SMEs digest: Relief as Mwanza cooperative sets up drying, icing factories

Dar es Salaam. Fishermen and traders who deal with sardines and Nile perch at Gana Island, Ukerewe District in Mwanza Region have stepped into the new year smiling broadly.

This is because they will now no longer be required to travel all the way to Mwanza City in search of icing and drying services.

Bukasiga Fishery Cooperative Society in the Isles has set up two factories that have been a boon to micro and small scale fishermen and traders.

The presence of the two factories means that fishermen and traders will cut the cost and time associated with icing and drying services for their fish.

With a financial boost of Sh200 million from Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB), the cooperative has installed a solar-drying facility and ice-processing, according to a chairman of Bukasiga Cooperative, Mr Maganga Majula.

A total of Sh220 million was spent to install the facilities where Sh130 million went to solar drying facility, particularly for sardines and the remaining used to install ice factories for preserving Nile perch fishes.

So far, the cooperative has a capital of more than Sh300 million. The capital surged from Sh2 million they collected from entry charges and membership fees.

Statistics from Ukerewe district, Fisheries department, show that there are a total of 16,228 fishermen, with a total of 4,057 canoes in the district.

New firm in the house

The cooperative was established in 2019, after a long struggle among fishermen, searching for funds from private and public financial institutions.

Mr Majula and few fishers went to the Ukerewe District office to seek financial support, but they were told to formulate the cooperative union that will bring together all fishers to get loans.

“We established the cooperative union in 2018, but it was not easy to gather the members until 2019. We started it with only 12 members,” he said.

So far, the cooperative has 62 members, owning more than 1, 000 canoes for catching sardines and Nile perch fishes.

With the Bukasiga cooperative, it becomes easy for fishers in the Island to access financial boosts, connection with the government and private institutions as well as accessing markets.

“The cooperative is representing all our thoughts, challenges and opportunities. I am benefiting a lot from this union,” says Mr Nichorus Sese, a member of the cooperative.

Each member contributes Sh5, 000 as entrance fees and they buy and sell shares at Sh10, 000 to generate income that would run the cooperative.

Financing

The Bukasiga cooperative finally secured a loan of Sh200 million in 2020 from Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB), but members say it was not easy.

They say, soon after establishing the cooperative union they went back to the Ukerewe district office, but the officers directed them to travel to Mwanza regional office.

Majula and a few members went to Mwanza town, paying Sh20, 000 for go and return fare, seeking for financial boost from public and private institutions.

“We had to visit the regional office because we didn’t know where and how we can access the loans. For a very long time, the majority of banks and financial institutions have been rejecting our loan proposals,” says Mr Majula.

Under supervision of Mwanza regional office, they were introduced to TADB where they were asked to bring a business plan.

“No one in our union has the skills of preparing the business plan. We hired a professional to write the business plan, asking for Sh250 million to build the two factories, but only Sh200 million were disbursed,” he said.

Bukasiga also received financial support of Sh20 million from the United Nations Development Programme - Tanzania (UNDP Tanzania) to connect electricity in the factory.

Ice factory

Nichorus Sese (31), a fisherman and trader of Nile Perch in Gana Island says before the factory started operating in late January 2021, he used to fetch the ices from Mwanza.

He owns one fishing boat worthy more than Sh15 million. He uses the boat on fishing and transporting his Nile Perches to market places.

He was paying Sh30, 000 to buy a 50kg bag of ice in Mwanza plus Sh60, 000 as transport fees.

“I currently pay Sh20, 000 per same bag of ice here in the Island. Transportation is also no longer a trouble and I get the product on time,” he said.

Easier access to ices gives Mr Sese and other fishers and traders broader space to decide when and where to sell their Nile perches.

Mr Majula said the Sh90 million factory is producing five tons of ice everyday but the Island’s demand is 20 tons.

“The demand is still bigger compared to the supply. We are planning to increase more ice machines,” he said.

Solar drying facility

Mr Majula is also the fisherman of sardines, owning four fishing boats worth Sh16 million, each.

The main challenge for him and his fellow sardines’ fishers was a post-loss due to poor drying technologies.

They were depending on sunlight only with poor places of drying their sardines.

“We were drying them on sands so the quality of our sardines was very poor. When it rains, it becomes more difficult,” he notes.

“It was hard to dry sardines during the rain seasons. But with the Sh130 million solar-drying facility, the activities will be easily done by a solar panel technology,” he added.

The quality of the sardines has improved and so does the price. Sardines are currently sold at Sh10,000 per 20-litre container from Sh6,000 per the same container, one month ago.

“The cooperative union has benefited me a lot. I will convince more small scale fishers to join and raise our capital,” he noted.