Content uploaded by Evaristo Haulle
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Evaristo Haulle on May 17, 2020
Content may be subject to copyright.
48
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
Pottery and Poverty Reduction among Kisi
Households in Ludewa District, Tanzania
Milline J Mbonile4, Evaristo Haule5
Abstract
The study investigated the impact of pottery trade in reducing poverty among the Kisi
households in Ludewa district which is located very close to Lake Nyasa..The role of
pottery industry in breaking the vicious cycle of poverty among the Kisi began during
the Iron Age in the first millennium A.D. The Kisi people live in Ludewa District and a
few have spread to neighbouring districts like Kyela and Mbinga. The main economic
activity of the Kisi is fishing but after trade liberation in the 1980s fishing is overtaken
by pottery industry. The data for calculation of poverty index was collected from three
villages which are Lumbila, Nkanda and Nsele which had abudant raw materials for
pottery making along Lake Nyasa. The calculation of various indicators of poverty and
their relationship to pottery industry indicated that pottery has a reasonable impact on
poverty alleviation among the Kisi in Ludewa District. This is verified by the
improvement of housing whereby people involved in pottery industry had slightly
better housing than others. The same was applied to income poverty where villages
like Lumbila and Nkanda had a higher per capita income when compared to Nsele
Village which depends more on crop marketing than pottery. As far as household asset
ownership is concerned there were small differentials among the villages and this was
also reflected on the utilization of improved power, health and sanitation. The main
bottleneck in the alleviation of poverty among the Kisi people was lack of reliable
inland transport which was hindered by steep slopes close to the Lake and unreliable
motorboats which ply along the lake. Some villages like Lumbila have managed to
purchase a boat but in the case of Nkanda due to management problems the boat has
been abandoned. The overall indicator shows that Lumbila village with more
diversified economy had higher per capita income than the other villages. Besides this
the villages were vulnerable to environmental degradation and disasters related to
health.
Introduction
This study investigates the impact of pottery trade in reducing poverty among
the Kisi households in Ludewa district which is among the periphery districts in
Tanzania (Mbonile 1995). Historically pottery making among the Kisi began
during the Iron Age in the first millennium A.D (Waane 1979: 61-63).
Nonetheless the their popularity as pottery makers began in the 18th century
4 Professor of Geography University of Dar es Salaam,
5 Senior Lecturer, Mkwawa College of Education
49
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
when they bartered or marketed pottery in the whole of Southern Highlands and
in East and Central Africa(Mbonile 1994, 1996,2008). Later it spread to other
continents like Europe in the 19th century as reported by Thomson in 1881.
Another phase of evolution of pottery making began in the 1980s due to The
Structural Adjustment Programmes which led to trade liberalization which
speeded up the commercialization of pottery leading to the formation of major
pottery enterprises which buy pottery in large quantities and transport it to other
parts of the country and abroad.. This change was propelled by the improvement
of Lake Nyasa transport system whereby fast moving steamers opened up the
pottery market to the rest of the country and neighbouring countries like Malawi
(Maliyamkono & Bagachwa 1990; Mihanjo 2003; Ludewa District Report
2007, 2017). The major impact of commercialization of pottery is the increase
in pottery production which almost tripled from 6,000 to more than 20,000 pots
per week in 2017 which are locally and nationally sold in most weekly markets
such as Matema (Kyela district) and in large urban centres markets like those in
Mwanjelwa in Mbeya City (Mbonile 2005; Ludewa Annual District Report
2017).
Besides an increase in the number of pottery products there was a diversification
of pottery by introducing new varieties of pottery such as sufuria (CCM), birika
and Vya mapambo which are very popular and have a big market in urban areas
and abroad. These supplement the old varieties of pots such as tukalango,
indeku sya misi, masyala, mafuniko and ndelele which are largely used for
cooking and storage of water. Other types of pots include ingumbe and finjoli
which are used for grain storage and so are more marketed locally. The change
in the type of pots has led to a change in pottery labour relations whereby most
pots are made by girls who are more familiar and knowledgeable in making
small types of pots which are more popular in urban areas. On the other hand,
men are more involved in fetching firewood for burning pots and transporting
pots to the shore ready for marketing either as casual labourers of women or as
traders themselves (Gulliver 1955; Mihanjo 2003; Ludewa District Report
2007). As a whole the marketing of pottery occurs by stages from the village to
large urban centres. Usually at the village or ward level the pottery producers
sell the pots to local vendors at lower price relative to trading centres and large
urban centres like Dar es Salaam City. In big trading centres like Mbeya the
pots are collected by long distance Kisi traders and others who have a wide
network of communication and marketing systems by using internet and other
means of communication such as mobile phones (Ellis 1998; Ellis &Harris
2004; Mihanjo 2003; Ludewa Annual District Report 2017).
50
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
Nonetheless, despite the changes in the marketing system of pottery the industry
is still a household or grass root industry leading to the per capita income of
areas involved in pottery industry being about Tshs 250,000/= which is less than
the national per capita income of Tshs 350,000/=. It is largely produced by Kisi
households in villages like Nkanda, Lumbila and Nsele where there is a
concentration of clay soil for pottery making. Since these villages are almost
semi-landlocked by the Livingstone Mountains and Lake Nyasa the collection
of clay, softening of clay with water, making the pots, drying the pots and
baking the pottery is exclusively done at household level. They only import
smoothening clay from Makete district which has a strong historical link in
trading Kisi pottery (Ludewa District Report 2017). The reason why pottery
making is exclusively a household activity is based on the way the transmission
of pot making skills is conducted. This is done within the household and family
context and hence it does not allow much room for other people to acquire this
knowledge without an agreement with the households involved in pottery
making (Mihanjo 2003).
