Cooperative breaks the chain of poverty - Tanzania

Cooperative breaks the chain of poverty

59-year-old Eshimuni Emily Lema a dairy farmer from Hai District of Kilimanjaro region, north of Tanzania with her village dairy farmers used to find it hard to get enough milk and a good market for her little production till she joined the Nronga Women Group Cooperative (NWGC).

Initially, she had 4 poor breed cows, which could produce up to 6 liters together in one milking time. To make it worse, even the little quantity of milk she produced did not have a market.
Sometimes she would send milk to a nearby weekly local market through her children.

However, the weekly local market was not reliable and roads bringing to it were bad and dangerous, Elishimuni recalls.

Children had to cross a big river before reaching the market. During rain seasons floods would sweep the children away; she recounts grieving.

At times, milk would not get buyers, and sellers would pour the milk down; or sell it at a throwing price; she continues.

Dairy farmers remained in poverty and couldn’t carter for the need of their families despite the big efforts they invested in dairy farming.

Today Elishimuni earns up to 400,000 Tsh. per month; thanks to her nearby cooperative.

In front of that hard situation, back in the 1980s, a group of women came up with an idea of creating a cooperative to collect and sell the milk in Moshi, a relatively distant town.

With the help of the cooperative, Elishimuni was able to get a market for her milk production and bought two high breed cows worth of more than 2.5m Tanzania shillings (Tsh) each.

Each cow can produce up to 10 liters per milking time, Elishimuni explains.

She now leaves a decent life with a reliable income. She was able to renovate her house, educate her children till the university level. She has now an Engineer, a secondary school teacher, a Telecom Technician, and a young university student; she says joyfully.

Besides, she covers family medical insurance annually, buys agro-inputs for her big farm where she grows maize and beans and she has constructed a biogas plant that supports all her cooking.

The Nronga Women Group Cooperative can buy milk from the women every day and pay them monthly.

Coming together gave them power, the resources pulled together enabled them to buy processing and cooling machines, and milk which is not sold immediately can be stored and be sold later.

There are no longer losses as before.

Capacity building on dairy cow keeping was integrated with market linkages including the introduction of high breed cows and small savings groups to further support the women in the milk business.

Thriving business motivated more farmers to join the cooperative and the milk price increased from 150 to 1000 Tsh. per liter to date.

Coming together allowed women farmers to increase their financial and social capital and business thrived from then.

Elishmuni hopes for the better.