Zanzibar’s spice farmers face food insecurity

MICHEWENI, Tanzania – Despite reaping good profits, spice and herbs farmers on Tanzania’s Pemba Island have experienced food insecurity after they had made a decision to stop growing conventional food crops in favor of high-valued spices.

Amid rising costs of living triggered by spiraling food prices, hundreds of spice farmers on the tiny island have been pushed to the wobbly edge of survival as they struggle to put food on their families’ dinner tables.

“I wish I had grown enough cassava, bananas, and potatoes to cushion my family from hunger this time when food is too expensive to buy,” said Nasoro Kasim Mabrouk — a spice farmer in Pemba who has spent 75% of his spice income to buy food.

Mabrouk, who has four children, reckoned it was a “silly idea” to neglect growing food crops altogether in favor of herbs without foreseeing the future needs of his family.

“It doesn’t matter how much money you make selling spices and herbs, you need to keep enough food reserve at home,” he said.

Until recently, smallholder farmers in Pemba embraced good farming practice where food and cash crops were diversified. But Mabrouk and several other farmers out of sheer desire to make quick money decided to ditch food crops in favor of spices.

“When I sold my first harvest of spices I got a lot of money. I did not see the need to toil in the farm, growing maize while I could buy flour at any time,” he said.

Although crops diversification is widely known as an effective strategy for improving household food security, local farmers in Pemba who also depend on fishing activities ignore it.

“I have learnt a bitter lesson. Next season, I must grow a wide range of food crops, which I can only sell excess as the rest will be for my family use,” Mabrouk said.

According to Zanzibar’s Household Budget Survey, the basic needs poverty rate increased from 48% in 2015 to 55% this year.

The agriculture sector’s share in Zanzibar’s GDP is 27%. It accounts for over 50% of foreign exchange earnings and employs 60% of the labor force. The spice sub-sector also has helped develop the tourism sector through spice tours.

A huge chunk of crops, produced by local farmers in Pemba, are sold locally and in the export market, bringing huge income to farmers.

Spices and herbs play important role in the livelihoods of the local population in Pemba, local residents said.

Farmers, for instance, have recorded a five-fold rise in the price of vanilla from 180,000 Tanzanian shillings ($78) per kilogram to almost 1,000,000 Tanzanian shillings ($434). Most farmers use this income from spice sales to cover schooling costs for children, build homes, and buy food.

However, the challenges of food security on the tiny island come from many fronts, including crop failure due to bad weather or drought and poor agricultural practice.

Local people are particularly vulnerable to food prices fluctuation due to low yields of staple crops, local leaders said.

Islam Ali Mbarak, a local leader in the Micheweni area of Pemba said the switch from growing staple crops such as rice, bananas, and cassava in favor of spices has increased farmers’ vulnerability to food insecurity.

“We are not saying there is no food in Pemba, not at all, (but) shortage of food is caused by poor farming practice that many farmers adopted. We need to educate them even more to increase their crop yields,” he said.

Although authorities in Zanzibar are struggling to end hunger and achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture in Pemba, the island is still confronted by a myriad of challenges, including climate change, seawater intrusion, and decreasing arable land.

Kingai Omar, a resident, used to engage in food crop farming, livestock keeping, and small-scale fishing, making a low income of 150,000 Tanzanian shillings ($65) per month. But when he switched to growing spices and herbs his income increased remarkably to 500,000 Tanzanian shillings ($217).