Among the major outcomes of these changes in the pottery marketing systems is
the change in gender roles in pottery making and slight breaking the vicious
cycle of poverty (Nindi 2007; Mteti 2016). The improvement in income
generated from pottery and the decline in fishing activities which were
predominantly male due to ecological changes in the ecosystem of the lake
caused by environmental degradation in the catchment area, has compelled
some males to invade the pottery industry. (SADC/GEF Report 2007; Mihanjo
2011). Nonetheless, despite this change in gender roles in the pottery industry,
males still maintain their migratory fishing attitudes along the lake which
endanger the health of the people through diseases like HIV/AIDS which in turn
reverse the effort of breaking the vicious cycle of poverty (Waane 1979;
Mihanjo 2003, 2011; Chuwa 2010). As a whole for several centuries the Kisi
have been engaged in pottery industry but it is only recently that they have
seriously embarked in the commercialization of pottery that gives them more
prospects for the Kisi to break the vicious cycle of poverty. It is essential to
investigate the commercialization of pottery because this change has led to a
change in the household livelihood socially and economically leading to more
positive impact in the Kisi struggle in breaking the vicious cycle of poverty.
.
Theoretical background to the study
Attempts to Break the Vicious Cycle of Poverty in Other Parts of the World
The attempt to use traditional pottery industry in breaking the vicious cycle of
poverty is not exclusive to the Kisi communities only. For example, as the
51
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
agricultural and fishing activities stagnated in the Indian villages of Jaipur local
communities resorted to the production of blue pottery which had a big demand
in urban areas and were exported to industrialized countries like Western
Europe (Bhatnagar & Rai 2006). Almost the same process occurred in Sindh
Pakistan where cottage industries producing high quality pottery managed to
alleviate poverty of the people and raised their standard of living to high levels
(DAWN Group Newspapers, 2002). In Tanzania other pottery makers with
similar ambitions of revolutionizing the marketing systems are concentrated in
the Southern Coast in Lindi Region and in Pare and Usambara Mountains in the
north (Mbonile 1994; Chami 2001; Namsifuel 2007; Mteti 2016).
Almost the same process was experienced among the Kinga communities of
Makete district who broke the vicious cycle of poverty by marketing Kisi
pottery and locally made bamboo goods which dominated the commercial
services in several commercial cities like Dar es Salaam (Mbonile 1996:102;
Mbonile 2008). Besides this other areas in the country have attempted to break
the vicious cycle of poverty by utilizing water reeds in making baskets as in the
case of Njombe district (Mung’ong’o 1998) and baobab seeds in the central
semi-arid areas like Dodoma and Singida regions (SUA 2006; Mbonile 2005)
Grass Root Alleviation of Poverty
The alleviation of poverty at grass root level has been the basic aim of most
traditional societies like those of the Kisi in Tanzania and Jaipur in India. As
labour reserves for the most developed parts of the respective countries, they
have been supplying labour and industrial raw materials. Despite their huge
effort to supply labour and the production of pottery for subsistence needs they
remained in abject poverty and social deprivation. The change in development
strategies in the last 20 years by increasing the commercialization of their
traditional products guaranteed these societies the means of getting money for
development and hence raising the chance of breaking the vicious cycle of
poverty among households (Omary 1975; Mihanjo 2003; Bhatnagar & Rai
2006; Mbonile& Haule 2011).
Research Methodology
The Kisi people live in Ludewa District and a few have spread to
neighbouring districts like Kyela and Mbinga. They live in villages which
started as fishing settlements and they are organized along the clan
system; and their two main activities are fishing and pottery making
which has popularized the Kisi all the world by being marketed in several
52
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
countries as ornaments and cooking pots. All along, agriculture among
the Kisi has been to a large extent a peripheral activity because they
could batter fish with cereals like maize from neighbouring tribes like the
Kinga, Pangwa and Nyakyusa (Berry 1971; Mihanjo 2003) (See Map 1).
Map 1: Map of the study Area
In 2012 the population in sampled wards involved in making pottery was about
1,880 and projected to about 2,444 in 2017.. The total number of households in
2012 was about 990 (URT 2012; Ludewa District Report 2017).The study
employed quantitative data collection method in getting primary data by using a
structured questionnaire while focus group discussions were used to collect
qualitative data. The sampling unit was the household and since the study area
was estimated to have about 990 households a total of 248 households was
randomly selected after listing the heads of households in each village. To
assess the impact of pottery in breaking the vicious cycle of poverty, the
households randomly selected included those involved in pottery industry as
core group and those involved in other activities as a control group.(Babbie,
2001). The data was analysed by using both quantitative and qualitative
techniques The data obtained from the structured questionnaire was entered,
cleaned and analyzed by using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Science
(SPSS).
53
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
The Methods of Mapping Poverty or Wealth Index
The calculation of index of poverty the study used income measures or
consumption expenditures which measured indicators of household economic
status such as the quality of buildings (roofing materials, walls and floors),
consumable durables (cloth iron, type of beds, spongy mattresses and watches)
and communication means such as radios and smart phones. It also included the
status of health such as morbidity, access to education and markets. The
ownership these properties asset took the value of one if it was owned by the
household and zero when there was nothing as suggested by Davis (2003).. The
final wealth index or asset index (Aj0) was calculated based on the following
formula:
A j0= f1 (fji-a1)/(S1) + ….. fN (ajN-ajn)/(SN) (1)
Where Aj0 = Index for each household; f = is the scoring factor for the first
asset as determined by the procedure; Aj1= the jth household value of the fist
variable (one or zero) and a1 and S1 are the mean and standard deviation
respectively of the value on the asset variable over all household;; N= Total
number of households;; n= Sampled number of households
In the study the poverty or wealth indicators were calculated based on the
frequencies which was regressed item by item in the formula and later for easy
interpretation they were standardized by multiplying each index by 100. The
indexes were then reclassified in three broad categories of development as
follows:
Category 1: 80-100 (High Poverty Index)
Category 2: 60-79 (Medium Poverty Index)
Category 3: 40-59 (Moderately Low Poverty Index)
Category 4: 0-39 (Low Poverty)
In order to calculate the wealth or poverty index different scores were allocated
according to the number of assets and amenities possessed by various
households. These indicators included income, education, occupation, type of
water supply, sanitation, housing conditions, vulnerability to diseases and
disasters, household assets, source of lighting and cooking power supply, source
of and ownership of land (Babbie 2001; Mbonile et al., 2017 . After calculating
the poverty or wealth index graphs were drawn based on villages involved in
pottery industry. During the survey coordinates of village boundaries were taken
by using GPS.
