Sagara Stories: Agrarian Narratives from the Women of the West Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

By 2050, the world population is expected to exceed 9 billion people, and withis comes the immense task for farmers all over the world to feed this growingplanet (UN 2013). While this discourse captured worldwide attention, it... [ view full abstract ]

By 2050, the world population is expected to exceed 9 billion people, and with

is comes the immense task for farmers all over the world to feed this growing
planet (UN 2013). While this discourse captured worldwide attention, it is
seldom that we look into the individual lives and unique stories of farmers
themselves, especially those from “developing” countries. In the West Usambara
Mountains of Tanzania lies the village of Sagara, composed of the Sambaa ethnic
group. The region is home to agrarian communities adapted their cultures and
livelihoods for decades in the face of colonialism and changing landscapes,
extending beyond the region’s ecological boundaries. They continue to
demonstrate their resilience today in the face of extreme adversity in a changing
climate and a changing world. The purpose of this study was to collect the
narratives of eight women from the village of Sagara involved in agricultural
activities. Narratives were gathered in April 2016 from the Hondei and Mazumbai
Hamlets with a translator. Guiding questions were used to reveal each
individual’s past and present values and experiences, from their activities in
their shamba[1] to their family dynamics and any challenges in or beyond the
shamba. Each narrative was analyzed to see what their unique stories reveal
about the agrarian culture in Sagara, changes, challenges to agriculture in
relation to their own lives, and how they play a role in the larger agrarian
narrative of the region and how indispensable their stories are to the world.

[1] Kiswahili word for ‘farm’