Quality and quantity of coffee produced in Kilimanjaro is deteriorating while water supply is becoming scarce prompting Moshi Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (Muwsa) to seek tariff adjustment at Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura).
Muwsa Public Relations Officer, Dorah Killo, Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union (KNCU) General Manager, Honest Temba and Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) Regional Chairman, Patrick Boisafi told the ‘Daily News on Saturday’ at different times that changing weather pattern is affecting living standards in one of the country’s economically most competitive regions.
“We are seeking to increase our tariffs by 35 per cent effective next July because water is increasingly becoming scarce. Our tariffs have always been low because we have no big costs as our main source was surface water coming down from the mountains, hence we used no electricity in the process,” said Ms Killo.
But because surface water is not longer available to meet the growing demand of Moshi municipality’s over 300,000 people, Muwsa is now opting to start tapping ground water by drilling deep wells which is requiring energy use in terms of electricity and fuel. “Water sources are depleting and the population is growing, hence the need for us to expand production which will necessitate energy use,” said Killo.
At an average price of 469/- per cubic metre (1,000 litres), Muwsa is one of the urban water bodies charging the least for the commodity. KNCU’s Mr Temba said production of Arabica coffee in the region which accounts for 70 per cent of all the coffee produced in the country annually, has been falling in the past five years while quality has also been affected, thanks to droughts.
Poor rains are also badly affecting quality of beans as floats are becoming dominant in smallholder farmers raw coffee. “Technically floats should not be more than 200 grams in every kilogramme of coffee beans but now we are seeing up to 400 grams per kg,” noted KNCU’s Commercial Manager, Godfrey Masawe.
Mr Masawe said KNCU’s Farmers Technical Services Department is working closely with its over 60 member primary cooperatives to address the issue of replacing aged trees and adopt hybrid seedlings produced by Tanzania Coffee Research Institute (TaCRI).
“But we can do very little to address the issue of rainfall which is important in determining quality of coffee which our farmers produce,” pointed out Masawe, who also revealed that the Union which is one of the oldest in the country, is supplying its members with central pulpery units to process raw coffee into beans. TCCIA’s Mr Boisafi said changing weather pattern is worrisome and threatens the future of businesses in the region.
“If agricultural production falls, we businessmen will suffer because farmers who constitute the bulk of our clients will have limited purchasing power,” pointed out Boisafi who is a businessman-cum-farmer. He, however, paid tribute to Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner, Leonidas Gama for spearheading a tree planting campaign to restore much of the forest cover which has been depleted by human activity.
Boisafi urged Kilimanjaro National Park Authority (KINAPA) to increase fees charged on tourist interested in reaching Africa’s rooftop at Uhuru Peak of Mount Kilimanjaro to reduce numbers while Treasury earns more money. “Thirty years ago the number of tourist climbing the mountain was very low compare to latest figures which affects both vegetation and wild life,” he noted saying there is urgent need to go for quality rather than mass tourism to meet conservation needs.
By FINNIGAN WA SIMBEYE, Tanzania Daily News