54
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
Economic Activities of the study area
The main economic activities of the study area included farming, fishing,
pottery making and petty business. However, some of these activities such as
pottery making and fishing follow gender mainstreaming whereby fishing was
exclusive for males while pottery making was for females. Other activities
which were on the rise were petty business within Lake Nyasa shores and
elsewhere in the country. A critical analysis of these activities in breaking the
vicious cycle of poverty showed that farming had a narrow chance because most
of the cultivation is done in steep slopes and narrow inlets which gave no room
for mechanization and intensification of agriculture. Besides this agriculture
has low productivity because no inputs like fertilizers had been applied to enrich
the soil due to having few livestock except a few pigs and chickens. On the
other hand, fishing which has been practiced for centuries was largely for
subsistence and the salinization of the lake endangers some of the popular
species in the lake such as mbasa, mbelele and dagaa. Above all in recent years
there is a heavy competition between subsistence fishing and commercial
fishing which buys most of the popular species for marketing to big centres like
Dar es Salaam. Besides this there was very low diversification to non-agrarian
activities except for a few women who brew local beer, small shops and
tailoring marts (See Table 1 and Plates 1-3)
Table 1: Study Population by Economic Activities and by Villages
Economic
Activities
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
TOTAL
M
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
Farming
34.9
17.2
20.9
28.7
45.1
70.7
35.1
37.7
Pottery making
0
64.2
0
59.0
0
15.5
0
47.3
Fishing
54.3
0
74.6
0
51.6
0
59.5
0.0
Petty Business
6.0
13.8
3.0
8.2
2.2
8.1
2.9
10.2
Employed
4.8
4.8
1.5
4.1
1.1
5.7
2.5
4.8
TOTAL
83
145
67
122
91
123
239
390
Plate 1: Cultivation on Steep Slopes in Lumbila and Poor Banana Plantation in
Nsele Village
55
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
Plate 2: A Catch of Dagaa Ready for Local Marketing in Nsele Village and drying
Maize for Making Local Beer in Nkanda Village
Plate 3: Selling Local Beer at Lumbila Village and Drying Dagaa Ready for
Marketing at Nsele Village
Pottery Making in Ludewa District
Pottery is a ceramic ware made by potters and the place where such wares are
made is also called pottery. Besides this pottery is made by forming a clay body
into objects of a required shape and heating them to high temperatures in a kiln
to induce reactions that lead to permanent changes which include increasing
their strength and hardening and improves their shape (Disdale 1986).
Moreover, there are variations in the properties of raw materials used for the
production of pottery and this leads to wares that are unique in character to a
locality like the Kisi area (Mihanjo, 2003; Mteti 2016).
The study revealed that among the Kisi it is common for clays and other
materials to be mixed to produce clay bodies suited to specific purposes such as
clay making thermos flasks, clay irons for ironing clothes and decorated pots
(See Plates 4-6). Above all it was confirmed that pottery industry among the
Kisi is solely a female activity which is transferred from mothers to daughters.
56
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
It is only on rare occasions when males are involved in transporting pottery to
the market under a close supervision of women. Another advantage of Kisi
pottery industry is that most raw materials are obtained in the vicinity of
villages which include grey and white clay. This is due to the fact that when the
rift valley was formed to create the Livingstone Mountain Ranges and Lake
Nyasa clay seams were exposed on the steep slopes of the rift valley. Usually
every village or household has a place where it can dig both grey and white
clay. After the clay soil has been dug it is brought at a shed near the household
by head or canoes for distant villages like Nsele. On the other hand, red oak
which is used for decorating the ports is imported from Makete District which
borders Ludewa District (See Table 2 & Plate 4)
Plate 4: Clay Thermos Flask, Decorated Pottery and clothes Iron Pottery Products
at Matema
As observed by Mihanjo (2003) and Mteti (2016) Kisi pottery making industry
in the past was basically geared in producing pottery for domestic use.
Nonetheless, recently pottery making industry has been revolutionalized to
serve the market (90%) which goes beyond the borders of Ludewa District.
