Urban Agriculture in Dar Es Salaam, T Anzania By: Stephan Schmidt

Urban Agriculture in Dar es Salaam, T anzania By: Stephan Schmidt CASE STUDY #7-12 OF THE PROGRAM: "FOOD POLICY FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN THE GLOBAL FOOD SYSTEM" 2011 Edited by: Per Pinstrup-Andersen (globalfoodsystemc^cornell.edu) Cornell University In collaboration with: Soren E. Frandsen, Pro-Rector, Aarhus University, Denmark Arie Kuyvenhoven, Wageningen University Joachim von Braun, International Food Policy Research Institute Executive Summary Rapid urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa has led to in particular, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food serious concerns about household food security in Security and the Ministry of Livestock and Fish urban areas. Urban agriculture, which includes both eries, in order to be successful and to address the crop production and livestock raising, has been myriad problems facing it, and to better facilitate, recognized as serving an important role in the eco promote, and coordinate urban agricultural activi nomic, social, and dietary life of many cities in Sub- ties. Second, because land use planning is primarily Saharan Africa. In addition to being an important a function of local government, the municipal source of fresh produce, meat, and dairy products councils could better incorporate urban agriculture for consumers, it plays a vital economic role as a activities into the planning process to ensure that source of income for producers and distributors agriculture is recognized as a major activity in ur and also serves a socializing function for farmers, ban and peri-urban areas. Third, both national and communities, and neighborhoods. In addition, ur local governments could accept that urban agricul ban agriculture has a number of secondary impacts, ture is an established component of the informal including reducing food transportation costs and economy. To this end, the role of both the national providing environmental benefits. Whether prac and local governments is primarily that of an ticed at the subsistence level or undertaken as a enabler of agricultural operations and to ensure way to supplement income by a professional, urban that adequate legal protection is provided to pro agriculture is a widely practiced, integral com ducers and sufficient health information is made ponent of the urban environment. available to the public. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, one of the fastest-growing cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, faces a number of Background problems associated with such growth, including food insecurity, poor access to clean water, inade Like much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania is quate housing, unemployment and lack of educa rapidly urbanizing. In 1970 the share of urban resi tion, and difficulties providing basic services and dents in the total population was 7.9 percent; cur infrastructure. Agriculture addresses some of these rently their share is 26.4 percent. Much of this concerns by serving as an important source of growth occurred in Dar es Salaam, which contains locally available produce and employing a substan nearly 30 percent of the total urban population tial number of people. Because of the absence of [UN 2010], Moreover, Dar es Salaam is growing processing, storage, and distribution facilities in more quickly than the national average. Whereas much of Tanzania, urban agriculture will continue the estimated annual population growth of Tanzania to play a vital role in the social, economic, and nu was 3 percent between 2005 and 2010, the city of tritional life of the city of Dar es Salaam. However, Dar es Salaam, with an estimated 2010 population although urban agriculture clearly plays an impor of more than 3.3 million, had an estimated annual tant role in providing food and income in Dar es growth rate of almost 5 percent during the same Salaam, the practice is largely unregulated and un time period [UN 2010], Much of this growth has planned and faces a myriad of institutional, organi been along a number of major arterials, resulting in zational, economic, and environmental problems. a radial spatial development pattern. The provision of infrastructure, services, and facilities is uneven Your assignment is to advise national and city gov and has not kept pace with the rate of develop ernments on how best to facilitate the sustainable ment. Between the arterial roads, poorly serviced development of urban agriculture as an integral areas remain [Hoogland 2003], part of the urban environment and the social fabric of the city. The policy options are organized into Food security, particularly for the burgeoning the following broadly construed categories ac urban population, has been an issue since the food cording to the appropriate role and level of gov crises of the 1970s and 1980s. A Tanzania Food and ernment in enhancing and protecting urban agricul Nutrition Centre report [TFNC 2006] on food tural activities. First, promoting urban agriculture security status estimated that approximately 20 requires leadership from the national government, percent of the total population of Tanzania [35 mil In recent years wealthier households have in lion] faces chronic food insecurity, and a further creasingly undertaken urban agriculture, and the 40 percent have experienced periodic food focus has shifted from household consumption to insecurity. Urban agriculture, including both plant commercial sale. Government employees engage in and animal husbandry, is an integral part of the farming, in particular the keeping of livestock, to local food system in Dar es Salaam, providing fresh augment their incomes, which have not kept up vegetables, including Chinese cabbage, tomatoes, with inflation. Instead of merely a means for sur spinach, amaranth and a variety of other greens, vival, urban agriculture has become an area of sweet potato, cassava, maize, pulses, and fruits such potential investment for some, particularly if they as cashew, coconut, banana, pineapple, and papaya. can afford to purchase and maintain livestock. Of In addition, eggs, poultry, milk, and meat are also ten in such cases, the reason for keeping livestock supplied locally. Moreover, farming is an integral may not necessarily be to subsidize existing income, component of economic life in the city. Incomes but rather a form of cultural status and a nod to are sustainable and can rival those of government their particular region or ethnicity of origin. As a employees. The city of Dar es Salaam is composed result, urban agriculture has become increasingly of three municipal districts: Ilala, Kinondoni, and fragmented according to socioeconomic status. Temeke. Ilala has 12,000 farmers, Kinondoni has MIozi [1997] finds that wealthier farmers tend to 15,000, and Temeke has 7,700 [Hoogland 2003], have larger lots, keep more livestock, and be more A significant proportion of these farmers work in knowledgeable, whereas the less well-off tend to farming full time and are able to adequately sup keep gardens for vegetable production. port themselves and their families. In Ilala, about 13 percent of the population is engaged in agriculture Moreover, it is no longer necessarily recently ar and more than 10,000 hectares are devoted to rived rural migrants who are engaging in the prac urban agriculture. In Temeke, about 60 percent of tice. Stevenson, Kinabo, and Nyange [1994] show the available arable land is under cultivation and that urban farmers are rarely recent migrants and approximately 20-30 percent of the milk con have generally lived in town for 10-15 years, sug sumed is produced locally. In Kinondoni, approxi gesting that access to resources necessary for mately 60 percent of the available arable land is farming can be obtained only if a resident is well under cultivation. Locally grown urban agriculture embedded in the social system. In addition to being provides approximately 7 percent of total food fragmented by class, urban agricultural practices requirements, but 34 percent of livestock needs. are also spatially fragmented and are dispersed across the city. Vegetables are produced in fenced- Because the practice of urban agriculture has tradi in backyards, on vacant lots, and in open spaces tionally been associated with recent rural migrants, under generally insecure tenure arrangements scat it has been interpreted as a mechanism for survival tered across the city. Moreover, spatial patterns of and a means to reduce household vulnerability to production change over time as landowners economic fluctuations brought on by fiscal con develop or sell their property and farmers are straints, structural adjustment, and governmental forced to relocate. policy [Briggs and Mwamfupe 1998], As such, urban agriculture was actively discouraged by the national Policies affecting urban agricultural practice are government, which perceived it as economically formulated through the various national-level inefficient and marginal in relationship to the over ministries and agencies affecting agricultural pro all economy. Over the years, however, government duction, through the investments and activities of policies and attitudes toward urban agriculture have nongovernmental organizations [NGOs] and donor changed. Financial constraints during the 1970s and agencies, and through land-use decision making at 1980s, an era marked by declining minimum wages the local level. The Dar es Salaam City Council and food price inflation (Binns and Lynch 1998], [DCC] is responsible for administering the city, and and Julius Nyerere's call for self-sufficiency raised urban

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