Tag: Development

The Creative Activist

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Martin Saning’o Kariongi Ole Sanago

Weeks have gone by, my national exams were nigh, since Mr. Martin Saning’o had passed away from COVID-19. I had a dream. In the dream, Mr. Martin said to me, in Swahili, with rough translation to english as, “Dare to dream big, never give up and always have a spirit big enough to achieve your dreams. Never give up my son and remember I love you!”. I woke up emotional that day but I also had a thought. He has done great works that most don’t know of. I wouldn’t want his works to go unnoticed – I would want people to know of the works that he did and the benefits he has brought to the Maasai community in Terrat, Simanjiro. This is his story.

Martin was born in the early 1960’s in the Simanjiro district of northern Tanzania. This is in the Maasai heartland – the high arid plains south of Arusha. In common with many Maasai of his generation, Martin and his family cannot be sure exactly when he was born. But Martin believed it to be born in 1960 or 1961.

                                                       Simanjiro

Martin was one among the minute number of Maasai children to have received education at the time. He used his education well. He wanted to give back to society that brought him up, so in the early 1990’s he founded IOPA – Institute for Orkonerei Pastoralists Advancement. Although IOPA’s first priority was to deal with land rights, it also eyed health problems and water supply problems that the Maasai in Terrat faced.

Martin became an activist, and made critical moves to ensure that the Maasai aren’t displaced from their traditional lands – The government had been displacing the Maasai at the time from areas they claimed to be ‘National Park areas’. His moves were seen to be ‘too critical’ to some in high places, and as a result the government initially refused to register IOPA.

As impossible as it may seem, Martin sued the government for displacing the Maasai from their traditional lands. At the time, more than 6000 Maasai had already been displaced by the government form National Parks. IOPA, led by Mr. Martin, filed a number of cases against the government which later on resulted in a landmark ruling by the High Court in IOPA’s favour.

Martin recognized that education was the key to enlighten the Maasai on a number of things: land rights, their own health, their livestock, the ongoing changes in the outside world, and a number of other things. He figured that a community radio would effectively serve this purpose. He took measures to establish a community radio, the first ever in Tanzania. He worked his fingers to the bone – a lot of sleepless nights – and finally the ORS FM first broadcasted news in 2002. The radio was in fact the first ever community radio in Tanzania – or in a larger perspective East Africa. It broadcast news in Kimaasai (the Maasai native language) and also played Maasai music.

After the idea of the community radio, Martin also realised that there was a need for electricity – not only for the radio station but also for the receivers of the information they portrayed. He worked on a number of projects, in association with different international organisations, to bring electricity to the Maasai people.

Martin also worked to help women facing different challenges, most especially those in the maasai areas – they were more prone to treacherous practices – such beatings from husbands, mutilation and harassment. IOPA created a safe haven where beaten women would go to and tell their stories. It also tried to prevent female genital mutilation, FGM, child marriage, and women oppression. IOPA dedicated some of its resources to educate women and raise the status of women in the Maasai society. IOPA also sought to help women economically. IOPA established dairies in Simanjiro with a long-sighted view of enabling women to sell milk and get money, they used to acquire their needs and the needs of their families. In the maasai culture, the only resource that belongs to women is milk.

Martin had broad and liberal outlook in his work, which touched each and almost every age group and social class by the time. For children, IOPA helped establish more than 50 pre-primary and primary schools across the region.

Martin’s work didn’t go unnoticed – he was elected an Ashoka fellow in 2003 and got the attention of a Dutch philanthropist, Dini de Rijcke, and began to work with her through her foundation, Strichting Het Groene Woudt (SHGW). Through working with Ashoka and SHGW, IOPA achieved many of its objectives. The Dutch foundation provided IOPA with 5 dairy plants and generators to power them across the region, and each dairy could process up to 2000 litres of milk into yoghurt, cheese, ghee and butter per day. These products were sold throughout the country. In cooperation with these organizations, IOPA was also able to work on a number of water supply projects, that bore fruits as the people in the dry Maasai lands got water with much more ease than before.

