Urambo struggles to end child labourBy Gerald Kitabu
13th November 2011EmailPrintCommentsThey work long hours spraying pesticides and carrying heavy loads on the farms and handle dangerous tools. The tasks affect development leading to realising their full potentialities.
They are trapped in this pitiable condition of child labour because of abject poverty of parents in Urambo District and Tabora Region as well as poor learning infrastructures.
As a result, and due to the fact that the schools in the district do not provide food, some children have gone to work on tobacco farms, hoping at least to be able to get something to eat.
“Tobacco farming is labour intensive, it requires huge man power, so in order to maximise profit, plantation owners go for cheap labour; so they ‘import’ as many young children as possible from other areas but the latter are not paid until tobacco purchasing time,” he said.
Urambo is a leading tobacco growing district in Tabora Region, which is also the biggest producer of the crop in the country. In 2008/9, it produced 16 million kilogrammes of tobacco worth Sh41 billion and the following season it produced 23 kilogrammes worth more than Sh66 billion. Estimates for 2010/11 stand at 31 kilogrammes worth Sh71 billion.
Work on tobacco farms is pulling many children away from school. Worse still the working environment is bad.
Justus Molai is the Urambo District Executive Director. In a recent exclusive interview with The Guardian on Sunday, he says they are currently struggling to rescue children employed on different plantations in the district. “For the past three years we’ve rescued about 1,600 children out of more than 3,000 and the work is still going on to make sure that child labour in tobacco farms is eradicated,” he said.
Authorities say the child labourers originate mainly from Singida and Kigoma regions. Despite working in very risky environment, they are paid very low wages or are not paid at all.
Molai says his district has embarked on sensitisation campaigns against child labour and making sure that there is good learning environment for students including school feeding programmes to keep students in schools.
For her part, Vice-President of Elimination of Child Labour in Tobacco growing areas (ECLT), which is working with local organisations in Urambo and Sikonge districts, Barbara Martellini said they have realised that at least one out of eight children involved in labour on the tobacco farms is an orphan.
ECLT is a multi-stakeholder initiative of unions, growers and companies in the tobacco sector, which work together to reduce child labour in the world.
Martellini says child labour in tobacco growing is wrong because it denies children education opportunities, learning about the world and preventing them to develop skills needed to get through life and fulfill their potentials.
She explains that ECLT has worked in Tanzania since January 2004, partnering with several non governmental organisations under ILO coordination in Urambo district on two projects, covering a total of 36 villages. “In the course of working in the districts, we have prevented hundreds of children from entering child labour… 450 families were supported to set up additional income generating activities, 27 schools and one dormitory for girls were built.
“Saving centres were created, health and sanitation structures were provided. Extension services were trained to address child labour and a monitoring system was implemented,” she explains.
Mary Kibogoya, Acting Director of the PROPER, a project supported by ECLT says from July 2011 to December 2015, her project expects to withdraw nearly 6,000 children from child labour while a further 1,800 will be prevented from entering child labour.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
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Showing posts with label Development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Development. Show all posts
Monday, November 14, 2011
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Believe Begin Become 2008/2009
I am aware that there are many motivated Tanzanians who want to make a difference in their country especially within their regional communities.
But I wasn't aware of the many challenges they have to face only to be disappointed over and over again.
This is quite difficult, because sometimes people in the rural areas have a practical plan, but just because BBB is focusing on the ''academic'' side of the plan, the rural people don't stand a chance.
I hereby present to you the list of participants for the BBB competition 2008/2009
http://www.believe-begin-become.com/Tanzania/BBB_Finalists_and_Voucher_Winners_jan_30_2009.pdf
Looking at the headings, I see some very good agricultural and food processing plans. Therefore I wonder .... what went wrong? Do we really value IT projects in Dar es salaam than food processing projects in Villages? Is it that we don't understand the value of such a project in a community and how much the livelihoods of the people are linked to a project such as food processing?
This BBB project is creating uneven development and I'd go as far as saying if this continues, there will be an expansion of the gap between those who have and those who have not.
I'd call it RRR - Re-think, Re-evaluate, Re-structure.
But I wasn't aware of the many challenges they have to face only to be disappointed over and over again.
