Thanks for farming

[Tallrays]

In this east african country, it is mostly cereals producers, who face the wrath of politicians when they are about to reap the fruit of their hard labour. Col. Issa machibya, kilosa’s district commissioner, recently declared it “illegal” for a peasant in his district to sell green maize, which they sell to fetch better prices. In big towns such as dar es salaam, where consumption of green maize is high, peasants wait for maize to dry and then use it to manufacture a local brew. Local brew adds value to the cereals and avails lucrative markets – both in rural and semi-urban areas- , but this is meaningless to our politicians. In singida, which is located in central tanzania, the regional commissioner (rc) parseko vicent ole kone, recently issued a ‘decree’ banning the manufacturing of the local brew. In dodoma, also in central tanzania where parliament sits, regional commissioner william lukuvi, banned the sale of maize “not dry enough,” and threatened “stern legal action” against those who went against that ‘law’. Read more: Thanks for farming | East Africa in Focus