57
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
These changes have made the industry to produce a variety of commodities
including thermos flasks and iron for clothes. This change has made both local
and international vendors to purchase most pottery and market them in large
towns like Mbeya and Dar es Salaam as well as abroad. Nonetheless, the
various market bottlenecks such as high transport cost along the lake and inland
the overall per capita income per month earned from pottery industry ranged
between Tshs 11,000 (Tshs 132,00 per annum) in Nsele Village to Tshs
29,330/= (Tshs 348,000 per annum) in Lumbila Village which is relatively very
small in breaking the vicious cycle of poverty among Kisi people. Moreover,
most of the money earned in pottery is used for buying food and paying social
services like school fees instead of accumulating wealth like building better
houses. Above all the industry is facing a lot of risks which include poor prices
especially at local markets where a medium pot was sold at Tshs 100/= but
when it reaches Matema market (luilo)
Table 2: People Engaged in Pottery Making, Source of Expertise, Type and
Source of Raw Materials in the Study Villages
People in Pottery
VILLAGES
TOTAL
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
Mothers
96.7
98.4
96.9
97.8
Girl Child
3.3
1.6
3.1
2.2
N
90
67
86
243
Source of Expertise
Inherited from
parents
88.9
89.6
96.5
91.7
Trained by others
6.7
3.0
2.3
4.1
Own initiative
3.3
4.5
0.0
2.5
School
1.1
3.0
1.2
1.7
N
90
67
86
243
Type of Raw Materials Used
Clay soil
95.6
97.0
96.5
96.3
Red soils
4.4
3.0
3.5
3.5
N
90
67
86
243
Source of Raw Materials for Pottery
Within the village
97.8
92.5
5.8
63.8
Neighbouring
villages
2.2
7.5
74.4
29.2
Other wards
0.0
0.0
19.8
7.0
N
90
67
86
243
58
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
Distance to Source of Clay Soil (kms)
1-2
28.9
4.5
1.2
12.3
3-4
60.0
82.1
3.5
46.1
5+
11.1
13.4
95.3
41.6
N
90
67
86
243
Carrying of Raw Materials
By head
100.0
100.0
1.2
65.0
Canoes
0.0
0.0
98.8
35.0
N
90
67
86
243
Source of energy for pottery making
Firewood/grass
85.0
87.0
81.0
84.0
Solar
15.0
13.0
19.0
16.0
N
90
67
86
243
it rises to Tshs 500/=. The same pot when it reaches big markets like those of
Mbeya City and Tunduma it is sold at Tshs 6,500/= while in Dar es Salaam it is
sold at Tshs 10,000. Hence in order to get a big margins of profit both the
producer and vendor have to carry large numbers of pottery which in turn
increase the risk of pottery breaking down. Other risks include the risks of
exhaustion of energy materials for baking pottery and competition of other
potters like those of Pare in Kilimanjaro region (See Table 3 & Plates 5-7).
Table 3: Marketing of Pottery and Risks of Pottery Industry
Purpose of Pottery Making
VILLAGES
TOTAL
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
Domestic Use
4.4
3.0
12.8
7.0
Marketing
95.6
97.0
87.2
93.0
N
90
67
86
243
Place of marketing pottery
Local markets
93.3
89.6
97.7
93.8
Abroad
6.7
10.4
2.3
6.2
N
90
67
86
243
Purchase of Pottery
Local people
1.1
3.0
3.5
2.5
Market vendors
98.9
97.0
96.5
97.5
N
90
67
86
243
Income from pottery (Tshs)
0-20,000
44.4
37.2
93.0
59.7
21,000-40,000
31.1
29.9
4.7
21.4
59
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
Purpose of Pottery Making
VILLAGES
TOTAL
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
41,000-60,000
6.7
29.9
2.3
1.5
61,000-80,000
17.8
1.5
0.0
0.8
81,000-100,000
0.0
1.5
0.0
0.4
1001,000+
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
Per capita Income (Tshs)
29,330
13,050
11,308
17,903
N
90
67
86
243
Assets and consumers bought by pottery income
Built house
16.7
22.4
14.0
17.3
Paying school fees
36.7
14.9
11.6
21.8
Purchase fishing gear
0.0
0.0
2.3
0.8
Purchase food
46.6
62.7
72.1
60.1
N
90
67
86
243
Risks of pottery making industry
Exhaustion of raw materials
14.4
23.9
3.4
13.2
Exhaustion of energy
materials
26.7
35.8
25.6
28.8
Competition from other
potters
1.1
4.5
11.6
5.8
Competition from other
activities
1.1
3.0
5.8
3.3
Poor price
53.4
29.8
50.1
45.7
Declining skills
1.1
1.5
2.3
1.6
Cracking of pottery
2.2
1.5
1.2
1.6
N
90
67
86
243
Plate 5: Digging Clay Soil for Pottery in Lumbila Village and Drying Pottery at
Nkanda Village
60
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
Plate 6: Pots and Small Plates at Lumbila Village and Transportation of Pottery at
Lumbila Port
Plate7 Marketing of Pottery at Matema Market and Pots and Sugar Containers at
Kiwira Market
When the marketing of pottery industry was further investigated it indicated that
most customers prefer Kisi pottery because they are made with high skills
which are quite unique to the Kisi people only. Others showed that the type of
soil which is used in making pottery is good leading to strong pots despite the
fact that most pots are very thin. There were few households which indicated
that the pots are well decorated and so they are very attractive to the people. In
addition, the regions which prefer Kisi pottery include neighbouring regions like
Mbeya and Ruvuma who have been buying these pots for centuries and recently
Dar es Salaam City has risen in importance in buying Kisi pottery because of
marketing abroad and high demand as decorations in more affluence households
like those of Oysterbay, Mbezi Beach and Masaki. The most popular market
abroad is based in Malawi which lies on the other side of Lake Nyasa and acts
as a distributor of pottery to Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa and
Namibia (See Table 4).
