Tanzania
The majority of people in Tanzania live in rural areas where their main economic activity is agriculture. However, around 57% of the households in Tanzania cannot meet their basic food and non-food needs. The Tanzania Human Development Report of 2003 revealed that about 39% of districts are food insecure. Higher and sustained agricultural growth in Tanzania is imperative to reduce overall poverty levels. In addition, a reliance on selling timber products such as firewood and charcoal to supplement insufficient agricultural production is causing deforestation and environmental degradation in many forest areas.
FARM-Africa has been working with communities in Tanzania since 1990. Our teams based in Babati and Hanang work with pastoralist and forest communities in the Manyara region, helping them become self-sufficient. |
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Agricultural and Environmental Education ProjectThis project is bringing agricultural education to rural populations in the districts of Hanang and Babati by equipping teachers to offer practical lessons in livestock care and crop cultivation. |
Northern Tanzania Pastoralist ProjectThis project is helping the communities in Barabaig build stable and prosperous livelihoods and enable them to determine their own future development and adapt successfully to changing external pressures. |
Tanzania Participatory Forest Management ProjectThis project is helping forest communities to build upon their traditional activities like raffia weaving, turning them into profit-making enterprises. |
FARM-Africa is a lead development organisation in Tanzania for its work in three key areas:
Participatory forest management:
With support from FARM-Africa, forest communities are turning their traditional activities such as raffia-weaving and honey production into viable ways to earn a living. No longer reliant on illegally felling trees to make charcoal and firewood to sell, communities are working with local governments to develop formal forest management plans. These plans will ensure that resources are used sustainably and the habitat is protected for future generations.
Smallholder development:
Many people in Tanzania are smallholder farmers, reliant on the crops they grow and the livestock they keep to survive. In partnership with the Tanzanian Government FARM-Africa is helping schools to teach children practical farming skills to share with their families and improve farming practices in the communities where they live.
Pastoralist development:
Our mobile outreach camps enable FARM-Africa to work directly with remote pastoralist communities. Communities can maintain their traditional way of life while diversifying their means to earn sufficient income to support their families. Support to set up savings co-operatives is increasing the availability of credit to invest in small enterprises. At the same time, community leaders are learning about their rights to the land they live on, and how to use this knowledge to secure their communities rights to work this land both now and in the future.
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Over the next three years we will be building on previous participatory forest management work, and sharing our expertise with more communities. In addition, we will be launching a new project to help communities to market sesame products.
