Rural Livelihoods, Their Links to Urban Centres, and the Roles of Women and Young Adults The example of the Songwe Basin, Tanzania and Malawi Master Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Bern by Manuela Born & Hannah Kästli 2008 Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Urs Wiesmann Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), Institute of Geography National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South Rural Livelihoods, Their Links to Urban Centres, and the Roles of Women and Young Adults The example of the Songwe Basin, Tanzania and Malawi Master Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Bern by Manuela Born and Hannah Kästli 2008 Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Urs Wiesmann Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) Institute of Geography, University of Bern National Centre for Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South Contact Addresses: Manuela Born Hannah Kästli Reuelweg 22 Haldenstrasse 42 3045 Meikirch 3110 Münsingen Switzerland Switzerland E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Photographs Front cover: Traditional houses in a neighbouring village of Ifumbo (Malawi), Born & Kästli 2007 Front page of chapter 1: View on the Songwe River from the bridge at Kasumulu border (Kyela), Born & Kästli 2007 Front page of chapter 2: View on the village Isongole (Tanzania), Born & Kästli 2007 Front page of chapter 3: Overall landscape close to the village Idiwili (Tanzania), Born & Kästli 2007 Front page of chapter 4: Interview case on a field in Mswelo (Malawi), Born & Kästli 2007 Front page of chapter 5: Village Mabula (Tanzania), Born & Kästli 2007 Front page of chapter 6: Family members of a household in Mbula (Malawi), Born & Kästli 2007 Front page of chapter 7: Pick up lorry between Isongole and Mpemba (Tanzania), Born & Kästli 2007 Front page of chapter 8: Women in Isongole (Tanzania), Born & Kästli 2007 Front page of chapter 9: Songwe River, Born & Kästli 2007 Summary Summary This study was conducted within the framework of the Songwe River Transboundary Catchment Management Project (SRTCMP), a joint initiative of the governments of Tanzania and Malawi, initiated by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The river and its frequently changing course has been and still is subject of conflicts between the two neighbouring countries, and its heavy sediment load causes changes in the habitats of the Lake Malawi/Nyasa, which endangers several endemic fish species of the lake’s ecosystem. This study aims at contributing to the understanding of the upstream livelihoods, and thus at minimising the negative impacts of the inhabitants’ activities on the environment. It investigates the life circumstances of the people living in the Songwe Basin, their livelihood strategies, and their connectivities to towns. Additionally to the livelihood investigation on a household level, a special focus was laid on the roles of two particularly vulnerable actor groups: women and young adults. Women have been chosen because their role has a major impact on the development in their village, while the young adults’ views promise to open a window to see possible future developments in the area. Finally, as the Songwe Basin is a bi-national area, possible differences of the livelihoods and the rural-urban interactions between the two countries were of particular interest. In order to find answers to the research questions posed, different methods for the data collection were applied. During a three-month stay in the field, 36 households were interviewed in a structured interview to gain information on the peoples livelihoods. Additionally, semi-structured interviews with 26 women and 25 young adults were conducted in order to find out more about the specific roles of these actor groups. Finally, a market investigation was made aiming at getting an overview of market relations in the area, but also of long-distance trade. Personal observations helped understanding the information gained and interpreting the results. The results were surprisingly unsurprising. The livelihoods of the people in the upper and middle Songwe Basin are very traditional. Almost all families depend mainly on subsistence farming with the main crops maize and beans. Particularly the women play very traditional roles in their families: keeping the house, helping on the fields, having children and caring for them. Poverty is widespread and food shortage in the dry season is common. Two thirds of the sample households live on only little more than one US Dollar per day. One strategy to fight poverty is income diversification, which is practised by several households. However, the more remote a village is the more difficult it is to find an off-farm income. Despite transport difficulties, most families have good connections to town. The most usual reasons for going to town are visiting family members or friends, and business relations. For the daily life in rural areas, the compareably small local centres are of greater importance than the bigger, but more distant towns. Concerning the living standards, however, the distance i Summary and (road) access to town is of great importance, as it has a direct impact on the mean income. If transportation of goods and persons is possible, more income generating opportunities are available. More than half of the young adults would like to live in town and raise their children there because of better information (including education), higher living standards, and ‘easier’ life. However, they are aware of the fact that everything costs money in town, and that they cannot go there without having some capital to start a good life. The differences between livelihood strategies on the Tanzanian and the Malawian side of the Songwe River do not seem to be big. In the whole area people are cultivating on a small-scale level and fighting poverty. However, the livelihood context varies a little bit concerning available infrastructure and services. The most important point is, however, that borders, district and international borders, do not play any significant role for the local population. The people can move freely in the area and pick whatever suits them best from both countries. Therefore, the net of interactions and interrelations is dense, and cooperation of all parties concerned is indispensable in order to solve problems and increase living standards. ii Preface Preface This master thesis was shaped within the Songwe River Transboundary Catchment Management Project (SRTCMP), at the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) at the institution of Geography of the University of Berne. The institute offered us the opportunity to write our master thesis as a team. The chance to contribute to an ongoing international project was a unique opportunity to gain fieldwork experience in an unknown environment. The fieldwork for the present study was contucted between April and July 2007 in Tanzania and Malawi. The work on the thesis has been a very challenging and interesting experience which would not have been possible without the support, assistance, and contributions of numerous people and institutions. To all these people and institutions we would like to express our gratitude. We would like to thank the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Berne, Switzerland, for having given us the opportunity to do field research in Malawi and Tanzania, which was a unique opportunity and life experience. We are particularly thankful to Professor Dr. Urs Wiesmann for the content wise and conceptual supervision of our work and to Udo Hoeggel for his inspiring recommendations, inputs, advice, and supervising of this thesis. We additionally would like to thank Silvia Künzler- Roth at the CDE for her time-consuming and accurate map-compilation. A special thank goes to Mr. Boniface Kiteme for his professional support and to Professor Ngana from the University of Dar es Salaam who arranged for our two research assistants and for their valuable contributions and helpful comments to our work. We are highly indebted to our two great assistants Magdalena Manyala and Brown Gwambene for their generous help, invaluable advice, encouragements, and sedulous assignments during our fieldwork. Asante sana! Special thanks go to the Songwe River Transboundary Catchment Management Project (SRTCMP) who supported us during the fieldwork, especially to Dr. Jonas Chavota and to Leodgard Haule for their concerns, valuable information, and the coordination of transportation. Thereby we wish also to thank the two drivers Mkamanga Kings and Didas who always brought us safely to our destinations. We also extend our graduate to Ilomo Boniface, Mwanjala Nafred, and Petros Mulenga for their generous aid and the communication of important information. Above all we are greatly indebted to all our interview partners and their families in the Songwe Basin for their friendliness, openness, and patience to answer all our questions. Without them our work could not have been implemented. Further thanks go to all our hosts during our fieldwork, especially to Harriet Eliufoo and her family in Dar es Salaam for her open house and great hospitality, further to Neema Mwalukoba and Mskuma in Mbeya where we were welcomed anytime. Additionally, we want to thank Lilian Naman, Mwasi iii Preface Mong’ateko, and Pia and Christian Moser for their help and support during our stay in Tanzania. We are very grateful to Victoria Baker, Ernst Born, Oliver Brickell,