Lesoit Dairy Project

Rejsebreve Første mission til Lesoit - vandboring Rejsebrev nr. 3 fra Tanzania, Lesoit, af Jeppe Kjems Boma’en har ialt 200 køer heraf 40 småkalve. Under halvdelen er tyre. Da de ikke giver mælk, men skal have mad, hvilket der ikke er meget af, bliver de solgt eller slagtet til specielle lejligheder. Sjovt nok er det et tal, Sikorei har helt styr på. Den daglige malkning giver måske 10-12 af de traditionelle kalabasser á 2-3 liter, men da det er kvindernes arbejde, kender Sikorei ikke detaljerne. Til Ugali’en (majsgrød) serveres varm mælk fra termokanden. Mælken smager tydelig røget, da den koges over bål inde i hytten. Kvinderne laver også et kærnemælks-lignende produkt: Kalabassen bliver sat til side i hytten i 3 dage, hvorefter den rystes i nogle minutter. Det giver en let, luftig og perlende “kærnemælk”. Da kærnemælken er ubehandlet (ikke pasteuriseret), svarer det til, hvad min mor lavede, da jeg var knægt derhjemme: Hvis mælken blev for gammel, blev den sat på køkkenbordet og syrnede videre til dagen efter, hvor vi så fik “surmælk”. En tradition fra før mælken blev pasteuriseret. Pasteurisering blev et lovkrav i 1941 i DK, men det vidste min mor nok ikke. Borebisserne er endnu ikke kommet. Hver dag får vi en ny undskyldning og besked om, at de kommer i morgen. Det passer på ingen måde til mit temperament. Her hidser man sig dog ikke op, for så taber man ansigt og mister respekten. Det er helt essentielt ikke at konfrontere, men i stedet finde win/win løsninger - noget vi måske kunne lære af i Danmark i visse situationer. Anyway kunne vi fint have brugt ventetiden på at besøge Nasinjari, som bestyrer et lille mejeri en dagsrejse fra Lesoit. I Tanzania er det officielle sprog Swahili, men Masai-kvinderne her taler kun Masai. Da Nasinjari er Masai, passer det perfekt, hvis hun skal hjælpe os med noget “mejeri-træningen”. Nu krydser jeg bare fingre, og beder en lille bøn for, at vi snart kommer i gang med vandboringen. Imens nyder jeg alt det anderledes i denne afsides del af verden, hvor man benytter enhver lejlighed til at holde fest. Således var jeg med til festen efter en omskærings-ceremoni af 7-9 årlige drenge i forgårs og til et bryllup i nabo-Boma’en i går. Rejsebrev nr. 2 fra Tanzania, Lesoit, af Jeppe Kjems Fuldmånen skinner som i Birkerød, men ellers er her ikke meget, der ligner det hjemmevante. Klokken er 5.45, hanerne er begyndt at gale, og køer istemmer med deres brølen og bjældeklang. Endnu er der kun mørke konturer af træer, buske og Masaiernes lerhytter. I Bomaens centrum findes køerne i en rund indhegning af tæt tornekrat. Udenom ligger hytterne spredt for at beskytte køerne, der er Masaiernes primære levebrød og indtægtskilde. Det hele er omkrandset af endnu et tykt tornekrat. Jeg sidder i Sikorei’s familie-Boma. Han ved ikke helt, hvor mange der bor her, men jeg har talt 10 beboelses-hytter, og gætter på omkring 40-50 personer - de fleste børn. Sikorei’s far, Parkimalo på 73 år, er Bomaens overhovede, men som den eneste søn, er det Sikorei, der nu har ansvaret for familien, som også tæller den afdøde farbrors to koner m.fl. Kvinderne er ved at gøre klar til morgenmalkningen, og flere stemmer høres nu rundt omkring. Månen er tæt på horisonten. Solen begynder at give et blødt lys, og en nye dag tager sin begyndelse. Hvad dagen bringer ved kun guderne. Brøndboringen skulle været startet i går, men borebisserne er ikke kommet endnu. Med lidt held kommer de forhåbentlig i morgen. Tålmodighed og rummelighed er en dyd, når man er i Tanzania, så meget har jeg da erfaret. I stedet for holdt vi et godt møde med landsbyens høvding om opstarten af en lokal vandkomité, samt fik planlagt et borgermøde til på søndag. Efterfølgende var vi inviteret til 18 års fødselsdag, som er en helt speciel mærkedag for Masaierne. Fotos og videoer taler sit eget sprog, men det var en fuldstændig unik og fantastisk oplevelse. Hele landsbyen er inviteret, og festen varer i to dage med ceremonier, dans og glade mennesker. Tanker fra en u-landsfrivillig Jeppe Kjems: Hvem i al verden tænker lige på at lave et mikromejeri i Masailand Tanzania? Det er nok ikke danskerne som de er flest. Danskerne der bor trygt i deres lille hyggelige lysegrønne ø-rige - for nogle år siden udnævnt til verdens lykkeligste folkeslag. Hvem tænker lige på, at knap 2.000 millioner mennesker på kloden ikke har adgang til vand og basale sanitære forhold? Kan jeg føle mig privilegeret over at have mulighed for at sidde her i flyet på vej til Tanzania og blive serviceret med mad og drikke? Svaret er ubetinget et rungende ja for pokker da - på vej på nye eventyr. Men hvad er driveren egentlig? Er det fordi jeg kan? eller måske kan lykkes med at med at finde vand til et lille samfund? I dag skal kvinderne i Lesoit gå 4 km til nærmeste vandbrønd og 4 km tilbage igen. Eller er det fordi, det giver mening at forsøge at kreere noget, et behov for hele tiden at skabe noget nyt, at have nogle mål i livet? Et liv som i øvrigt aldrig har været kedeligt i sig selv! Bottom line er nok, at det ved jeg ikke - men et eller andet sted giver det alligevel meget god mening. “Living is learning and learning is Living” er mit mantra. Og jeg er