Coffee farmers wooed on the Tanzanian election trail

Could coffee be an election winner? Edward Lowassa certainly hopes so as he’s put the Tanzanian coffee industry at the heart of some recent speeches as he meanders along the campaign trail.

Speaking at a recent rally in the Misenyi township, Lowassa, a pivotal figure in the Chadema and Coalition of People’s Constitution (UKAWA) pledged that he would revamp the entire sector and equip coffee farmers with better incentives moving forwards.

He repeated the statement at another event held in Bukoba shortly afterwards.

During his addresses he also admitted that under the current status quo coffee farmers were facing numerous challenges such as an inability to access markets, fluctuation prices and inadequate support from the authorities.

Lowassa also highlighted the comparatively prosperous fortunes of coffee farmers in Uganda during his speeches and raised an astonished eyebrow at the economic disparity.

“It is a shame for a resource-rich nation like Tanzania to be behind Uganda and Rwanda in terms of socio-economic development,” he said.

 “I’m wondering as why Uganda buys coffee at good prices, but here farmers are paid less and when they want to sell the crop outside the country they are prohibited.”

Lowassa stated that if elected his party would enable coffee growers to sell their beans wherever they wished, even in Uganda.

“If elected I will make sure no barriers on the roads that inhibit coffee farmers from selling their coffee in Uganda and the rest of East African countries where there is good price,” he announced.

This would effectively legalise coffee being transported across borders without penalty. For whatever the reason (and there are believed to be many of them), Ugandan coffee fetches more on markets at the moment than Tanzanian coffee does and this has led to “coffee smuggling” becoming somewhat prevalent. It may technically be illegal, but the financial rewards are significant enough for many people to try being modern-day ‘pirates’.

With the coffee farming sector providing income for an estimated 400,000 families, Lowassa is certainly doing his best to woo a substantial voting base. But can this plea work?

Only time will tell.

picture: ‘Don’t forget to vote’ (Philip Halling) / CC BY-SA 2.0