Equipping the farmers of the future with practical skills

Agricultural and Environmental Education Project

Over 70% of Tanzanians live in rural areas and rely on agriculture for their income. Growing crops and keeping livestock are central to the Tanzanian economy.

However traditional teaching methods do not give children the opportunity to learn practical agricultural skills at school.  With so many communities reliant on livestock and crop production FARM-Africa is working with the Tanzanian Government to change this.  We are training teachers in ‘discovery learning’ which focuses on practical teaching, and equipping schools with the seeds, tools, equipment and livestock.  This is giving pupils the opportunity to learn practical farming skills that they can take home and share with their families.

It is hoped that the benefits and increased productivity that can be seen in the wider community will encourage school attendance, particularly amongst pastoralist communities where there are high levels of absenteeism. 

How are communities benefiting?

By teaching pastoralist children agriculture skills, our work extends beyond the classroom. The Agricultural and Environmental Education Project enables children to take home new knowledge and pass it on to their communities.

• Teachers are being trained in ‘discovery learning’ so that they are better equipped to offer practical, interactive learning to pupils.
• Children are discovering how to care for chickens, what to feed them to increase egg production, simple drip feed irrigation techniques and crop cultivation by keeping chickens, setting up tree nurseries and growing crops and vegetables.
• Home working groups set up with help from FARM-Africa are just one way that children are sharing their new found expertise with their families.
• Energy - saving stoves are being loaned to families by schools so that they can demonstrate the benefits to their friends and neighbours, all contributing in a reduction in demand for firewood.
• Schools benefit from the crops children grow and the eggs their chickens lay – they are either the basis for nutritious school lunches or sold to cover costs like feeding the chickens.
• Parents are better able to see the practical benefits of school meaning attendance rates rise and children have better long term prospects.
• We’re developing training materials and building a model of good-practice. The Tanzanian Government and other organisations can then use our knowledge and expertise to reach many more teachers, schools and pupils.

Who are we helping?

We are working in 24 primary schools with at least 13,500 pupils, teachers, parents and school administrators.

Project partners

FARM-Africa is working together with the district councils of Babati and Hanang districts, the Pamoja Trust, Maarifa ni Ufunguo, Monduli Teacher Training College, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency and the Big Lottery Fund.

Equipping the farmers of the future with practical skills

Agricultural and Environmental Education Project

Most children in Tanzania will grow up to be farmers of some sort – growing crops, keeping livestock, or both. It is essential that schools teach children practical farming skills and knowledge. FARM-Africa’s Agricultural and Environmental Education Project supports primary schools to offer engaging, hands-on agriculture lessons.

Lessons build a new generation of capable farmers, and also benefit the wider community as well. Children take home and share the lessons they learn, enabling families and communities to adopt improved farming practices. The new skills lead to healthier livestock and better yields, which in turn leads to increasing incomes.

Omary's story

Omary is a primary school pupil who lives in a small village in north-east Tanzania. Like the others in the village, Omary and his family live off the land around them. They keep a few animals and try to grow food to eat on a small plot of land.

Until recently, Omary and his family were doing their best to make a living from the land without any training in practical farming and livestock care. Since Omary had the opportunity to learn practical skills such as irrigation, the best way to plant seeds and which trees to use to shield the crops from the sun he has changed all of this. Omary has shared all he learnt with his family, and as a result they are now producing enough food to eat, as well some to sell to buy household essentials.

Omary has also been learning at school about the benefits of energy-saving stoves. Not only do they produce less harmful fumes for the family to breathe in, but they also need less firewood to fuel them. Omary is using this knowledge to educate the wider community. FARM-Africa has loaned Omary’s family an energy-saving stove so that they can show the whole village all the benefits that they bring.

Working Papers

Scaling-up Success - FARM-Africa's new strategy for development
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