The Unite Food Program (UFP) is a Tanzanian-women-owned social enterprise committed not only to providing quality staple food items (maize, rice, beans, ground nuts) to the Tanzanian people but also to empowering small-scale farmers by purchasing their crops at fair-market prices and by providing them with Agro-Z hermetically-sealable grain storage bags to protect their most valuable asset — their harvest — from pest infestations as well as from the need for post-harvest chemical applications.
This harvest season, UFP has purchased to date more than 137,000 kgs of maize from 46 small-scale farming families (serving ~230 people) across the Rukwa and Katavi regions and distributed more than 100 Agro-Z grain storage bags.
The small-scale farmers being served by Unite Food Program’s social outreach campaign have little to no funds to invest in agricultural activities. They rely on the hand hoe and family labor for land cultivation, farm management, and harvest. They have no access to advanced seeds or fertilizers and are 100% reliant on seasonal rains for the healthy growth and development of their crops. This year, East Africa has suffered a widespread and devastating drought. Harvests are low, food is scarce, and the farmers — and the consumers — are suffering.
Above: maize laid out in a barn.
Without access to proper storage, farmers are forced to sell their harvest as soon as possible for whatever price they can find. Those who are working with Unite Food Program now have a secure, fair market for their harvest as well as Agro-Z grain bags in which to store their maize, to not only feed their families but also to sell later in the year when food becomes increasingly scarce and prices skyrocket.
Unite Scholar Pili Bida and a few members of her extended family in Katavi, Tanzania.
Unite Scholar graduate Pili Bida is now working as a Unite Food Program field coordinator in the Katavi district managing the purchasing of maize from small-scale farming families. This harvest season, Pili engaged two of her brothers to assist with her work, providing a critical income for her family to use to purchase food and basic supplies as well as to send Pili’s youngest siblings to school.
Most families served by Unite Food Program’s social outreach work live extremely far from any main road, which often means that such critical services as hospitals, schools, and consistent water sources are beyond reach.
Prior to working with Unite Food Program, the majority of these small-scale farming families could not afford to send their children to school due to their inability to pay for such basic items as school uniforms and stationaries. Since partnering up with UFP to supply staple crops to our program (and receive Agro-Z grain storage bags), the farmers report that they are using funds earned to send their children to school as well as to pay for emergencies such as illness and hospital visits.
A peasant farmer measuring maize to be packed in the Agro-Z bags and sold to Unite Food Program (UFP).
Small-scale farmer Mama Neema and four of her eight children.
In August, Pili met with Mama Neema, a peasant farmer living in the Katavi region, and purchased her maize. Soon thereafter, one of Mama Neema’s cows got loose, wandered into a neighboring farm, and damaged crops and property. The neighbor took the matter to the village leader, and Mama Neema’s son was taken away and put into a cell until she could pay for the damages. Mama Neema called Pili for help and was extremely thankful for the opportunity to sell three additional 100 kg bags of maize to UFP at a strong--market price. Through this sale, Mama Neema earned enough money to pay for the damages caused by her cow and free her son.
One of the many boys who have been paid to assist with Unite Food Program’s work in the field.
Unite Food Program’s social outreach campaign involves working closely with dozens of small-scale farming families living in extremely remote locations. While on-site, our team needs help. To this end, UFP provides paid work opportunities (e.g. packing, weighing, and transporting crops) to youth in need. This rare chance to earn money is beneficial not only to these youth themselves but also to their families. Every community in which UFP has extended this “social outreach” has expressed sincere and heartfelt gratitude for Unite’s support and has invited UFP to return year after year (following each harvest) to continue this critical work.
A Life Saved
Pili holds the granddaughter of Mama Furaha days after her birth.
While out in the field in the Katavi district, Pili met Mama Furaha. Mama Furaha is a peasant farmer living with her daughter-in-law who, at the time, was experiencing a difficult labor with her first baby. Mama Furaha and her family had no funds to take the expectant mother to the hospital or even to hire a midwife to assist with the birth. Thanks to Unite Food Program’s social outreach campaign, Pili was able to purchase three 100-kg bags of maize at above-market prices, which gave Mama Furaha the money she needed to take her daughter-in-law to the hospital. The baby was delivered safely, and the mother and child are healthy. Days later, Pili returned to the family bearing gifts from Unite to celebrate the new baby and the miracle of life.