This is quite difficult, because sometimes people in the rural areas have a practical plan, but just because BBB is focusing on the ''academic'' side of the plan, the rural people don't stand a chance.
I hereby present to you the list of participants for the BBB competition 2008/2009
http://www.believe-begin-become.com/Tanzania/BBB_Finalists_and_Voucher_Winners_jan_30_2009.pdf
Looking at the headings, I see some very good agricultural and food processing plans. Therefore I wonder .... what went wrong? Do we really value IT projects in Dar es salaam than food processing projects in Villages? Is it that we don't understand the value of such a project in a community and how much the livelihoods of the people are linked to a project such as food processing?
This BBB project is creating uneven development and I'd go as far as saying if this continues, there will be an expansion of the gap between those who have and those who have not.
I'd call it RRR - Re-think, Re-evaluate, Re-structure.
Friday, June 19, 2009
THE PEOPLE ARE THE FOUNDATION FOR DEVELOPMENT
These are the words of Tanzanian father of the nation, first president, the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere.
When I was growing up, I listened to his conversations and inspiring speeches, he never failed to remind us ''watu ni msingi wa maendeleo'', he never credited himself for all good he did for the country, and for the rest of Africa.
I regard Julius Kambarage Nyerere, as a living legend, a hero. He was not a ''me first '' person, he led with principles, compassion, wisdom, discipline and a clear vision. Although he was revered by all his people, he remained humble and devoted all his energy in building the foundation for our country. The peace and unity we Tanzanians enjoy today are the fruit of his efforts, which is why we see him as Father of the nation. He planted the seeds of his wisdom, principles, discipline and compassion among us, but with the changing times, few take time to remember the many sacrifices he made as a person, to be a good leader for his country. It was easy to follow Nyerere, because he was someone we could trust as a parent. Unfortunately now that he is no longer with us, Tanzania remains like a family with foster parents.
Many organisations have expressed interest to help Tanzania and the rest of Afrika with various development projects. Not all organisations have the people’s interests at heart and not all organisations take time to analyse the causes of problems within the community they are trying to help, they simply make a project plan that is sustainable to enable them to earn a living. Analysing the cause of the problems region by region, can help to create projects that will eliminate the problems one by one and therefore take care of the negative multi-dimensional impacts.There are organisations whose underlying interests are mainly to accomplish personal and organisational goals, to meet deadlines or simply to make profit.For many developing countries, this can create chaos within local communities and/or policy makers and also brew opportunities for many things to go wrong. This is why, the father of the nation was against foreign interventions. If the people are the foundation for development, and they are not empowered with the right tools, what kind of a foundation are we creating for poor countries? And what kind of a nations are we building for the future generation?
Currently my biggest concern is that, many regions in Tanzania are not targeted for development projects. There are regions such as Moshi, Arusha, Dar es salaam, Mwanza, which have donor friendly environment and they are well endowed, these are places that have the most projects from non governmental organisations. This situation, replicates in most African countries.The problem is that, with some regions developing so fast, we have an imbalance within the country. For instance, in some regions there are a lot of education facilities and health facilities, and in some regions there are few or none. We have seen how the imbalance created by colonial past, has had impact in our present, such as the case of the Hutus and Tutsis.
Within Europe, it is important for development organisations working in Africa to hold meetings with African embassies to understand various concerns and be aware of opportunities that are needed in different communities, before making a decision on where to set a project. It is important for research to be made about the cause of problems so that a project can be created to attack the root of the causes, instead of doing plastic surgery on the problems. It is important for international organisations to involve migrants from the countries they are establishing the projects. Migrants have to be empowered to bring change in their home countries, they have to be empowered and polished to be tools for change. This is the road to sustainable development and the way to forming empowered sustainable partnerships. Migrants are an important resource for development organisations, and until now they have not been given much thought.
Furthermore, empowerment within developing countries, should be taken more serious. Until now, some organisations have been doing well, but there is more that can be done if more people are given the tools to make their own contribution towards development. By tools, I mean skills, support and any relevant knowledge, that will enable them to participate in income generating activities. Let’s face it, without economic means the circle of poverty will continue and as we are clearly aware, organisations simply help ‘’target groups’’ and whoever falls out of the target group, has no chance unless they are empowered to help themselves.[
The majority of the population within developing countries, have traditional skills even though most of them lack advanced formal education.Organisations can tap into this resource and polish it to be a finer tool, and in so doing empower more people to participate in production.It is not possible for Africa to depend on foreign aid forever, and it is not possible for developing countries to repay all existing aid.