61
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
Table 4: Preference and Marketing of Pottery in Study Villages
Preference of Kisi Pottery
VILLAGES
TOTAL
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
Made with high skills
42.2
50.9
66.3
66.3
Soil used is good
10.0
11.9
14.0
14.0
Strong
38.9
13.4
4.7
4.7
Good in cooking
6.7
19.4
14.0
14.0
Easy to transport
2.2
4.5
1.2
1.2
N
90
67
86
243
Regions which prefer most Kisi pottery
Mbeya
12.2
9.0
1.2
7.4
Iringa
64.2
28.4
16.3
31.3
Dar es Salaam
38.9
61.2
81.3
60.1
Ruvuma
1.1
1.5
1.2
1.2
N
90
67
86
243
Countries which prefer Kisi pottery
Malawi
94.5
86.6
52.3
77.4
Zambia
3.3
4.5
40.7
16.8
Abroad
2.2
8.9
7.0
5.8
N
90
67
86
243
Poverty Indicators by Villages
Housing Conditions
The main objective of the National Human Settlements Development Policy of
2000 was to provide adequate and affordable shelter and sustainable human
settlements for all people in the country. Meanwhile shelter includes sanitation,
drainage and other facilities like energy supply (URT 2006). As a whole the
study revealed that the housing condition in the study villages was still poor
because more than 80% of the floor materials were made of earth/sand. The
same situation was almost reflected in roofing materials where more than 60%
of the household’s houses were roofed by grass and leaves. There is some
improvement in wall materials where a reasonable proportion of houses were
made of baked bricks. Moreover, almost the same worst scenario is observed in
the number of rooms per household where about 52% of households had about 1
to 2 rooms per household. As in all rural societies 96% of households own their
own houses despite the fact that there are of low quality (Plate 8). Hence these
results indicate that pottery making has slightly liberated the people in these
villages in terms of housing conditions. The poor housing condition were also
reflected when the poverty indicators were calculated (See Fig. 6).
62
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
100.0
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
% Porverty
Fig. 6: Quality of House Poverty Indicators
Roofing
Walls
Rooms
Quality of House Poverty
Plate 8: A Poor House in Lumbila Village and a Modern House in Lumbila Village
Water Supply and Sanitation
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial and
community organizations or by individuals usually by a system of pumps and
pipes (World Bank 2006). In terms of water supply all households fetch water
from the lake which is also the major area for bathing, washing clothes and
watering livestock. Moreover, since all the villages lie along the shore of Lake
Nyasa the time used to the main source of water ranges between 10 minutes to
30 minutes. The most common type of toilet is the pit latrine but there are still
some households which use the lake and neighbours’ toilets. Also, the most
common waste disposal is the traditional pit and others just throw solid wastes
63
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
in the household compound or other places near the compound especially the
lake which is hazardous to the health of the people (See Table 5).
Table 5: Distance to Water Supply, Type of Toilets and Waste Disposal
Distance to Water supply
VILLAGES
TOTAL
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
1-10 minutes
75.9
54.6
52.4
61.6
11-20 minutes
10.3
22.7
21.4
17.7
21-30 minutes
10.3
22.7
26.2
19.4
31+ minutes
3.5
0.0
0.0
1.3
N
90
67
86
243
Type of Toilets
Pit toilet
100.0
83.6
98.8
95.1
Bush/lake
0.0
13.4
0.0
3.7
Neighbors toilet
0.0
3.0
1.2
1.2
N
90
67
86
243
Type of Waste Disposal
Traditional pit
61.1
56.7
46.5
54.7
Household compound
36.7
38.8
52.3
42.8
Outside household
2.2
4.5
1.2
2.5
N
90
67
86
243
Household Ownerships of Assets
Asset ownership is one of the major indicators of poverty in the society. Usually
rich households own property wealth of several billions of money while poor
households own simple tools used to sustain their livelihoods (Mbonile et al.
2016). The results in the study villages indicated that in economically better
villages like Lumbila a large proportion of households owned canoes and
fishnets which are basic instruments in subsistence fishing (See Plate 9).
Besides this most households own radios which help them to communicate with
the rest of the world. The other important consumer asset in the modern world is
the mobile phone which despite the lack of electricity in most households they
are charged in mission centres which have electricity or at Matema suburban
area where there is electricity or generators The calculation of asset poverty
indicators showed significant differentials among the three villages which
depended more on how they benefit from pottery industry. In terms of
production asset ownership poverty indicator Lumbila and Nsele Villages were
better off than Nkanda Village. When it comes to consumer asset ownership
poverty indicator Lumbila Village was better off than Nkanda and Nsele
64
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
Villages. Hence the overall poverty indicator showed that Lumbila Village was
a bit better than Nkanda and Nsele Villages which may be the result of leading
in pottery production and marketing (See Fig. 7).
30
40
50
60
70
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
Poverty inde x (%)
Fig.7: Asset Ownership Poververty Indictors by Village
Production assets
Consumer assets
Asset Ownership Poverty
Plate 9: Fish Trap Hanged in a Mango Tree and Small Canoes Parked Along the
Lake Shore
Source of Energy of the Household
The main objective of any power supply policy is to reduce the over-
dependency of households on traditional natural power supply resources like
firewood which have proved to be detrimental to the environment (URT 2003;
Mbonile et al 2016). As in all rural areas the main source of cooking energy is
firewood (100%) and the major source of lighting energy is kerosene and just a
few households used motor vehicles batteries as sources of lighting energy. On
the other hand, the change to renewable energy like solar will take several years
because of lack of capital for installation of solar panels. An attempt to put solar
energy was made at Lumbila Catholic Mission was abandoned several years
ago. A calculation of improved energy utilization by village clearly indicated
65
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
nearly all the villages have not shitted away from firewood as the main source
of energy for cooking and kerosene as the main source of lighting energy and
the overall index on energy is above 80% in all the villages (See Fig.8)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
Poverty index (%)
Fig.8: Improved Energy Poverty Indicators by Village
Cooking
Lighting
Improved Energy Poverty
Source of Income of Households
Pass et. al. (1988) in Collins Dictionary of Economics defines income as the
flow of returns from factors of production like farming, wages, rent and interests
over a period of time. Hence in the case of the study income was estimated from
sales of crops, fishing, pottery and remittances which were the major sources of
income in rural areas. As a whole the results of the study indicated that the main
source of income in Lumbila and Nkanda Villages which contributed about 77%
in Lumbila Village and about 83% in Nkanda Village was pottery. This because
these villages are more endowed with resources of pottery making industry in
the whole of Ludewa District and they can only compete with Ikombe Village in
Kyela District Nonetheless, the main contributor of household income in Nsele
Village was crops which contributed about 91% of the total income earned for
this village ferries pottery raw materials by using canoes from neighbouring
villages like Lumbila.
