Singida farmers’ outcry on auctions, what is in there?

ON August 30 th 2024, the government issued a circular that announced an introduction of Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) in almost the entire country with immediate effect.

It meant that no single trader will be allowed to buy the mentioned crops, mostly pulses, directly from farmers and be allowed to transport it outside the specified regions, let alone send it out of the country.

As it was ordered, the implementation started right away. It is more than a month now and for the people like us who are not actively involved in trading very little is known regarding the actual development on the ground.

Fast forward to today’s essay, according to last week’s reporting by JAMBO TV, a national online television that largely broadcasts in Swahili, there happened a commotion in Singida.

To get a clear picture I will give an English translation of what really transpired from the central region famed with high production of pulses, among other crops.

“Businesspersons and merchants nearby Liti Stadium in Singida, staged a riot that involved closure of the highway complaining about the newly established WRS. They claim that the system has oppressed them and delayed their sales, a situation that has added pains to their difficult life.

Mohamed Abdallah, a pigeon peas farmer, explained that his five buckets (equivalent to a bag of 100 kilogrammes) were confiscated while on his way, and he saw others procuring crops without instant payments through cooperatives (AMCOS).

“I have seen report from people who have already sold [their crops] to AMCOS, to this date there is one of my colleagues who loaded about four tonnes and went to sell to one buying centre that is near Kwa Mtoro, he has not been paid to this day and it is nearing a third week, and is a farmer as well. But same experience has befallen on me, five buckets of pigeon peas have been confiscated while I was bringing them to market” explained Mr Mohammed.

“Those businesspeople want an end to the current order to simplify money creation, and they have urged the government to improve that system (probably WRS)”. Thomas Nathaniel, cargo porter, also complained, “We are leading a difficult life because there are no jobs, when bags come here they are confiscated at gunpoint, we fail to understand.

“We are being told AMCOS, what is AMCOS? We don’t understand the meaning of AMCOS, we cause children to sleep hungry, and we have kids in school, no jobs. I come here from home just to sell face, I don’t even have a hundred shillings,” expressed Mr Thomas.

“The victims are not grains’ businesspeople or cargo porters alone, even food vendors have tested a bitter pill. Zulfa Jumanne says challenges brought by that system has caused lack of money because her clients have been eating without paying”. Due to that situation, Halima Dendego, Singida Regional Commissioner, has urged cargo porters to refrain from being used to bring chaos while insisting that WRS has many opportunities including good price. “We have few middlemen who see that this system evicts them from the business chain. But even though we have given them an opportunity, I have personally met with them more than three times, educating them that everyone can benefit if he/she adheres rules and regulations and learns more on what the system wants”, she said.

More so, she asked citizens to use good ways to find solutions to their problems instead of demonstrating and rioting or doing anything that endangers peace.

“We have people who transport [crops out of the region] at night, we went to arrest them, we have people from Singida who attacks government officials, preventing the government from doing its job, even them we are continuing to deal with them, and you have seen today you the witnesses, they have reached a point of closing the highway”, said Ms Dendego.

Well, that’s the end of my translation to a report by Jambo TV that was originally in Swahili. While this essay may limit itself to this turn of events in Singida, the cries from farmers and other players in other regions in the country, like Manyara, are the same.

This should be a wake-up call to institutions involved in implementation of WRS to get back to the drawing board and see what is missing, and the biggest step should be to co-create this important system with players [mostly farmers] on the ground and find ways that will lead to creation of a system that will add value by answering to their problems.

At this point we have learnt that, farmers have got no problem with markets, pulsesmarket have always been there, their cry is largely on delayed payments and low pricethey get from cooperatives compared to direct selling to traders. Suspension of the current system followed by thorough review and reconstruction is needed. Till then backlashes will never stop.