A chance encounter on a regional flight in Tanzania two years ago led Bishop Benson Bagonza from Karagwe, Tanzania, to Arendal to speak about sustainable agriculture at a UN Week event.
Bishop Bagonza is with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. His seatmate on that flight was Jon-Olav Strand, deputy mayor of Aust-Agder, whose wife is a church minister. The Bishop says the two hit it off and started talking.
“He asked me, ‘what is the biggest challenge facing your church’ and I replied: climate change,” says Bagonza, whose region in the northwest of Tanzania borders Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. “I think he was expecting something different.”
Bagonza went on to explain that 90 per cent of the people in his church are small scale farmers who grow crops such as coffee and bananas. About one million people live in the diocese.
“They rely on God’s grace to bring them rain so they can plant and harvest,” he says. When there is a surplus, they invest in cattle and other livestock which he referred to as “Our bank.”
Increasingly severe droughts have cut into farmers’ ability to count on a surplus. This means not only are they unable to put money in the bank by buying more cattle, but the cattle suffer and die during drought. The number of children in school has dropped because people can’t afford have money for school fees, uniforms or supplies. They can’t fix their houses either due to lack of money.
“I see happiness fading away,” Bagonza says. “People are becoming more vulnerable.”
It’s a “vicious circle” that makes him worry about the future. But as he explained to Jon-Olav Strand on that fight two years ago, he and the community are taking action.
Bagonza said a new agricultural college will open next year, on 29 October 2017 to be precise. Why that date?
“It’s the 500th anniversary of Luther’s revolution,” he replies.
The Karagwe University College will draw 300 students from around Tanzania and other nearby countries. It is being financed through a combination of government contributions and private fundraising. Much of the support comes from people in the diocese, Bagonza says.
He added that it’s not going to be a typical college course. “The first experience will be in a village.” Students will go work for a few weeks to learn first-hand what small scale farming is all about. The school has about 250 hectares of land but no farm equipment. And the buildings still lack furniture. So the fundraising quest continues.
When Jon-Olav Strand invited him to take part in the annual International Days in Arendal, the Bishop flew in to talk about sustainable agriculture and meet people in Arendal, Kristiansand, Risør and Oslo. He carries with him the positive message that the people in his congregation are not passive victims of climate change.
That’s why the new college will focus on teaching adaptive agriculture, skills that are vital to the future of farmers in Africa’s changing environment. Bishop Bagonza hopes to create a think tank in the school that will turn out new ideas and new innovations as the region’s climate continues to change.
Bishop Bagonza’s talk on the Social and Economic Impacts of Climate Change was sponsored by FN-byen, Kilden internasjonale kulturkontor (KIK), Aust-Agder fylkeskommune and GRID-Arendal.
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