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Published: January 24th 2013
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Good day in Dar es Salaam. Breakfast at the Slipway with tuna, tomato, sweetbreads and beans. Coffee was fabulous as it is all over Tanzania. Everyone slept reasonably well. We discussed ideas about our meeting with the Deputy Minister. Daniel shared that our main purpose is to show that KARUCO is connected to well respected institutions in the U.S. and abroad. The connections to
EARTH University and the
University of Minnesota show that
Karagwe University College has support with relevant resources and circles outside of Tanzania. We discussed the meeting and then shared some work and family stories and thought we were pretty funny. We took a short walk on the slipway.
Congested. Dar is a city of 4.5 million, most of whom seem to be on the same road we're on. But our trusty driver from "Lions of Tanzania" makes his way through and actually got us to our appointment 1.5 hours early. We were greeted warmly by the staff, served coffee, and listened as the Deputy Assistant answered our myriad questions about population sizes, focus of Ag initiatives across Tanzania, positioning women to own as well as be the major farm worker, new technologies, funding frameworks between
Meeting With the Deputy Minister
Daniel, Deputy Minister, Jan, Jay, Theresia, Assistant, Pedro public and private institutions, etc. Ms. Theresia Msaki, Assistant Director was telling us about Ag initiatives when the Deputy Minister arrived about 1:00. Our meeting began about 1:20.
1:20 - 4:00pm: The Deputy Minister, Mr. Adam Kighoma Ali Malima was very friendly and greeted each of us by name. He told us that he had been visiting constituents in the villages but that he came back to Dar because he "would not miss this meeting for anything". He shared his philosophies about agriculture, and asked about research. We focused on what he would like to see in an innovative Ag program such as KARUCO. He highlighted making Ag relevant to the farmers in the specific area; pooling resources, livestock policies, expanding education instead of just increasing yields, decreasing dependency on rain through irrigation. He shared that in his view, food/nutrition is the most pressing issue. He shared that energy needs are not confined to just power sources or renewables, but also to practices such as burning firewood. (Tanzania's deforestation is due largely to burning firewood.) We talked about funding, investments and how Tanzania's 40 million people will expand, and will need food and nutrition. He was careful to focus
on the broader view of nutrition and not just "filling the belly".
Pedro shared how important it is to have international partners and cinched up the connection between ETI and the U of MN and EARTH. Daniel and Jay also asserted the importance of international partnerships and the minister agreed. The Deputy Minister asked what I would like from him, and I replied: 1)resources; 2)advocacy of the vision; 3)communication; and 4)don't forget Karagwe. He responded positively to that and gave me his cell number on the back of his business card. Later, he reiterated that he would come to Karagwe to support a KARUCO event. Daniel then took some time to explain the EARTH model, deliver student applications, and ask the deputy minister if an EARTH student could be his mentee. Pedro and Jay requested a contact to help with student site placements for the U of MN, and the minister's assistant provided. We ended with the press team coming in to take photos.
We left the ministry about 4:00 and were in
gridlocked traffic most of the way 'home'. Happy with the meeting, we discussed possibilities and politics. Sometimes those two go together. Outside dinner at the
Water's Edge with the Indian Ocean in the background. Gosh, this is a beautiful world.
It was a good day in Dar es Salaam.
Take me to the Educate Tanzania website:
www.educatetanzania.org
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