capitals that men and women own, access, control and or
transfer. It focuses upon problems or barriers that people meet while they perform their activities,
and institutions and policies that inform the process of attaining a livelihood. Among the livelihood
outcomes are together with improvements of food. On this study the focus was on capital
ownerships, accessibilities, control and transfers with respect to gender. The ownerships,
accessibilities, control and transfers were traditional shaped to prioritize men. This is however a
78
reason why women had little or more less does not have their own land in Magubike. More over
those who had land, did own the less productive one. This forms of ownerships, accessibilities,
control and transfers limit women their freedom of decisions making in side and outside the
household's.
Land was seen to be most capital for individuals and family livelihoods. Land ownerships, access,
control and transfer was done along the traditional family and mediated by kinship structures.
Women could not inherit land unless they rise up their own financial capital and buy. The access to
land for women is permitted along with family of birth or achieved family that she married too.
Women headed household's could access land along with family of birth by been borrowed land
with parents or sibling brother, buying or form a co- men partner ship through which she could gain
the access of land through him.
Institutions were seen as mediating the capitals and activities through form of customary laws and
structures of decisions making. Non-governmental Organisations such as PANTIL and government
are external bodies who have little direct influence on their daily life and practices. How ever,
PANTIL is set to influence changes on practise related to consumption.
The assessment of position of men ands women as member of household in food production and
consumptions in Magubike revile that both men and women are fully engaged in crop productions.
This was due to the fact that crop production is the main channel to which bring food their homes.
More over traditional men are obliged to supply food at home, so in order to achieve this it was
unavoidable for men to concentrate their labor power and time in crop productions.
Crop production in Magubike is some how flexible and can change under a certain circumstances,
this study found out that the extent to which tomato gardening was accepted in Magubike and the
change from Sorghum production to Maize, show that Magubike people will like to grow new crops
especial if it have both consumption and market value.
Apart from crop faming Magubike people does non farming activities such as alcohol making and
selling, charcoal making and other types of activities which aim at raising cash. Women are part of
this activities, either as independents actors or though their husband as helpers. The study about this
activities focuses on actors (men and women) and the out come (food).
79
Cash in household come through crop production marketing, non form businesses and casual labor.
There two things to understand. First is women could only control cash and decide on it if they live
independent from any men partnership. Some situations have been explained to involve family
inborn member who intervene the decisions of a single living women. How ever this situation in
Magubike did not appear as a case because woman lived alone said to be free from any direct
control of her daily life.
Second are men who control capital in the household. He controls cash which is important to
initiate any livelihood activity. Inability of women to hold financial capital was a barrier for their
involvement in business. Casual jobs in Magubike are few and mostly exchanged with food items.
Very few women are able to constantly earn cash.
Now the question is on if the cash obtained in the households bring about improvements in
consumption to household members. The study shows that in the household when large amount of
cash is obtained, they prefer to spend by buying goods which needs large amount of money rather
than changing diet . This way using cash leads to unimproved daily consumptions. I observed the
same phenomenon in Magubike. The diet improvements were in terms of amount and frequency of
supply. The contents of food ingredients did not change.
My study on decision making concerning key food activities shows that men who control cash
decides on what kind of seeds to be grown respective seasons. This was always the case when the
grains stored at home for seeds where used for some circumstances. The harvest and storage as was
done by household members, but marketing was under the control of men. However only maize
grains men acknowledged not to prefer to sell unless the conditions force them to do so.
The decision on consumption is of interest as far as men and women in Magubike households are
concerned. First is when there is stored food available. In this situation, women could decide by
choosing available ingredients to form meals. In this, women’s decisions are limited within what
have being decided previously during the seed selection and production processes.
The second circumstance is when ingredients should come from markets. Women rarely control
cash, and if they do, they have always little and need to receive from men when they are couple. In
this case women decide on provided cash. Her choice will be limited by the amount of cash given. A
80
man control these choices as the prices of food are well known so he know what the family will eat
that day.
Food is what smallholder farmers in Magubike are focused upon. Women are active actors in
gathering food ingredients from market, home storage, bush, home gardens to kitchen. Women are
also responsible in preparation, and distribution. Moreover they play a key role for transferring
kitchen arts to their daughters to create future house wives.
