DESCRIPTION:
Hajira explains that in the early '90s, the rains were dependable and she could plant rice. In the past 10 years, the rain has been less, to such an extent that in 2005 she stopped growing rice permanently. Although she and her neighbors in Tanga region grow maize and cassava, a recent influx of rats has further degraded their maize yields. The unpredictability and lack of rain also affects the maize harvest. Farmers have responded by cutting mango and coconut trees in order to sell charcoal and wood respectively. Consequences include soil erosion from lost trees, and also less respiration from plants to fall later as rain.