stolt af mine aner, som udspringer af en højskole-mentalitet og troen på at uddannelse er vejen til et bedre liv. Det synes stadig at holde og måske i særlig grad i udviklingslande, hvis de kan kombinere uddannelse med fastholdelsen af kulturarven som f.eks. hos Masaierne. Masaierne ved alt om kvæghold, som er en integreret del af deres kultur og overlevelse. Masaierne forsøger at tilpasse sig (her må jeg sige, at det ved jeg faktisk ikke meget om endnu), men de er ikke herre over klimaforandringerne, der skaber så mange snigende udfordringer. At være social og hjælpe hinanden har Barbera (Jeppes kone, red.) og jeg oplevet på smukkeste vis bl.a. i Brasilien og Myanmar. Folk, der ikke har ret meget deler med dem, som har mindre. At opleve, hvordan det giver mening med næstekærlighed og en stærk kulturarv er så stort. Men i stedet hæfter jeg mig ved andelstankegangen i Danmark, som en af grundpillerne for det danske velfærdssamfund. Så hvorfor forsøge at lave et mikromejeri i Masailand skåret over en andelstankegang tilpasset en social Masai levevis? Jo, det er netop på grund af deres sociale kulturvar, der ligger så dybt. Om det kan lykkes, får vi svaret på i løbet af de næste to til ti år. Midsommerskumringen er ved at indfinde sig i 10 kilometers højde mens jeg filosoferer over om det kan lykkes at bidrage til en basal “noget for noget” tankegang - forudsætningen for at skabe en bæredygtig udvikling også for Masaierne i Lesoit. ------------------------- Update Tanzania-gruppen har i maj måned modtaget 50.000 kr. fra Medarbejdernes honorarfond i Novo gruppen. Pengene skal bruges til at finde og bore efter vand jf. nedenfor. Tanzania-gruppen arbejder pt. på at indgå et samarbejde omkring en grundvands-undersøgelse og efterfølgende etablering af et par brønde i Lesoit til gavn for hele befolkningen, som i dag må gå minimum 4 kilometer til den tættest liggende brønd. Vandundersøgelsen og brøndene er første skridt mod den fremtidige mejeridrift. Vandundersøgelsen er et samarbejde med LoveSpring Water for Water, samt Ingeniører uden Grænser, der også vil assistere projektgruppen i håndtering af spildevand, når dette bliver nødvendigt. For yderligere info og kontakt venligst skriv til: Ida Jeppsen, e-mail: [email protected] In English The overall objective of this intervention is to scope the extent and implications of a future and sustainable milk production and dairy processing project. The Maasai people of Lesoit live a traditional and peasant life with cattle and milk as their main source of wealth and nutrition. The Maasai are very interested in improving their milk production and start processing different dairy products for the local market from a common base (possibly a dairy cooperative). This would help them improve their income opportunities and enhance the overall nutrition which is very necessary In order to be able to describe a development project with the objective of improving the milk production and initiate dairy processing and marketing, it is imperative to scope: • Target group: which families will actively participate and how many cows will they bring into the project? Will school children be a distinct secondary target group? Who else? • Milk supply. Is there sufficient milk available for milk processing? Or are there ways to increase milk production? (e.g. growing crops for fodder, cross-breeding • Milk delivery. What is the milk delivery and what kind of dairy products do the Maasai people consume or wish to start consuming (e.g. yoghurt or butter)? • Water supply. Water is vital in dairy production. This intervention will scope the water supply and determine which supply solution is best. • Wastewater treatment. It is necessary to determine how to handle the wastewater from the dairy production in an environmentally sustainable way. • Organizational set-up. Is there basis for creating a dairy cooperative according to the Danish cooperative tradition? Who would be interested and what would be their input? • Value chain. It is necessary to map the entire value chain: from farm to fork. How is the milk collected and transported? Where to sell and to who, etc. • Training. What sort of training is necessary? At which level and what methodology is to be used? Administration, accounting, gender equality, marketing and sales, dairy training, milk hygiene and food safety. In the traditional Maasai community women have little economic independency. The women count only with the money, their husbands or fathers earn creating big dependency. Women are responsible for milking the cattle and using the milk for different products hence a milk and dairy project will empower women and improve their independency. Moreover, a dairy project will contribute to enhance nutrition among children as a natural consequence of access to more milk and better dairy products at home, but also this intervention will scope the possibility of including children at primary and secondary school level as secondary target group. We have already been working with a small group from the area including the chairman of the village for a year to test the project idea. There is big interest in the community for improvement of the