Tales of Chamwino’s starvation

Dodoma. The Dabalo Ward, located in Chamwino District in Dodoma, is a place where starvation has found a permanent shelter.

The ward has a long history of famine and malnutrition. Elders here will tell of how famine devastated families in the 1960s and 1970s. Their folklore is a wealth of tales of starvation and death.

The few remaining elders recall how the great famine of 1969 changed the ward residents’ “eating habits” for ever. The never-seen-before famine pushed household members into eating whatever they found out there: rats, roots, wild fruits and leaves.

“Those were terrible times. Even recalling them sends shivers down my spine. We buried children on a daily basis due to malnutrition,” narrates Ms Yona Nhusila, a 74-year-old villager.

Last December, the ward was in the news once again as it faced a food shortage situation akin to the 1969 one.

Heavy rains pounded the area destroying crops and leaving villagers with nothing to eat.

They resorted to armyworms, wild fruits and roots, according to media reports that were confirmed by local authorities.

The MP for Chilonwa constituency in the Chamwino District, Mr Joel Mwaka, told The Citizen during a recent visit to the district that last year’s famine was very serious. “Families had to depend on armyworms, wild fruits and roots,” he says in an interview.

Food situation not stabilised

The Citizen found out during a recent tour of the district that most families survive on one meal of porridge a day.

Going to bed on an empty stomach is a common occurrence.

“I don’t even remember when I last enjoyed real food with my family. We only drink porridge. The situation is getting worse here. The price of maize has increased from Sh12,000 for a 20kg tin to between Sh28,000 and Sh30,000. We can’t afford that,” says Ms Tina Ndahani, a mother of three.

She adds: “We have become permanent victims of hunger here.”

Most villagers turn to their lawmaker for help. Mr Mwaka’s house is like a rendezvous -- a meeting place for his constituents who come in droves in a desperate quest for food assistance.

“As of this morning, I have already spent more than Sh250,000 from my own pocket to assist a number of people who came to my home begging for little cash to buy maize for making porridge,” MP Mwaka tells The Citizen.

Yet here is the Chamwino irony or rather puzzle.

During the tour of the district, The Citizen observed that the area seemed fertile enough for growing different crops, including maize.

The rains that had been pouring since December had produced a greenery that indicated that the soil can support various crops. Most of the farms planted during the Vuli rains had been destroyed by the heavy, December downpours.

The recurrence of famine in the district is not isolated, as Dodoma is located in a semi-arid zone. The region has, frequently, been subject to chronic food shortages.

But apart from natural causes, several other factors are believed to have fueled the frequently occurring food shortages.

Polygamy

Polygamy forms part of the cultural attribute in the Dabalo Ward’s menfolk. Too large households make it difficult to feed.

“I have four wives, 24 children, 82 grandsons, and I have a plan to father as many children as possible,” says Mr Nhusila.

Most of his children are grown-ups, with their families, but he still has to take care of his four wives, 12 grandchildren and three daughters who have been divorced.

“Just don’t ask me how I feed my family, especially during serious food shortages!” he says sarcastically. “I have sold all my livestock to feed this family,” he adds.

Mr Zebedayo Shanyau, 57, has three wives, 15 children and 12 grandchildren. “You find it odd, but according to our tradition it is normal for a man to marry even five wives,” he says.

His second wife, Mrs Faith Shanyau, who has given him six children admitted that it was difficult to feed such a big family. “The family has 25 members, living under the same roof, depending on one husband/father,” she says.

Refusal to change

Farmers’ refusal to cultivate dry resistant crops has also contributed to food insecurity.

A semi-arid region, Dodoma receives poor-to-average rainfall (between 400 to 800 mm annually). There are prolonged periods of droughts that cannot support maize.

According to regional agriculture officer Abraham Isack, maize requires at least rains of between 1,800 millimetres and 2,200mm per year. He adds that the crop needs 120 days (about four months) of rain for it to flourish. But here, the rains last only 50 days.

“We have always advised farmers in the region to stop cultivating maize, and to instead grow dry-resistant crops, but they often ignore our advice,” Mr Isack says.

In the few years when Dodoma happens to receive enough rainfall maize production is, normally, in abundance, experience has shown. This has pushed the region’s farmers into a trap of expectation into cultivating maize in the hope that the rains would happen to poor graciously, some analysts say.

But Mr Isack says in order for Chamwino and other Districts to escape being permanent victims of hunger they must stop putting all their faith in the rain and the maize crop.

High prevalence of illiteracy

“There is serious shortage of teachers in the region as a whole and most of the schools are in a state of dilapidation. The situation, to a great extent, affects the quality of education,” Mr Mwaka says.

He notes that most parents are also far from understanding the importance of taking their children to school. “So you can see how it becomes complicated to change these people’s mindset once it is set,” he adds.

Staple food used for local brew

Another reason that apparently contributes to the continuation of famine in Chamwino District is the habit of using maize for brewing traditional alcohol.

Dabalo ward councillor Elisha Matewa says using cereals to make local brew contributes to food shortages. “The hunger here, to a great extent, is man-made. You can’t imagine that with limited yields, the majority of people are still using a huge per cent of maize and wheat for making local brew, instead of storing it for future household consumption,” he laments.

The 2016/17 National Food Production and Security by the ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, says Chamwino is among the 43 districts with high indicators of starvation.

The Tanzania Demographic Health Survey (TDHS) 2012 also says micronutrient deficiency in Dodoma was high among women of child-bearing age in the region, with 40 per cent anaemic, 36 per cent iodine deficient, 30 per cent iron deficient and 37 per cent vitamin A deficient.