I took part in more than fifty meals; the important of meal consumed was at most discussed. Ugali
and cassava as main staple meals is an example. The criteria for the choice of ugali over cassava
were explained in terms of body feelings as consequences of eating. Uugali was chosen because
people could feel energy flowing in their body after eating. When eating cassava meals people felt
tired and as though they had less energy. Cassava would mostly be eaten as a morning meal and
then boiled like boiled potatoes.
Distributed food gives a message of respects in a Magubike household. Chicken kidney is given to
highly respected person during a meal. Mostly the household's father or head received the kidney, A
respected and invited guest or a visiting migrant child could also receive that award of respects.
Magubike household member eat by sitting separately men and women. This way of sitting
arrangement give a message on value attach to household members in terms of their age and sex. A
girl who has started menstruating could not eat with her further or any other adult men. A boy who
has reached puberty could not eat with his mother or other adult women.
When food is available and meals are prepared and consumed, the household members are in state
that signifies harmony. But when by any means the food is not or present and not prepared, there is
a crises in the household. When the food is on the table and people join in by eating from same
plate, it says something like togetherness. When they can not achieve this some thing is wrong from
either internally or externally as seen from the household. One of this rough happening is when the
meal is not prepared because a woman is unhappy or food is not supplied because a man is
unhappy. I found this to be one way of expressing feelings between husband and wife in Magubike.
Magubike villagers, as other rural poor smallholders, face food shortages. Food shortages in the
area are both natural and man made. In the survey I carried out, a simple question was on what are
81
the main threats to food production. The three most commonly mentioned threats was unreliable
rainfall, ill health and pregnancy, and plant pests and plant diseases. Unreliable rainfall and plant
pests and diseases are natural problems and ill health and pregnancy is man made problem. Apart
from natural problems which was hindering good and enough harvest, ill health and pregnancy was
explained to be a continues problems which limit labor and production in Magubike households.
The ways in which ill health and pregnancy were explained to affect food consumption were by
reducing a household's labor, and through costs resulted from cure. It was then understood that food
shortages within the households are a continuous situation, which should be distinguished from the
main food crises in which external institutions such as governments and non-governmental
organizations intervene.
Before I sum up with coping strategies, I will discuss little bit about ill health and pregnancies.
According to the discussions I had with employees in the village health office as well as according
to my own observations, women become pregnant every second or third year. This situation goes on
to fifth or more children. It is traditional prestige to have many children. In addition, economic
reasons were stated for having many children. Both men and women are responsible for this, and
they all acknowledged that pregnancies were a problem in food production. Typhoid and other
stomach problems resulted to bacteria when unhygienic food stuff is consumed.
They were
informed about how infections spread their decisions of using unboiled water which caused most of
their ill health.
The households experiencing various occasions of food shortages have mechanism to fight and go
though this hardships. Households and individuals within the household have different mechanisms
to cope with food shortages. The village has neither independent plans for emergency food, nor any
formally organized economic alternative when a food shortage occurs. When the occasion is
reported as a social problem to the regional leadership, the government might respond with food aid
as a quick solution to the shortage.
Apart from government interventions household members, mostly men and some women, migrate
to a nearby village to exchange food or labor. Internal networks along with clan and friendship and
the village has a form of responding to situations which affect a household member. Children are
aware of available seasonal fruits, and they eat across the household's, more over children can move
to a relative family within or to near by village.
82
Magubike village food production in not sufficient to keep the village fed from one season to
another. Household members experienced problem that limit their production and consumption.
These problems are not only caused by poor production and harvest but also by the choices of
ingredients, and the way of preparing. These problems are due to inherited information about
nutrition, and agriculture practices which lack proper plan to increase outputs.
PANTIL needs to take in to consideration local knowledge and perceptions of food, poverty and
good water. These perceptions and understandings needs to be understood and taken in to account
when designing a campaigns. This in order to communicate with people there might also be more
likelihood for impact of their effort to help to improve nutrition in the village
A study should be done to understand why yields have been decreasing even when the rain was
available. One possible starting point can be to analyses soil fertility content in both the dry and the
arable cultivated land in Magubike. This will probably open for support to farmers on alternative
farming methods to improve improve their crop harvest.
83
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