milk production. Especially, the Maasai are interested in creating an income opportunity as many have low or no education and earn money from trading with cows, selling jewellery to tourists or working as security guards at tourist hotels – all giving a very low and unstable salary. National context Tanzania is an East African republic situated just south of the equator. It was formed as a sovereign state in 1964. The official language is Swahili and the capital is Dodoma. Tanzania is 20 times bigger than Denmark with a total area of 885.800 km2. The population counts 56,3 million from which 37% are urban. The median age in Tanzania is 18 years, and the GDP per capita is USD 959,4. Poverty rate: 26,4% (2018) unemployment rate is not too high at 11% (2020 1st quarter ), but a considerable part of people registered as employed mainly live as the nomadic pastoralists. The service sector has grown significantly over the past few years and is now the sector that contributes most to the country's value creation (GDP). However, as for many poor countries the agricultural sector is a significant share of the economy. This affects an unstable economy as the financial growth is very dependent on the weather. The leading contributors to Tanzania’s economy in 2018 were construction (23%), followed by trade and repair (11,1%), agriculture (10,7%), manufacturing (10%), information and communication (9,5%), transport and storage (7,3%), mining (5,2%), and others (23,1%) Tanzania is located by the Indian Ocean and close to the equator. The country is known for its large national parks, which are usually located in savannah areas. The climate in these areas is tropical climate. The coastal area, on the other hand, is hot and humid, especially during the period November-April. The country is generally warm, and temperatures are between 23-28° C but can rise to 35° C in Arusha and even warmer by the coast. Local context Lesoit is located in the district of Kiteto in the eastern part of Tanzania, only app. 350 km. from the coastal area. The number of citizens is 5.954 including children and adults, of which 2.710 are men and 3.244 are women and most are Maasai. The most spoken language is therefore Maa (a mainly spoken language, not written) and secondly Swahili. Fairly close to Lesoit are the villages Lengatei with 7.092 citizens (46% men and 54% women) and Songe with 10.370 citizens (42% men and 58% women). Lesoit hosts both a primary and secondary school with 1.094 pupils, of which 646 are secondary school students, 422 primary students and 26 pre-primary school students. The village is located in a valley and therefore has a colder climate than the coast area. Even when located in a valley, it is very dry, and some years even so dry that it has been almost impossible to find grass for the cows and grow corn for the families. Water is in short supply in the area, and two wells have been constructed in the area around Lesoit. Apart from getting water from these wells, the population collects rainwater in tanks. The rainy season normally starts in November and finishes in April, initiating with heavy rain towards lesser rain by April. The rainy season supplies up to 340 mm of rain. Between May and October is dry season without any rain. The rainy seasons and predictability of precipitations, however, are affected by climate changes, and hence the above can vary significantly. Context of the target group The target group is the Maasai people who has cattle as their primary investment source, whereas maize corn is the primary nutritional source. The Maasai are mainly pastoralists, but also there is a production of crops e.g. corn and tobacco. To the Maasai people their cattle are their wealth. There is a strong tradition of using both the milk and the fresh blood from the cattle as a healthy and tasty part of the diet. Besides, the cattle, the Maasai have sheep, goats and donkeys. There are 10.555 cows, 3.500 sheep and 4.000 goats in Lesoit. However, the cattle are the top priority and the turning point in the daily life. The Maasai people are pastoralists who traditionally have been moving their home in search of food and water for their livestock. Today the Maasai are still pastoralists, but they no longer move their family but migrate the cows to find food and water especially during the dry season. This is also the case for people living in Lesoit. The unemployment rate in Tanzania is barely 11% but in Lesoit it is much higher and income is really low. The Maasai are independent livestock farmers who struggle to make a living. Therefore, a lot of the men travel to tourist areas to earn money, while the women stay at home to take care of the children, the house and the livestock. The culture of the Maasai is to work together on common goals. There is a tradition for helping each other where this is needed: people have their own property but in case of problems or challenges in a family, others take action. Establishing a cooperative is new to them, but the nature of cooperative work is inherited in the Maasai culture. Moreover, they are very much committed to growing strong together and raising welfare in general in the area.