In Tanzania we are currently implementing a project called Supporting Self-employment in Agriculture through Building Practical Skills. Its main objective is to increase incomes of small farmers from agricultural activity which we are trying to reach through building practical skills in planting apples. The project takes place in Iringa and Njombe regions which have a high number of small farmers with low income and suitable climatic conditions for planting apple trees at the same time. The specific objective of the project is to secure and increase a sustainable income of farmers by growing apples while strengthening their food security.
The first planned outcome of the project is training farmers in apple growing. The aim is to train 700 farmers over two years. The second planned outcome is establishing apple orchards for farmers and our target is to plant 10,000 trees of improved varieties. The third planned outcome is creation of a supply chain for apples grown by the trained farmers and we set an ambitious target to buy 50,000 kg of apples from farmers.
The project is implemented in cooperation with a social enterprise TamuTamu Tanzania from the 1st of September 2020 until the 31st of August 2022 and is financially supported by SlovakAid with a donation as high as 199,965 EUR.
We managed to reach good number of results already in the first year of the project. Thanks to the trainings which started in November 2020 we trained 500 farmers from Iringa and Njombe regions who gained valuable skills in growing apples. Training covered topics such as planting trees, correct way of tying crown branches, fertilization, eco-friendly pest solutions for trees using chilli, garlic and soap. The trainings take place right in the farmers´ villages. Apart from the farmers we managed to train also 82 agricultural officers – state employees who offer free advisory on planting various crops to local farmers in order to maximise their yields. Thanks to new knowledge and skills, they are now able to spread the message about growing trees and offer a necessary advisory. Thus, within the activity we managed to train all total 582 persons.
To make sure that farmers have access to apple trees we expanded the tree nursery in TamuTamu Tanzania by 5000 trees and planted 5893 trees in the farmers´ orchards. Two trainers and terrain workers regularly monitor the farmers and offer them necessary advisory on proper care of trees.
Farmers need market for their apples and therefore, business partnerships with companies were created. Our project partner has approximately 50 different customers for apples, mainly fruit and vegetable stores in Dodoma and Arusha. So far we managed to purchase 1,000 kg of apples from the farmers within this project.
Do you like our project in Tanzania? Do not hesitate to support it via:
- Donation to our account
IBAN: SK5511000000002626853119
Variable code: 2111036034
- QR code
- YourCause Global Good Network
SAVIO o.z., NPP-12820573, DESIGNATION: Tanzania
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