Shinyanga District Commissioner Julius Mtatiro. Photo: Shinyanga Press Club
By Adonis Byemelwa
Teachers in primary and secondary schools across Shinyanga District, Tanzania, are now barred from using school lands for personal farming, in a directive issued on November 5, 2024, by Shinyanga District Commissioner Julius Mtatiro during a council meeting.
The order, prompted by Councilor Seleman Segeleti's concerns, aims to allocate school farms exclusively for cultivating food to support student meals.
While teachers are encouraged to pursue farming on privately leased land for additional income, Mtatiro emphasized that school fields must serve the nutritional needs of students, particularly in communities where parents struggle to contribute financially to school meal programs.
The directive prohibiting teachers in Shinyanga from farming on school land has brought to light a longstanding struggle for teachers to support themselves on modest salaries.
While farming on school land once echoed the ideals of Nyerere’s philosophy of socialism and self-reliance, which encouraged students and communities to engage in farming for school sustenance, that philosophy has faded, leaving both teachers and schools struggling with practical challenges.
In the past, under Nyerere’s vision, students actively participated in cultivating crops for communal benefit. However, as teacher salaries stagnated, many began using school lands themselves in an attempt to supplement their incomes, especially in urban areas where the cost of living has steadily risen.
The situation worsened when President Magufuli banned teachers from offering private tuition, which previously earned them up to Sh6,000 daily from students paying for early-morning test prep.
At Karatu High School in Arusha, where teachers reside on a 70-acre property, each teacher could lease an acre for farming for Sh50,000, but even there, the land designated for students’ agricultural learning is limited.
Some teachers, now unable to farm, have turned to other side jobs like motorcycle (bodaboda) taxis after school hours, adding to their financial strain. Many are now saddled with debt from various financial institutions, with the new restrictions further complicating their economic survival in a system with few support structures.
The DC’s enforcement of the ban highlights the ongoing challenges teachers face, underscoring a pressing need for a balance between prioritizing food production for students and addressing the economic hardships teachers endure. This directive may fulfill immediate needs in schools but also raises questions about sustainable solutions to support teachers who increasingly struggle to make ends meet.