Dependence on developing aid, dis-empowers developing countries and creates more poverty related problems.For instance, it is impossible for poor countries to make policies that restrict import of products within a poor country, while at the same time the poor country depends on this rich country to assist in health care.
In the end, by accommodating the wishes of the donor country, more problems are created for poor countries, such as 80% of the population which consists of farmers losing their market, and the impact falls on the households and spreads to other businesses in local community and country wide. The trend needs intervention, and therefore reviving primary industries has to be one way of rectifying the current situation for a better future for Afrika.People need to be able to provide for their basic needs, without wondering who will be dropping in with their next meal.When people's stomachs are satisfied, Tanzania and the rest of Afrika might be able to maintain a record of good governance and getting rid of corruption. This kind of environment is good for business investments and provides fair export- import trading opportunities.
Furthermore, what has happened in Zimbabwe and South Afrika, should be taken as a warning. If the higher majority of the poor population can't manage to earn a sustainable living, the end result is undesirable for everyone. One can not reason with a hungry and angry person.
The solution is in our hands. We can either empower the people to be active participants for development, or wait for the people to be empowered by opportunists from the weapon industries.As we have seen, development and destruction are two sides of the same coin.
The people are the foundation for development.
Honouring the memory of Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere,
by Stella Evelyne Tesha
http://www.green-waters.org/
When I was growing up, I listened to his conversations and inspiring speeches, he never failed to remind us ''watu ni msingi wa maendeleo'', he never credited himself for all good he did for the country, and for the rest of Africa.
I regard Julius Kambarage Nyerere, as a living legend, a hero. He was not a ''me first '' person, he led with principles, compassion, wisdom, discipline and a clear vision. Although he was revered by all his people, he remained humble and devoted all his energy in building the foundation for our country. The peace and unity we Tanzanians enjoy today are the fruit of his efforts, which is why we see him as Father of the nation. He planted the seeds of his wisdom, principles, discipline and compassion among us, but with the changing times, few take time to remember the many sacrifices he made as a person, to be a good leader for his country. It was easy to follow Nyerere, because he was someone we could trust as a parent. Unfortunately now that he is no longer with us, Tanzania remains like a family with foster parents.
Many organisations have expressed interest to help Tanzania and the rest of Afrika with various development projects. Not all organisations have the people’s interests at heart and not all organisations take time to analyse the causes of problems within the community they are trying to help, they simply make a project plan that is sustainable to enable them to earn a living. Analysing the cause of the problems region by region, can help to create projects that will eliminate the problems one by one and therefore take care of the negative multi-dimensional impacts.There are organisations whose underlying interests are mainly to accomplish personal and organisational goals, to meet deadlines or simply to make profit.For many developing countries, this can create chaos within local communities and/or policy makers and also brew opportunities for many things to go wrong. This is why, the father of the nation was against foreign interventions. If the people are the foundation for development, and they are not empowered with the right tools, what kind of a foundation are we creating for poor countries? And what kind of a nations are we building for the future generation?
Currently my biggest concern is that, many regions in Tanzania are not targeted for development projects. There are regions such as Moshi, Arusha, Dar es salaam, Mwanza, which have donor friendly environment and they are well endowed, these are places that have the most projects from non governmental organisations. This situation, replicates in most African countries.The problem is that, with some regions developing so fast, we have an imbalance within the country. For instance, in some regions there are a lot of education facilities and health facilities, and in some regions there are few or none. We have seen how the imbalance created by colonial past, has had impact in our present, such as the case of the Hutus and Tutsis.
Within Europe, it is important for development organisations working in Africa to hold meetings with African embassies to understand various concerns and be aware of opportunities that are needed in different communities, before making a decision on where to set a project. It is important for research to be made about the cause of problems so that a project can be created to attack the root of the causes, instead of doing plastic surgery on the problems. It is important for international organisations to involve migrants from the countries they are establishing the projects. Migrants have to be empowered to bring change in their home countries, they have to be empowered and polished to be tools for change. This is the road to sustainable development and the way to forming empowered sustainable partnerships. Migrants are an important resource for development organisations, and until now they have not been given much thought.