On the other hand, despite these earnings from pottery and other sources of
income it shows that these villages were still poor because the majority earned
an average income lying between Tshs 1-20,000/= per month. The contribution
of petty business and fishing to the overall income was low. On the other hand,
66
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
the per capita income of Lumbila Village (Tshs 43,350/=) (Tshs 560,000/= per
annum) is higher than that of Nkanda (Tshs 22,275/= (Tshs 267,290/= per
annum) and Nsele (Tshs 29,709/= (Tshs 356,508/” per annum) because it has a
high component of employed workers in primary and secondary schools.
Moreover, as an indicator of poverty most of the income was used in buying
food especially beans and bananas from Matema market. A small proportion of
income was used in paying social services like buying medicine and school fees
and the rest is used for buying liquor especially local beer called komoni. The
overall calculation of income poverty indicators have shown that Lumbila with
a primary school, secondary and a mission centre have low occupational poverty
and income poverty when compared to Nkanda and Nsele Villages (See Fig .9 )
70
75
80
85
90
95
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
Poverty index (%)
Fig. 9: Income Poverty Indicators by Village
Occupational poverty
Per-capital Income Pover ty
Income poverty
0
50
100
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
Poverty Index (% )
Fig. 10: Occupational Poverty Indicators by Village
Fishing
Pottery
Petty business
Crops
Employment
When the calculation of occupational poverty indicators was done it indicated
more squid relations by occupation because of gender specialization in fishing
which is largely male dominated and pottery which is largely female dominated
67
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
and there was no significant differentials between villages in terms of petty
business and crop production (see Fig. 10).
Crop Production and Marketing in the Study Villages
Food is any substance or materials that are consumed to provide nutritional
support for the body or for pleasure. It usually originates from plants and
animals. More often it contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats,
proteins, vitamins, or minerals. It is digested and assimilated by an organisms to
produce energy, stimulate growth and maintain life (Katz 2003; Mungongo
1998). Unlike other rural areas in Tanzania the study villages lack adequate
traditional cash crops like cocoa and cashew nuts which are grown in
neighbouring districts like Kyela which make them depend solely on food crops
like maize and cassava which are inadequate in sustaining the livelihoods of the
Kisi. The marketing of these crops depends on local vendors who collect these
crops and sell them in Matema market. There are few foreign vendors who
manage to sell these commodities in Malawi which has better market than Kyela
District. On the other hand, the smooth marketing of these crops is hindered by
the long distance to market which consumes a reasonable amount as transport
cost. Another problem is the distance to the market where people use more than
three hours to reach the markets (Plate 10).
As indicated in Fig. 12 market accessibility is the biggest problem faced by
nearly all villages along the shore of Lake Nyasa because the lake is bounded by
very steep slopes which allow very little chance for the construction of
infrastructure like roads. The population has to rely wholly on boats which ply
along the lake. This problem has compelled villages like Lumbila and Nkanda
to buy their own boats or hire them from the Mission or in Matema Beach
which are relatively expansive. As result the poverty indicator is very high in all
aspects like availability, distance to market and time used to the market. This
gives an overall poverty indicator of more than 80% which is very high
compared to villages like Ikombe in Kyela district which have a similar pottery
industry
68
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
Poverty index (%)
Fig.12 : Market Accessibililiy Poverty Indicators by Village
Availability
Distance
Time
Market Accessibility Poverty
Plate 10: Drying Cassava in a Stall Ready for Pounding into Flour
Food and Health Vulnerability of Study Villages
Food security refers to the availability of food in a household or community and
a household is considered food secure when its household members do not live
in hunger or fear of starvation (Mbonile et al 2010). Globally it is estimated that
in 2010 around 900 million people were chronically hungry due to extreme
poverty while up to 2 billion people had food insecurity intermittently due to
varying degrees of poverty. Meanwhile food insecurity has been described as a
condition in which people lack basic food intake to provide them with the
energy and nutrients for fully productive lives (FAO 2003). The food security
indicators show that most villages had food insecurity which ranges between 1
to 3 months especially during crop planting seasons between November and
January every year. Nonetheless, there were some households which had
69
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
chronic food insecurity ranging between 5 to 11+ months. This problem is
further aggravated by the scarcity of land along the shores of Lake Nyasa whose
slopes rise abruptly from the lake. Open spaces are available only along the
mouths of rivers and a few lake inlets. This food insecurity is clearly reflected in
the number of meals taken by households where the majority of households take
two meals instead of three meals a day. Nonetheless, the households are better
in terms of fish as a source of protein because of the presence of the lake but
this source is threatened by the dwindling of several fish species due to the
salinization of the lake. On the other hand, as in all coastal areas with high
morbidity, most households suffer from malaria and other infectious diseases
such as cholera, HIV/AIDS, measles and polio. In terms of health services most
villages have dispensaries although they are well known for lack of essential
services like medicine. Another health vulnerability is the presence of
population with disabilities and these include the dump, blind, deaf, mentally
retarded, albino and cripples. A calculation of Food security poverty indicators
as shown in Fig. 13 indicated that all villages experienced food insecurity
because of poor land for agriculture and dwindling fish supply due to
overfishing and lake water pollution with time. This is also reflected in the
number meals taken per day by households.
0
20
40
60
80
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
Poverty index (%)
Fig. 13: Food Security Poverty Indicators by Village
Food insecurity periods
Number of meals
Food security poverty
70
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
In terms of health poverty indicators it shows low incidences of diseases due to
high intervention of treated mosquito nets and the presence of dispensaries in
nearly all the villages. Nonetheless, there is a low proportion of disabled people
in the villages (See Fig. 14).
