Story

Women Farmers in Tanzania

October 30, 2013 | Pulitzer Center
By
Sharon Schmickle, for the Pulitzer Center

Aranyankira Ayoo and other women in her dairy co-op have learned sound record-keeping and other skills. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

Aranyankira Ayoo, like the other farmers, also grows a variety of crops on plots typically of one or two acres. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

Tumaini Nnko keeps one cow and one calf. Two cows would be a large herd. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

Like many of the women, Tumaini Nnko keeps a few goats too. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

Along with their farm duties, Tumaini Nnko and the other women also have heavy loads of household chores with few labor-saving conveniences. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

The younger farmers also have children to care for. Wariankira Pallangyo is shown here with her son, Robson. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

Some farmers sell produce at small roadside stands or shops. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

Some of the women farmers also package wares for sale. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

Some farmers are making butter and other products from their milk. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

Margareth Mbise’s cow died, so she is saving for another and meanwhile has support from the other women in the co-op. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

Anna Pallangyo started organizing the women back in the 1980s. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

Over the years, Anna Pallangyo and the other women have learned best feed practices for healthier animals and better yields. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

Anna Pallangyo gathered fodder for feed. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

In a bid to attract tourists, Anna Pallangyo has gathered antiques from an earlier farming era. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

Anna Pallangyo shows tourists her replica of a traditional farm house. Image by Sharon Schmickle. Tanzania, 2013.

Women provide more than half the labor on farms in sub-Saharan Africa, but many lack access to land, capital, extension and farm inputs that could help boost productivity. Empowering them is seen as an urgent priority.

Women in Tanzania’s Mt. Meru region are something of a role model for change. They’ve formed cooperatives with the help of U.S.-based Land O’Lakes, and they are expanding into milk processing and other businesses.