Furthermore, empowerment within developing countries, should be taken more serious. Until now, some organisations have been doing well, but there is more that can be done if more people are given the tools to make their own contribution towards development. By tools, I mean skills, support and any relevant knowledge, that will enable them to participate in income generating activities. Let’s face it, without economic means the circle of poverty will continue and as we are clearly aware, organisations simply help ‘’target groups’’ and whoever falls out of the target group, has no chance unless they are empowered to help themselves.[
The majority of the population within developing countries, have traditional skills even though most of them lack advanced formal education.Organisations can tap into this resource and polish it to be a finer tool, and in so doing empower more people to participate in production.It is not possible for Africa to depend on foreign aid forever, and it is not possible for developing countries to repay all existing aid.
Dependence on developing aid, dis-empowers developing countries and creates more poverty related problems.For instance, it is impossible for poor countries to make policies that restrict import of products within a poor country, while at the same time the poor country depends on this rich country to assist in health care.
In the end, by accommodating the wishes of the donor country, more problems are created for poor countries, such as 80% of the population which consists of farmers losing their market, and the impact falls on the households and spreads to other businesses in local community and country wide. The trend needs intervention, and therefore reviving primary industries has to be one way of rectifying the current situation for a better future for Afrika.People need to be able to provide for their basic needs, without wondering who will be dropping in with their next meal.When people's stomachs are satisfied, Tanzania and the rest of Afrika might be able to maintain a record of good governance and getting rid of corruption. This kind of environment is good for business investments and provides fair export- import trading opportunities.
Furthermore, what has happened in Zimbabwe and South Afrika, should be taken as a warning. If the higher majority of the poor population can't manage to earn a sustainable living, the end result is undesirable for everyone. One can not reason with a hungry and angry person.
The solution is in our hands. We can either empower the people to be active participants for development, or wait for the people to be empowered by opportunists from the weapon industries.As we have seen, development and destruction are two sides of the same coin.
The people are the foundation for development.
Honouring the memory of Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere,
by Stella Evelyne Tesha
http://www.green-waters.org/
Strategizing industrial development in Africa:
Developing countries in Africa have long since faced extreme poverty challenges. Yet according to available natural resources this should not be the case.
The natural resources in developing countries include minerals, ocean resources, forestry resources and people skills. Africa is very rich in resources.
Development in Tanzania as well as the rest of Africa, is crippled by lack of good strategies, disorganised governance, corruption and international policies.
The best strategy I can think of to accelerate the development process , is region by region development.
Regional by region development:Taking an example of one of the richest regions in Tanzania, Arusha. Among other things, this is a region rich in minerals such as tanzanite, rubies, diamonds, gold, and forestry.This is just one of the many rich regions in Tanzania, and yet the UN HDI shows that the country is one of the poorest in the world. http://hdrstats.undp.org/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_TZA.html
Why region by region development?First of all, available resources are usually what stimulates the people skills. Therefore, in an areas such as Arusha, mining and hunting are the main existing primary skills, professional trainings can be given to improve on these.
The best strategy for region by region development, would be to establish processing industries within the regions. These industries should focus on increasing the value of the products and creating employment for the local people. The government will benefit by getting more tax payers, and furthermore the regional administration can create enough revenue to contribute by investing in i.e local health and educational institutions.
For lake regions, creating fish processing industries, will also carve employment spaces for people in tools making, uniforms and other required stock for fishing industries. I can only suggest from experience that restaurants with special local menus will be a huge attraction both locally and internationally, if well publicised.
For agricultural regions, food processing/packaging industries will do the same.
These are the projects that are needed in developing countries, because they are sustainable and they utilise local resources.
Furthermore, regional administration is a way to upset corruption. This is by making regional administration systems accountable to the government, to enable more transparency and a detail oriented system.
Region by region development is also a ‘’bypass’’ to international policies, and will provide possibilities for locals from different regions to be more focused on product value for fair trade, locally and internationally.