0
50
100
150
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
Poverty Index (%)
Fig. 14: Healthy Poverty Indicators by Village
Incidence of disease
Facility Accessibility
Disability
Healthy Porverty
Environmental Degradation Vulnerability in the Study Villages
The linkage between population, environment and natural resources exploitation
can be shown by the association between consumption, and technology used by
the people in whatever activity which utilizes these resources (DTU/UNFPA
2003). The results of the study indicated that the villages making pottery face
several environmental degradation problems which included soil erosion due to
cultivation in slopes exceeding 60 degrees and face other problems like
deforestation (21%), water pollution of both rivers and lakes (12%). When it
comes to the solution of land degradation several suggestions were given which
included afforestation, out-migration and use of terraces (ridges in steep slopes)
and use of fertilizers (See Table 6)
Table 6: Environmental Degradation Vulnerability of Study Villages
Type of Environmental
Degradation
VILLAGES
TOTAL
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
Soil erosion
61.1
70.1
60.5
63.4
Deforestation
15.6
20.9
26.7
21.0
Water pollution
21.1
3.0
9.3
11.9
Others
2.2
6.0
3.5
3.7
N
90
67
86
243
Solution to environmental degradation
None
33.3
38.8
37.2
36.2
71
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
Type of Environmental
Degradation
VILLAGES
TOTAL
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
Afforestation
13.4
9.0
15.1
12.8
Out-migration
2.2
2.2
3.5
2.9
Use of terraces
50.0
47.8
43.1
46.9
Use of fertilizers
1.1
1.5
1.2
1.2
N
90
67
86
243
Overall Poverty Indicators
The calculation of overall poverty indicator is summarized in Figs 15 and 16.
Overall Lumbila Village with intensive production of pottery and better
transport for pottery has lower poverty index (49%) compared to Nkanda
Village which has access to pottery raw materials (51.5%) and Nsele (53.9%)
which is located very far from the pottery raw materials. As far as individual
indicators were concerned the quality of housing in most of these villages is
poor. This is also reflected in improved energy resources, improved water
access, sanitation and health and asset ownership. As far as income poverty is
concerned Lumbila Village is better off than other villages because of
occupation diversification. The major hindrance in poverty alleviation of these
villages is the poor access to the market. Pottery being a fragile commodity
requires very efficient and reliable transport which is lacking in these villages.
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
Poerty index (%)
Fig.15: Overall poverty by Village
72
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
0
20
40
60
80
100
Lumbila
Nkanda
Nsele
Poverty Index (% )
FIg. 16: Poverty Indicator Status by Village
Quality of House
House ownership
Water Access
Sanitation
Asset Ownership
Energy source
Income poverty
Market Acc essibility
Conclusion
The calculation of various indicators of poverty and their relationship to pottery
industry indicated that pottery has some impact on poverty alleviation among
the Kisi in Ludewa District. This is verified by the type of housing which the
people own whereby people involved in pottery industry had slightly better
housing. The same was applied to income poverty where villages like Lumbila
and Nkanda had a higher per capita income when compared to Nsele Village
which depends more on crop marketing than pottery. In terms of household
asset ownership there were small differentials among the villages and this was
also reflected on the utilization of improved power, health and sanitation. The
main bottleneck in the alleviation of poverty among the Kisi people was lack of
reliable inland transport which was hindered by steep slopes close to the Lake
and unreliable motorboats which ply along the lake. Some villages like Lumbila
have managed to purchase a boat but in the case of Nkanda due to management
problems the boat has been abandoned. The overall indicator shows that
Lumbila village with more diversified economy had higher per capita income
than the other villages. Besides this the villages were vulnerable to
environmental degradation and disasters related to health.
Acknowledgement
The basic report on Kisi Pottery was funded by Research for Poverty
Alleviation (REPOA)
References
Babbie, E. (2001) The Practice of Social Research 9th Edition, Wadsworth
Thomson Learning, Spain.
Berry, L (1971) Tanzania in Maps, Longman, London.
73
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
Bhatnagar, P.S., Rai, S (2006) Alleviating Poverty at the Grassroots through
Export Development: A Case Study of the Blue Pottery, Jaipur, India
(intracen.org/wedf/ef2006/Global-Debate/---Bhatnagar-Paper PDF Date
16Th June 2017).
Burch, T.K (1979) Household and Family Demography: a Bibliographic Essay,
Population Index, pp. 173-95.
Chami, F (2001) Narosura Pottery from the Southern Coast of Tanzania, First
Incontroversible Coastal Later Stone Age Pottery, Archeology Unit,
History Department , University of Dar es Salaam. Tanzania.
Chuwa, A. A (2010) The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Fertility in Kyela District,
Tanzania The Open University of Tanzania PhD Thesis (unpublished).
Demographic Training Unit and United Nations Fund for Population (2003)
Integration of Population Variables in Development Planning,
University of Dar es Salaam Press, Dar es Salaam.
DFD (2008) Sustainable Livelihood Guidance Sheets
http:www.livelihoods.org./info/guidance_sheets_pdfs (Accessed 23
January 2018)
DAWN Group of Newspapers 2005 (http:/www.dawn.com
2002/04/local19html) (Accessed 21ST May 2018).
Disdale, A. (1986), Pottery Science: Processes, Material and Products, Ellis
Horwood Limited. New York.
Ellis, F. (1998) Household Strategies and Rural Development Diversification,
Journal of Development Studies, 35 (1) pp. 1-38.
Ellis, F., Harris, N. (2004) New Thinking about Urban and Rural Development,
Paper for DFID Sustainable Development Retreat, University of
Surrey, Guildford,
[http:www.livelihood.org/hot_topics/UrbanRural.htm]
Gould, W.T.S, (1993) People and Education in the Third World, Longman
Scientific and Technical, New York.
