TRIP REPORT
AfricaLink and ICRAF in Tanzania
August-September 1997
Jeffrey A. Cochrane, USAID/AfricaLink Advisor
November 13, 1997
The AfricaLink Advisor visited Tanzania as part of an East Africa assessment exercise. The purpose of the exercise was to evaluate the effectiveness of the AfricaLink program in Tanzania, and to discuss with implementing partners and targeted network members their suggestions for improvements.
The International Centre for Research on Agroforestry (ICRAF) has received $340,000 to date to facilitate networking in the region. Funds are to support agricultural research activities generally, broadly defined to include environmental and natural resource management networks. ICRAF was selected by USAID as the implementing institution in East Africa because of its extensive knowledge of key networks in the region, particularly those associated with the Association for the Strengthening of Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA).
Funds for AfricaLink/ICRAF are from the Productive Sector Growth and the Environment (PSGE) Division of USAID’s Sustainable Development (SD) Office. The Office is in the USAID Africa Bureau in Washington. Funds were delivered to ICRAF as part of their ongoing relationship with the USAID Global Bureau.
The ICRAF project manager, Mr. Michael Hailu, was asked to recommend sites in Tanzania to be visited as part of the assessment. He was asked to identify a range of sites, from places where implementation has been quite positive, to problematic sites, along with sites at which could be discussed possible new activities.
Arusha, Friday, September 5, 1997, 9:30am
Peter Xavery
Selian Agricultural Research Institute (SARI)
Economics Section
PO Box 6024
Arusha, Tanzania
Email Sari@habari.co.tz
Tel 255-57-3883
Mr. Xavery was visited by the AfricaLink Advisor some two years ago shortly after their electronic mail system was installed by a team from Gondwana, a Belgian based NGO. This is actually the third email system on site, the others being operated by the CIAT regional bean network project, and by the national bean network project. The CIAT system operates through CGNeT dialup using CC:Mail or comparable software. Both the SARI and national bean network accounts are serviced by an Arusha NGO called Marie using Fidonet.
Some 40 researchers in total are served by these three accounts. The CIAT project provides sufficient support for the CIAT account, but Mr. Xavery noted it is a struggle for SARI to maintain its own account. Per-unit telephone charges are apparently not paid by the government, and staff are therefore required to contribute from personal funds TZSh 500 (about US$1) for each incoming and outgoing email message, and a comparable amount for each outgoing telephone call.
Mr. Xavery expressed significant frustration with the Fidonet software used by the SARI system, noting for example that electronic transfers of mail packets of more than 30,000 bytes are sometimes disconnected in midtransfer, with the complete loss of the mail packet. Upon reconnection, the mail no longer appears on the system. In addition to this software problem, the telephone line itself simply ceases to function from time to time. Also, the line used by the SARI email system is routed through a manual switchboard, which requires a cumbersome though workable login process.
Full Internet services are to be offered by the Marie system in the near future, as well as by a commercial firm called CyberTwiga (see below). To take advantage of this development in Arusha, SARI will likely be required to upgrade its computer from the present Intel286 system in order to use Windows 3.1 or 95. It was suggested to Mr. Xavery that he make this need known to ICRAF for possible assistance under AfricaLink.
Despite problems, email is greatly appreciated by Mr. Xavery. Prior to its installation in May of 1996, the Institute relied heavily on telex and fax, which were quite expensive. There is almost no use of telex or fax now. He noted that the primary uses of email are to plan meetings and occasionally exchange scientific information. The most common correspondence is with international research centers, such as ICRAF. Mr. Xavery is hopeful SARI will be able to participate via email in a new CTA/ISNAR regional information exchange program.
Arusha, Friday, September 5, 1997, 11:00am
Marietta Kailembo
Email Node Sysop
AFAM, Ltd.
AICC Building, Ngorongoro Wing, Room 422D
PO Box 1215
Arusha, Tanzania
Email Support@habari.co.tz
Tel 255-57-4220
A brief visit was made to the offices of AFAM Ltd, formerly known as MARIE. Ms. Kailembo demonstrated the new equipment for full Internet services in the final stages of installation and testing. These included a VSAT satellite dish on the roof, a transceiver, and a router linked to a server. Ms. Kailembo indicated that communications has been established with the satellite to the Internet service link in London called Wolfnet.
Services should be available to consumers by the end of September once the router and server are properly configured. [Note: as of this writing, service is still not available.] Unlimited email will be available at $50 per month. Full Internet services will cost $75 per month. Present email via Fidonet are $15 per month plus 10 cents per kilobyte.
Arusha, Friday, September 5, 1997, 1:00pm
Bharat S. Sachdev
Arusha Art Limited
Agent for CyberTwiga
AICC Building, Ngorongoro Wing, Room 422D
PO Box 423
Arusha, Tanzania
Email Arusha-art@cybernet.co.tz
Tel 255-57-3149 (Mobile: 555789)
Fax 255-57-3525
A brief visit was also paid to the Arusha agent of CyberTwiga. Their full-Internet system is now fully operational. Email services are available at $45 per month, while full-Internet services cost $80 per month. Simple installations are free. Installation with training and five follow-up technical support visits are $200. Group or corporate accounts are also available, with 4 email addresses plus full Internet access costing $300 per month with a $250 setup charge. Additional email accounts are $50 per month each.
Mr. Sachdev is quite satisfied with line quality in the Arusha area, pronouncing it quite suitable for PPP connections. There are problems in some neighboring communities, such as Tengeru for example, where there is a manual exchange. For Tengeru, a client could pay a flat fee of TZSh 110,000 plus TZSh 40,000 per month for a direct line to Arusha, in order to improve line quality greatly.
According to Mr. Sachdev, CyberTwiga in Arusha presently has about 50 customers. They are served by a leased line to the main server in Dar es Salaam, operating at present at 28,800 bits per second. He said that with increasing demand, the line bandwidth to Dar can easily be increased. Web support services should be added soon once a newly employed technician is onsite.
Analysis and Conclusions
The visit to Tanzania was part of a regional assessment tour. General analyses and conclusions are contained in a separate synthesis report.
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