RIU Tanzania banks on success…
3 February 2011
The roles of an innovation broker can never be predicted in precision especially when enabling innovations in poor economies like Tanzania.
Our approach to removing bottlenecks has taught me that it is so practical and wise to be committed to one big vision and just be ready to cross bridges only when you are there! Thanks to DFID for the flexibility!
The roles of an innovation broker can never be predicted in precision especially when enabling innovations in poor economies like Tanzania.
Our approach to removing bottlenecks has taught me that it is so practical and wise to be committed to one big vision and just be ready to cross bridges only when you are there! Thanks to DFID for the flexibility!
Predicting challenges and planning to deal with them even before they happen has a lot of disadvantages - as we have learnt. But when a bottleneck is encountered all stakeholders see it clearly and once the solution arrives it is quickly utilized by the relevant actors. It is never left alone as an orphan. So all solutions are picked and adapted.
A month ago KuKuDeaL started buying matured chickens from farmers under contract. It was a beautiful experience. Some farmers received amounts they had never dreamt of making in four months and to some it was an ultimate proof that investing in raising indigenous chickens is indeed profitable.
The buying process involved counting the chickens for each farmer, signing a delivery note, then moving two steps and showing the note to claim your money which you instantly receive in cash.
This was a risky process because the entire village knew KuKuDeaL was in town collecting chickens and paying people cash. They even knew who received how much!!! We had spoken about this risk before and advised farmers to open bank accounts but they did not agree with us until things started to unfold.
With the money deep in their pockets farmers moved with fear and even when they got home there was a strong feeling of insecurity. They later confessed to us that it was uncomfortable to stay with that amount of money while a good number of people knew about it. Widows and single mothers were even more worried. There was no place inside or outside the house that was safe enough to hide the money. Thank God nothing happened and nobody was robbed even in days after. But that touch of fear made them agree to open bank accounts.
For the first time, it made perfect sense and the amount justified it all. Even those whose turn to sell chickens had not arrived, wanted to open bank accounts after they saw what happened. We agreed that it was unsafe for KuKuDeaL to move with so much money in the villages.
The National Microfinance Bank (NMB) is the only bank with branches in all districts and low service charges. We advised the farmers to visit the banks as a group and help those who cannot read or write. We also requested the District Councilors and Ward Executives to accompany them. Champions led their farmers to see the respective branch managers for advice, clarifications and instructions. This went well and farmers opened their bank accounts.
But that brought another problem! Most farmers live far from the bank branches and they have to pay fares to visit the banks. For example, a return trip from Bungu to Ikwiriri ni Rufiji District costs TZS 4000 (US$ 2.70). This is TZS 1000 (US$ 0.70) less than the price of one matured chicken. This implies that some farmers will be losing a chicken every time they visit the bank. We knew this will not work! So we are now in the process of lobbying the bank to open ATMs closer to the farmers. Again, the number of farmers and the fact that they are into contract farming (i.e. justifying a regular flow of income) are helping matters in convincing bank authorities to accept our plea. Few phone calls, several letters and face to face meetings are inevitable here, and recently we were advised to use the MPs. Our hopes are high. We wish the phone banking process was easy here!
Indeed enabling innovation needs a flexible self!
A month ago KuKuDeaL started buying matured chickens from farmers under contract. It was a beautiful experience. Some farmers received amounts they had never dreamt of making in four months and to some it was an ultimate proof that investing in raising indigenous chickens is indeed profitable.
The buying process involved counting the chickens for each farmer, signing a delivery note, then moving two steps and showing the note to claim your money which you instantly receive in cash.
This was a risky process because the entire village knew KuKuDeaL was in town collecting chickens and paying people cash. They even knew who received how much!!! We had spoken about this risk before and advised farmers to open bank accounts but they did not agree with us until things started to unfold.
With the money deep in their pockets farmers moved with fear and even when they got home there was a strong feeling of insecurity. They later confessed to us that it was uncomfortable to stay with that amount of money while a good number of people knew about it. Widows and single mothers were even more worried. There was no place inside or outside the house that was safe enough to hide the money. Thank God nothing happened and nobody was robbed even in days after. But that touch of fear made them agree to open bank accounts.
For the first time, it made perfect sense and the amount justified it all. Even those whose turn to sell chickens had not arrived, wanted to open bank accounts after they saw what happened. We agreed that it was unsafe for KuKuDeaL to move with so much money in the villages.
The National Microfinance Bank (NMB) is the only bank with branches in all districts and low service charges. We advised the farmers to visit the banks as a group and help those who cannot read or write. We also requested the District Councilors and Ward Executives to accompany them. Champions led their farmers to see the respective branch managers for advice, clarifications and instructions. This went well and farmers opened their bank accounts.
But that brought another problem! Most farmers live far from the bank branches and they have to pay fares to visit the banks. For example, a return trip from Bungu to Ikwiriri ni Rufiji District costs TZS 4000 (US$ 2.70). This is TZS 1000 (US$ 0.70) less than the price of one matured chicken. This implies that some farmers will be losing a chicken every time they visit the bank. We knew this will not work! So we are now in the process of lobbying the bank to open ATMs closer to the farmers. Again, the number of farmers and the fact that they are into contract farming (i.e. justifying a regular flow of income) are helping matters in convincing bank authorities to accept our plea. Few phone calls, several letters and face to face meetings are inevitable here, and recently we were advised to use the MPs. Our hopes are high. We wish the phone banking process was easy here!
Indeed enabling innovation needs a flexible self!
Halo,i am Heavenlight elinaja a student at Sokoine University and i am planning to conduct my research part on local chichens specifically on the evaluation of local chicken interventions in Kisarawe and Morogoro.
I have learnt that you have local chicken project in Kisarawe so i am asking for your consent to conduct my research using RIU project as one of the interventions to be evaluated. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
Posted by: HEAVENLIGHT ELINAJA | 07/27/2011 at 01:26 PM