The women’s refuge centre was expanded to also be guest houses that could accommodate visitors to the area. IOPA also added additional generators to build one of the first mini-grids in the country to supply more than 1000 people in Terrat village with electricity, since the government had considered it too expensive to connect Terrat to the national electricity grid.

                        The IOPA centre in Terrat with guest house, community hall and dairy

Martin was bestowed various awards for his great work such as Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 by the Schwab Foundation and World Economic Forum Africa, the Ford Global Community Leadership Award, and Dubai Global Innovator Award.

Martin suggested that IOPA had to try and create viable micro businesses, so that even after funders ended their collaborations, IOPA would still be able to run its activities and thrive. As of today, IOPA’s remaining running projects include ORS FM radio, a few dairy plants, the conference centre, the water business, the guest house, and education and health support project in Terrat.

In 2019, IOPA was changed to Orkonerei Maasai Social Initiatives (OMASI) – an NGO – because of government laws and regulations, and by the end of 2020 Mr. Martin had achieved most of his goals and dreams.

On March 1st, 2021, Martin passed away. I can say that he hasn’t truly died because his works still live on – he lives through his works. He has left a legacy and very big shoes to fill. This story of Martin is supposed to be a motivation to anyone with big dreams, anyone who is fighting against all odds to achieve their dreams. I hope I have done his story justice.

If you will it, it is no dream; and if you do not will it, a dream it is and a dream it will stay

                                                                                    – Thomas Herzl –

Martin Saning’o Kariongi Ole Sanago

The Creative Activist

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By Saruni Martin- Art in Tanzania internship

Martin Saning’o

Weeks had gone by, my national exams were nigh, since Mr. Martin Saning’o had passed away from COVID-19, I had a dream. In the dream, Mr. Martin said to me, in Swahili, with rough translation to English as, “Dare to dream big, never give up and always have a spirit big enough to achieve your dreams. Never give up my son and remember I love you!”. I woke up emotional that day but I also had a thought. He has done great works that most don’t know of. I wouldn’t want his works to go unnoticed – I would want people to know of the works that he did and the benefits he has brought to the Maasai community in Terrat, Simanjiro. This is his story.

Simanjiro

Martin was born in the early 1960’s in the Simanjiro district of northern Tanzania. This is in the Maasai heatland – the high arid plains south of Arusha. In common with many Maasai of his generation, Martin and his family cannot be sure exactly when he was born. But Martin believed it to be in 1960 or 1961.

Martin was one among the minute number of Maasai children to have received education at the time. He used his education well. He wanted to give back to society that brought him up, so in the early 1990’s he founded IOPA – Institute for Orkonerei Pastoralists Advancement. Although IOPA’s first priority was to deal with land rights, it also eyed health problems and water supply problems that the Maasai at Terrat faced.

Martin became an activist, and made critical moves to ensure that the Maasai aren’t displaced from their traditional lands – The government had been displacing the Maasai at the time from areas they claimed to be ‘National Park areas’. His moves were seen to be ‘too critical’ to some in high places, and as a result the government initially refused to register IOPA.

As impossible as it may seem, Martin sued the government for displacing the Maasai from their traditional lands. At the time, more than 6000 Maasai had already been displaced by the government form National Parks. IOPA, led by Mr. Martin, filed a number of cases against the government which later on resulted in a landmark ruling by the High Court in IOPA’s favour.

Martin recognized that education was the key to enlighten the Maasai on a number of things: land rights, their own health, their livestock, the ongoing changes in the outside world, and a number of other things. He figured that a community radio would effectively serve this purpose. He took measures to establish a community radio, the first ever in Tanzania. He worked his fingers to the bone – a lot of sleepless nights – and finally the ORS FM first broadcasted news in 2002. The radio was in fact the first ever community radio in Tanzania – or in a larger perspective East Africa. It broadcast news in Kimaasai (the Maasai native language) and also played Maasai music.

After the idea of the community radio, Martin also realised that there was a need for electricity – not only for the radio station but also for the receivers of the information they portrayed. He worked on a number of projects, in association with different international organisations, to bring electricity to the Maasai people.

