Who Are the Chagga?
The Chagga (also spelled Chaga or Wachagga) are a Bantu-speaking people who inhabit the fertile slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, in northeastern Tanzania. Numbering approximately 2 million, they have developed one of Africa's most intensive and sustainable agricultural systems, the "Chagga home garden" (kihamba), which integrates coffee, bananas, vegetables, and livestock in a multi-story agroforestry system. The Chagga speak Kichagga, a Bantu language with several dialects. Their strategic location on Kilimanjaro's productive slopes, early adoption of coffee cultivation, and emphasis on education have made the Chagga one of Tanzania's most prosperous and influential ethnic groups.
The Kihamba System
The Chagga home garden (kihamba) represents one of Africa's most sophisticated indigenous agricultural systems. Each kihamba is a multi-story garden integrating various crops: tall trees (including coffee and shade trees) form the canopy; bananas occupy the middle story; ground-level crops include beans, taro, and vegetables; livestock (stall-fed cattle) provide manure for fertilization. Water channels (mfongo) direct mountain streams through the gardens. This intensive system supports high population densities while maintaining soil fertility and biodiversity. Coffee, introduced by missionaries in the late 19th century, became the primary cash crop, funding education and development. The kihamba system demonstrates indigenous innovation in sustainable intensification.
Education and Achievement
The Chagga developed a strong emphasis on education from the early colonial period. Coffee income funded schools; missionary education was eagerly embraced. By independence, the Kilimanjaro region had among Tanzania's highest education levels. This educational tradition has produced Chagga professionals in disproportionate numbers—teachers, doctors, lawyers, and administrators. The Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union (KNCU), founded in 1932, was one of Africa's first and most successful African-run cooperatives, processing and marketing coffee. This combination of agricultural innovation and educational achievement gave the Chagga significant influence in colonial and post-independence Tanzania. However, this success also generated some ethnic tension with less advantaged groups.
Contemporary Chagga
Modern Chagga society faces new challenges. Land scarcity has intensified as population grows on finite mountain slopes; inheritance customs that divide land among sons have reduced plot sizes to non-viable fragments. Coffee prices have fluctuated, reducing income reliability. Many young Chagga migrate to urban areas (especially Dar es Salaam and Arusha) for education and employment. Kilimanjaro tourism provides economic opportunities but also brings social changes. Climate change threatens Kilimanjaro's glaciers and water supplies. Despite challenges, the Chagga maintain strong ethnic identity and cultural practices. The kihamba system continues, though modified. Educational achievement remains a cultural value. The Chagga demonstrate both the potential of indigenous agricultural systems and the pressures facing intensive farming communities in the modern era.
References
- Moore, S. F. (1986). Social Facts and Fabrications: "Customary" Law on Kilimanjaro, 1880-1980
- Fernandes, E. C. M. et al. (1984). The Chagga Homegardens: A Multistoried Agroforestry Cropping System
- Setel, P. W. (1999). A Plague of Paradoxes: AIDS, Culture, and Demography in Northern Tanzania