FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

San Diego Nonprofit Campaigns to Raise $10,000 to Fight Undernutrition in Tanzania

Plant With Purpose is working to move farming families From Poverty to Plenty this spring. SAN DIEGOApril 8, 2014Plant With Purpose, a San Diego-based nonprofit that improves livelihoods of poor families in the developing world, is campaigning to raise $10,000 to fight undernutrition in Tanzania. The From Poverty to Plenty campaign will impact an estimated 1,200 Tanzanians by planting 200 family gardens in the countrys rural north. Launched on the first day of spring, the campaign has already raised one-fifth of the overall goal. A $50 donation provides training and resources for each garden. Plant With Purpose focuses on improved vegetable gardens because they maximize food production and add key nutrients to the typical Tanzanian diet. In a country where 42% of children under five are undernourished, these gardens are combating hunger. Plant With Purpose has seen drastic multiplication in crop yield by implementing an agricultural technique known as double-dug gardening, which increases soil quality, soil moisture, and surface area. According to the organizations tracking statistic, double-dug gardens grow 64% more vegetables than standard flatbed plots. Not only do double-dugs boost yield, but they also diversify diet. Farmers co-plant different crops to make these gardens nutrient-rich, adding vegetables such as carrots, tomatoes, kale, and other leafy greens to staple crops of corn and plantains. Plant With Purpose Director of Field Operations John Mitchell shares how these gardens are an asset to poor rural families. Double-dug gardens grow more than twice the vegetables of regular plots. Thats an amazing increase, and its allowing parents to watch their kids grow up healthy, he explains. According to Mitchell, Plant With Purposes implementation of the double-dug garden technique produces a ripple effect. Because the gardens yield larger harvests, farming families receive adequate nutrition and can even sell their surplus crop at local markets. With extra cash earned from selling vegetables, families are sending their children to school and starting small businesses, improving overall quality of life. Tanzania Program Director Christi Huizenga adds, Plant With Purpose trains rural farming families how to save money and start small businesses. This really helps communities because small businesses mean a more diversified economy. Theres less pressure on agriculture to provide everything. The best part is that Tanzanian families who go through our agriculture, savings-and-loan, and entrepreneurship training, teach their neighbors what they learn. It multiplies the impact were making. Since 2012 Plant With Purpose has partnered with 3,728 households to plant double-dug gardens in Tanzania, impacting the lives of an estimated 20,000 individuals. These partnering farmers recently created a new organics label under the participatory guarantee system (PGS) to increase profits and expand market access for their produce. To learn more or plant a garden through Plant With Purpose, visit plantwithpurpose.org/from-poverty-to-plenty. ###

About Plant With Purpose Plant With Purpose (plantwithpurpose.org) is an international development organization that transforms lives in rural areas where poverty is caused by deforestation. For 30 years, Plant With Purpose has provided lasting solutions to rural poverty through a community development approach that integrates reforestation, sustainable agriculture programs, economic opportunity through microfinance, and local leadership development. Plant With Purpose currently works in more than 325 communities in six countries: Burundi, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, Tanzania, and Thailand. The organization has planted over 11 million trees worldwide. For interviews, inquiries, or additional information on Plant With Purpose, including videos or photos, please contact Becky Rosaler. Contact: Becky Rosaler Marketing Coordinator (800) 633-5319 Office (760) 650-2819 Cell becky@plantwithpurpose.org plantwithpurpose.org