Martin also worked to help women facing different challenges, most especially those in the maasai areas – they were more prone to treacherous practices – such beatings from husbands, mutilation and harassment. IOPA created a safe haven where beaten women would go to and tell their stories. It also tried to prevent female genital mutilation, FGM, child marriage and women oppression. IOPA dedicated some of its resources to educate women and raise the status of women in the Maasai society. IOPA also sought to help women economically. IOPA established dairies in Simanjiro with a long-sighted view of enabling women to sell milk and get money, they used to acquire their needs and the needs of their families. In the maasai culture, the only resource that belongs to women is milk.

Martin had broad and liberal outlook in his work, which touched each and almost every age group and social class by the time. For children, IOPA helped establish more than 50 pre-primary and primary schools across the region.

Martin’s work didn’t go unnoticed – he was elected an Ashoka fellow in 2003 and got the attention of a Dutch philanthropist, Dini de Rijcke, and began to work with her through her foundation, Strichting Het Groene Woudt (SHGW). Through working with Ashoka and SHGW, IOPA achieved many of its objectives. The Dutch foundation provided IOPA with 5 dairy plants and generators to power them across the region, and each dairy could process up to 2000 litres of milk into yoghurt, cheese, ghee and butter per day. These products were sold throughout the country. In cooperation with these organizations, IOPA was also able to work on a number of water supply projects, that bore fruits as the people in the dry Maasai lands got water with much more ease than before.

IOPA centre in Terrat

The women’s refuge centre was expanded to also be guest houses that could accommodate visitors to the area. IOPA also added additional generators to build one of the first mini-grids in the country to supply more than 1000 people in Terrat village with electricity, since the government had considered it too expensive to connect Terrat to the national electricity grid.

Martin was bestowed various awards for his great work such as Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 by the Schwab Foundation and World Economic Forum Africa, the Ford Global Community Leadership Award, and Dubai Global Innovator Award.

Martin suggested that IOPA had to try and create viable micro businesses, so that even after funders ended their collaborations, IOPA would still be able to run its activities and thrive. As of today, IOPA’s remaining running projects include ORS FM radio, a few dairy plants, the conference centre, the water business, the guest house, and education and health support project in Terrat.

In 2019, IOPA was changed to Orkonerei Maasai Social Initiatives (OMASI) – an NGO – because of government laws and regulations, and by the end of 2020 Mr. Martin had achieved most of his goals and dreams.

On March 1st, 2021, Martin passed away. I can say that he hasn’t truly died because his works still live on – he lives through his works. He has left a legacy and very big shoes to fill. This story of Martin is supposed to be a motivation to anyone with big dreams, anyone who is fighting against all odds to achieve their dreams. I hope I have done his story some justice.

The Status of Political and Economic Development in Tanzania

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By Romaisa Hussain – Art in Tanzania Internship

Since independence, Tanzania began its journey with economic dynamism until it was struck by the transition towards socialism which took a bad toll on the economy, and the 1980s global financial crisis which the country was not prepared for. From then onwards, growth became relatively slow and even more difficult to adjust towards the market economy. However, this growth rate gradually increased which is quite noticeable if we consider the past decade. It is considered that with the ongoing rate of growth, GDP is likely to double in the next two decades as the country has transitioned from the category of ‘low income’ countries to that of the ‘middle income’.  Nonetheless, there are still concerns over the long-term sustainability considering the current elevated growth path. Tanzania has experienced immense political and economic developments in the past few years as well as adjustments in social welfare. This does not mean that there are no causes for concern, the country still has a long way to go to address the developmental challenges in significant areas such as rising population, corruption, divide between state and political parties, and distribution of wealth. Simultaneously, there are also new opportunities that may set the path to essential developments and reforms.

