(3 minutes read)
· Oxfam Tanzania, a non-governmental and no-profit organization carrying out poverty alleviation efforts across the world including Tanzania has started to provide modern gear to the salt miners at the Lake Balang’da.
· Salt harvesting methods have been poor, leading to low productivity and health hazards to the workers.
Oxfam Tanzania, a non-governmental and no-profit organization carrying out poverty alleviation efforts across the world including Tanzania has started to provide modern gear to the salt miners at the Lake Balang’da. Salt harvesting methods have been poor, leading to low productivity and health hazards to the workers.
Oxfam has a good track record of carrying out humanitarian works in Tanzania. Protective gears and equipment were given to 77 youths. They include gum boots, helmets, sun goggles, overalls and ox carts to improve their work.
The beneficiaries are from various parts of Manyara region and beyond involved in salt extraction at a saline lake near Mt Hanang. Oxfam also provided processing machines to miners for refining the salt, which has helped them in upping their earnings. Now, a bag of raw salt fetches Sh40,000, which is significantly higher than their earnings earlier.
Roughly, 30,000 tons of raw salt is extracted annually from the 400 hectares of Balang’da salt pan. Close to 3000 people are employed in the region for salt extraction. Though a number of schemes were planned for improving the lives and productivity of the salt pan workers, most of them remained as non starters.
