Cheaper food closer to home

The people of Malambo depend heavily on enough rain to water their crops. Prolonged drought is a constant fear, but thanks to your support, families have enough food to get them through difficult times.

Background: world food crisis

“The best thing about this year is that I am with my family, and we are all alive,” reports Melita Dming’ani, “Life doesn’t stand still”.

Melita explains that people’s wealth here is determined by the number of healthy animals they own – and if they die through lack of
water and food, a family’s poverty becomes all the more severe. Since prolonged drought conditions claimed the lives of Melita’s four cows, he has been replacing them gradually with sheep and goats: “They are breeding well – I now have more than 70,” he says. “As Melita from Malambo, in Tanzania, I can say that I love Oxfam for all it has done for us. They have brought us water, and food. And medicines to keep our livestock in good condition.”

Melita’s reference to the last drought is a reminder of the recurring reality for people who live here. Melita’s neighbour Ndawasei Natisile speaks of “a fear until the rain comes; only when it is green can we relax and enjoy ourselves – because the livestock have grass and water.”

Your support is helping to ensure that people here have enough food

Luckily, the rains did fall during 2008. But life here has still been a challenge. Melita points towards Oldoinyo Lengani – a 9,500-feet volcano in the distance. ‘The Mountain of God’ (as the Maasai call it) is part of Eastern Africa’s volcanic chain in the Great Rift Valley. In July 2007, the mountain started to erupt explosively for the first time in 40 years. Eruptions have continued at regular intervals ever since. The wind and rain carry the mountain’s hot ash for miles before depositing it on communities’ shambas (the Swahili word for ‘farms’). Many farmers have had their crops damaged – or even wiped out completely.

Despite this setback, your support is helping to ensure that people have enough food. As Sophia Olulu explains: “Oxfam trained us in farming, and gave us seeds. Thanks to Oxfam, I can now plant properly. Last year, I had a good harvest. Unfortunately, I don’t expect to harvest much this year, because of the volcano, but I can still plant sweet potatoes and tomatoes – even in the dry season. These ideas came from Oxfam.”

Another ground-breaking idea that Oxfam initiated was the building of two grain banks, in the villages of Engaresero and Piyaya. These huge warehouses are kept stocked with grain, on which people can depend whenever crops fail during frequent periods of drought.

“Piyaya is a dry place,” explains Simon Nairiamu, Chairman of Piyaya village. “We can’t grow much grain here, so this store is our garden. The work Oxfam has done here is something we could not have hoped for. No one else has ever done this for us.”

Your donations as a LIFE supporter helped to pay for hundreds of sacks of maize. The committee of women who run both grain banks used this gift from Oxfam as start-up capital. This stock helped to keep prices at a level that ensured everyone could afford to eat all year round. And, by replenishing stocks at harvest-time from local farmers and from a subsidised national grain reserve, they are continuing to keep inevitable price rises to a minimum. Before, villagers would often have to travel far beyond Ngorongoro District to find enough food for their families. Now they can buy from a local source instead.

During the dry season, food supplies can become dangerously low, and prices can escalate. It only takes another natural disaster to happen at the same time – such as an erupting volcano – to cause the next harvest to fail and for supplies to run out altogether. But, thanks to your support, the grain banks in nearby Engaresero and Piyaya are already up and running successfully. And they’re having a life-changing effect on the community’s food security.

People are confident about the future. Elizabeth Lemakankga, Chair of the women’s group in charge of the Engaresero grain bank says: “Our community is happy, because we have cheaper food at a close place.”

The world food crisis

Years of consecutive drought have pushed many parts of the world into a life-threatening food crisis. Nearly one billion people – about one-sixth of the human population – are hungry.

Millions of people arel iving on less than £1 a day, and are already spending up to 80 per cent of their income on food. Sudden price rises have pushed many over the edge. The World Food Crisis is destroying lives and futures.

It's estimated that 24,000 people are dying every day from hunger-related causes. Oxfam is scaling up its work to help millions of people to cope during the food crisis.

We have identified Tanzania as one of the priority countries where families are suffering high levels of hunger. Oxfam is working to protect people's livelihoods so people can eat all year round.

Oxfam's work in Malambo and its surrounding villages is an example of our work all over the world with communities who face life-threatening food shortages. As a generous supporter of the LIFE project, you are helping to make this happen.