Political Overview

If we look at the political history of Tanzania, it has been relatively peaceful and has abode by the constitution even though there have been certain incidents in the past fifty years that have directed the country in different yet opposing paths. In the post-independent stage, Tanzania carried on with its colonial norms with an outbound marketing strategy. Gradually, it shifted towards the socialism stage intending to produce a self-dependent African socialist community that lasted 17 years. This stage underwent huge otherwise violent changes that greatly modified the minds of the people. Later, a new stage rose which attempted to retain the socialism stage injecting it with a liberal market economy and multi-party democratic system. Fast forward 13 years, this new stage is still running the country but the old seeds of socialism have not completely vanished from sight particularly in the civil servants and state-owned enterprises. On 19th March 2021, Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in as the first woman to become the President of the United Republic of Tanzania. She is now the sixth president replacing former President John Magufuli after his death and served as Vice President from October 2015. Since her presidency, the government has made attempts to bring down corruption, strengthen public administration and infrastructure systems, enhance accountability and transparency, and improve management of resources. Under the 2020 Worldwide Governance Indicators, Tanzania has worsened in the years between 2012 and 2019 with the most deterioration occurring in the legislation, transparency, effective government, and freedom of media and civil societies.

Economic Context

So far, Tanzania has become a macro-economic success in the past 20 years. The economic growth rate accelerated from 3.5% in the 1990s to 7% in the early 2000s. Although the 1980s global developmental crisis considerably affected the economy, the country gradually bounced back, stabilized, and is expected to increase its growth rate in the upcoming future. Moreover, years of foreign aid and the rising economic growth have established great results in Tanzania but development issues such as unemployment and poverty cease to come to an end. Although Tanzania has done well economically compared to other countries in the region, the economic growth is still quite slow. The GDP rate declined from 5.8% in 2019 to 2.0% in 2020 while the per capita growth changed to negative. The economic growth is centered around building and manufacturing the supply sector while investments dealt with the demand. The Fiscal policies have backed up the growth rate and credit but have reduced from 7% in 2018 to 5% in 2020.

Path to Development?

Currently, due to the pandemic, the global economic crisis has had an immense impact on the industries dealing with exports particularly the tourism sector, and a massive decline in foreign aid. The prices of gold elevated however between 2019 and 2020 which seems to be the only benefited export from the pandemic. Even though the government did not imply heavy travel restrictions, the crisis enabled the industries and firms to endorse safe and preventive measures which hindered the economic activities locally. On the other hand, there has also been a decrease in imports which declined the monetary revenue and the production and consumption have also experienced a sharp reduction. The Covid-19 crisis has brought many challenges to the financial sector and the bank loans which continue to increase while the credit growth to the private sectors has relatively declined. The inflation rate was estimated at around 3.5% in 2019 which dropped to 3.3.% in 2020 because of a slow decline in goods and services. The Bank of Tanzania managed to keep the foreign exchange rates steady with multiple interventions to ensure balance in the exchange market. The monetary policies by the government assisted the spending and disbursements but the impact of the pandemic on revenues elevated the monetary deficit ranging from 2% in 2019 to 2.3% in 2020. Despite all the challenges, Tanzania has a positive economic outlook with GDP expected to grow from 4.1% in 2021 to 5.8% by 2022 as the travel and tourism sectors continue to improve and trade corridors begin to open. The increase in the prices of fuel and energy is anticipated to remain in 2021 which may raise the inflation to 3.9% by the end of 2021 eventually dropping to 3.4% by 2022. The low revenue and high expenditures on infrastructures and projects are anticipated to increase the monetary deficit of GDP to 3.2% in 2021 and 2022 which are financed mainly through foreign loans.

Conclusion

Tanzania’s steady growth in the past 20 years achieved a milestone in July 2020 when it was finally considered as a lower-middle income country from low-income status. This highlights the country’s potential for macroeconomic sustainability based on the economic growth rate, rich natural resources, and strategic geographical location. Now as a middle-income country, Tanzania has embarked on a Tanzania Development Vision 2025 which lays out the development goals it has set to achieve by 2025 ranging from quality of life, proper education, peacefulness, good governance, stability, and a competitive market equipped with sustainable economic growth and mutual benefits. The Gross National Income per capita has so far been impressive but not enough to meet these goals. Tanzania must start with investing in human development and capital and simultaneously build high-quality livelihoods for everyone in the country to reach such broad vision.