It is not possible, to have a tupsy turvy, happy go lucky system as it used to be in the past. Development and globalisation are now hand in hand. The economic interdependence regional and international, is there to stay. The value and price competition is going to be even more tougher, considering available subsidies from the first world. Governments from developing countries, have to be more proactive in planning and de-centralising.
I would urge the first world to keep an eye on the bigger picture and assist region by region development. Throughout history Africa has always been a big market for the first world, but with increased poverty Africa is hard hit and can’t afford to buy as much.This has affected all of us living in Europe, production without demand is a recipe for profit loss which leads to job losses, less tax payers, more dependency on social welfare, less spending, increased stress and health hazards, higher health insurance which has to be paid by the governments, as more people loose their jobs. By helping third world countries to develop sustainable regional industries, this will create more purchasing power among individuals , and most especially create demand for high technology tools from first world for the regional industries. Furthermore, the situation might enable the achievement of millennium goals and lower the need for humongous grants. The available funds can then be reinvested in reducing the ecological footprint and maybe we can manage to reverse the damage we have already caused on our environment.
I believe, we all need to work together in development, we each can make a contribution even by just suggesting an idea and letting someone else work on it!
It really is a win win situation.
Stella Evelyne Tesha
http://www.green-waters.org/
The natural resources in developing countries include minerals, ocean resources, forestry resources and people skills. Africa is very rich in resources.
Development in Tanzania as well as the rest of Africa, is crippled by lack of good strategies, disorganised governance, corruption and international policies.
The best strategy I can think of to accelerate the development process , is region by region development.
Regional by region development:Taking an example of one of the richest regions in Tanzania, Arusha. Among other things, this is a region rich in minerals such as tanzanite, rubies, diamonds, gold, and forestry.This is just one of the many rich regions in Tanzania, and yet the UN HDI shows that the country is one of the poorest in the world. http://hdrstats.undp.org/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_TZA.html
Why region by region development?First of all, available resources are usually what stimulates the people skills. Therefore, in an areas such as Arusha, mining and hunting are the main existing primary skills, professional trainings can be given to improve on these.
The best strategy for region by region development, would be to establish processing industries within the regions. These industries should focus on increasing the value of the products and creating employment for the local people. The government will benefit by getting more tax payers, and furthermore the regional administration can create enough revenue to contribute by investing in i.e local health and educational institutions.
For lake regions, creating fish processing industries, will also carve employment spaces for people in tools making, uniforms and other required stock for fishing industries. I can only suggest from experience that restaurants with special local menus will be a huge attraction both locally and internationally, if well publicised.
For agricultural regions, food processing/packaging industries will do the same.
These are the projects that are needed in developing countries, because they are sustainable and they utilise local resources.
Furthermore, regional administration is a way to upset corruption. This is by making regional administration systems accountable to the government, to enable more transparency and a detail oriented system.
Region by region development is also a ‘’bypass’’ to international policies, and will provide possibilities for locals from different regions to be more focused on product value for fair trade, locally and internationally.
It is not possible, to have a tupsy turvy, happy go lucky system as it used to be in the past. Development and globalisation are now hand in hand. The economic interdependence regional and international, is there to stay. The value and price competition is going to be even more tougher, considering available subsidies from the first world. Governments from developing countries, have to be more proactive in planning and de-centralising.
I would urge the first world to keep an eye on the bigger picture and assist region by region development. Throughout history Africa has always been a big market for the first world, but with increased poverty Africa is hard hit and can’t afford to buy as much.This has affected all of us living in Europe, production without demand is a recipe for profit loss which leads to job losses, less tax payers, more dependency on social welfare, less spending, increased stress and health hazards, higher health insurance which has to be paid by the governments, as more people loose their jobs. By helping third world countries to develop sustainable regional industries, this will create more purchasing power among individuals , and most especially create demand for high technology tools from first world for the regional industries. Furthermore, the situation might enable the achievement of millennium goals and lower the need for humongous grants. The available funds can then be reinvested in reducing the ecological footprint and maybe we can manage to reverse the damage we have already caused on our environment.
I believe, we all need to work together in development, we each can make a contribution even by just suggesting an idea and letting someone else work on it!
It really is a win win situation.
Stella Evelyne Tesha
http://www.green-waters.org/
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