Gulliver. P.H. (1955) Labour Migration in a Rural Economy: A Study of the
Ngoni and Ndendeule of Southern Tanganyika, East African Institute of
Research, Kampala.
Johnston, R.J., Gregory, D., Pratt, G., Watts, M. (2000) The Dictionary of
Human Geography, Oxford, Blackwell Publishers.
Katz, S. (2003) The Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, Scriber, New York
74
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
Kuznets, S.(1978) Size and Age Structure of Family Households: Exploratory
Comparisons, Population and Development Review, 4 pp. 187-223.
Ludewa District Annual Report November 2007
Ludewa District Annual Report November 2008
Ludewa District Annual Report November 2009
Ludewa District Annual Report November 2010
Ludewa District Annual Report November 2017
Lwoga, C.M.F. (1985) Seasonal Labour Migration in Tanzania: Ludewa
District, in Standing, G.(ed.) Labour Circulation and the Labour
Process, Croom Helm, London, pp. 120-154..
Lwoga, C.M.F. (1989) From Long-term to Seasonal Labour Migration in Iringa
Region, Tanzania: A legacy of Colonial Forced Labour System, in
Zegeye, A., Ishumo, E. (eds.) Forced Labour and Migration: Patterns
of Movements within Africa, Hans Zell Publications, London.
Maliyamkono, I.L., Bagachwa, M.S.D (1990) The Second Economy in
Tanzania, James Curry, London.
Mbonile, M.J., 1994: Trading Centres and Development in a Remote District,
Tanzania Review of African Political Economy Journal, Vol.21, No 59, 8-
21.
Mbonile, M.J., 1995: Structural adjustment and rural development in Tanzania:
The case of Makete District, in Simon, D., Spengen, W., Dixon, C.,
Naarman, A., (eds.), Structurally Adjusted Africa: Poverty, Debt and
Basic needs, Pluto Presss 136-158.
Mbonile, M.J (1996) Towards Breaking the Vicious Circle of Labour Migration,
Utafiti Journal, 3, 1996 pp 91-109.
Mbonile, M.J (2005) Migration and intensification of water conflicts in the
Pangani Basin, Tanzania, Habitat International, Vol.29(1) 51-67.
Mbonile, M.J. (2008) Bamboo Trade and Poverty Alleviation in Ileje District,
Tanzania, Research on Poverty Alleviation, Research Report 08.3. .
Mbonile, M.J, Haule, E (2011) The Impact of Pottery In Breaking the Vicious
Cyle of Poverty among Kisi Households in Ludewa District Tanzania,
Research for Povery Alleviation Report 2011.
75
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
Mbonile, M.J, Sokoni, C. H, Mkindi A, Mwanukuzi, P (2016) Mapping
Poverty, Vulnerability and Resource Rights in Tanzania, Journal of the
Geographical Association of Tanzania, Vol.37 pp. 1-24
Mihanjo, E (2003) From Fishing to Pottery, Organization of Social Science
Research in Eastern and Southern Africa Report.
Mihanjo, E (2011) Rural Pottery Enterprises in Making Ends Meet: Local
Socio-technological Transformations in the South; Based on case
studies from Tanzania. Aalborg: Department of Development and
Planing, Aalborg University.
Mung’ong’o, C.G (1998) Agriculture Non-farm Activities and the Resurgence
of Out-migration in Njombe District, Tanzania African Studies, Leiden,
The Netherlands.
Mteti, S. H. (2015). Engendering the History of Pottery Industry in Tanzania:
Comparative Study on the Kisi and Pare, 1930 – 2000. PhD Thesis
Submitted for the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of
Philosophy, University of Dar es Salaam
Mteti S.H (2016) Engendering Pottery Production and Distribution Processes
among the Kisi and Pare of Tanzania, International Journal of Gender
and Women’s Studies December2016, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 127-141 URL:
https://doi.org/10.15640/ijgws.v4n2p11 ( Accessed 29th January 2018)
Namsifuel, N (2007) A Tanzanian Extraordinary African Arts Spring, Barbara
Thomson Magazine
Nindi, S. (2007). Changing Livelihood and the Environment along Lake Nyasa,
Tanzania. Africa Study Monograph Suppl. 36: 71 – 93.
Omary, B. (1975) Pottery Production and Marketing 1936-1975: Usangi Pare
Case Study (unpublished) M.A. Thesis, University of Dar es Salaam.
Pass C, Lowess, B, Davies P (1998) Collins Dictionary of Econmics,
London/Glasgow.
SADC/GEF (2007) Water Quality Report for SADC/ GEF Lake Malawi/Nyasa
Biodiversity Conservation Project
(http://www.uwm.ed/_hbootma/Lake%20mala).
Sokoine University of Agriculture (2006) Practical Manual No. 4 Baobab
Adonansia digitata: The Fruit for Future Project, Field Manual for
Extension Workers and Framers, DFD, PRP, IPGR.
76
Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania
Thomson, J. (1881) To Central African Lakes and Back, Vol. I., Sampson Low,
1881, pp. 258-263.United Nations Development Programme
(2007/2008) Human Development Report, United Nations, New York
University of Dar es Salaam, United Nations, (1993) Population, Environment
and Development, United Nations, New York
United Republic of Tanzania, (2002), 2002 Population and Housing Census
Vol. V, National Bureau of Statistics, Dar es Salaam
United Republic of Tanzania, (2006) Analytical Report, Vol. 10, National
Bureau of Statistics, Dar es Salaam.
Waane, S.A 1979: The Distribution of Iron Age Pottery in East Africa: An
Ethnoarchaelogical Approach PhD. Thesis, University of Illinois.
World Bank 2006: Water, Electricity and the Poor. Who Benefits from Utility
Subsidies?, p.21
