TANZANIA (MEATU) AGRIBUSINESS

For more information:

Jonathan Kifunda Program Area Manager Tanzania

PO-Northern Tanzania Meatu Majengo Street, Mwanhunzi P.O.Box 156 Meatu-Shinyanga, Mwanhunzi Tanzania Office: +255 28 279 5052 Mobile: +255 786 254 200 E-mail: jonathan.kifunda@icsafrica.org Skype: jonathan.kifunda

Marije Tanis Social Business Developer

Smallepad 32 3811 MG Amersfoort The Netherlands Office: + 31 33 303 0250 Mobile: + 316 14 53 55 20 E-mail: marije.tanis@ics.nl Skype: marije.tanis

Check our website for all our activities: www.ics.nl

TANZANIA (MEATU) AGRIBUSINESS

ICS (Investing in Children and their Societies) strives towards a better future for children in rural Africa and Asia. Through its projects and programs, it builds on a sustainable growth in welfare and wellbeing by simultaneously investing in economic and social opportunities and needs. The central building blocks of the work of ICS are social business, child protection and skillful parenting. Agribusiness Meatu Inhabitants of Meatu (Tanzania) depend on rain-fed farming as the main economic activity for livelihood. To boost cereal crop and sunflower production ICS implements its agribusiness project in the region, which will contribute towards food security and increased income generation at household level as well as the improvement of the living standard of the community. The agribusiness projects strategy is to improve agriculture production and productivity by providing knowledge on good farming through training practices and by supporting the accessibility of the improved farm inputs to farmers. Sensitisation on storage of farm produce after harvest and training of proper post-harvest handling of the harvests has been an important area of intervention to increase value of crops and the linking of farmers to input suppliers and markets. In collaboration with the government in its agriculture department, several agricultural technical trainings are being given to the farmers. In 2012, 210 farmers received technical agriculture trainings and were provided with improved farm inputs on credit. According to the testimony from most of the farmers supported in 2011 the productivity increased from 5bags of maize that were previously produced in an acre to 15 bags. ICS capacitated Community Based Organisations (CBOs) with capital to buy produce during harvesting time when the prices are low and the CBOs sell back the same produce to their communities during food shortage. This ensures food security in the community. Farmer groups To ensure good coverage of farmers, ICS has been working with farmer groups. The selection of groups to be involved in the project is done carefully and strategically by ICS in collaboration with CBOs by identifying potential groups that exist in the community or by initiating new groups. The preferred number of farmers per group is 30 farmers. A group with 30 farmers is managed by one TOT (Training of Trainers). The TOT is trained to train the farmers on new farming techniques and is supported to lead the group and cultivate one acre model farm (used as learning field for other farmers) that will be used during farm field schools by the farmers. The presence of TOTs in different areas in the community has led to increased peer learning and, as a result, many new farmer groups are applying to be recruited in the project. In the year 2011 the number of farmers increased from 210 to 1002 farmers in 2012.

Effect of increased income on social change Due to the increased agriculture productivity, proper post-harvest handling and selling of surplus in the right time, most agribusiness beneficiaries have increased their income. The increased income is reflected in social improvement and improvement of their living standard. Mama Ngwamba Ntelemko and her husband are agribusiness farmers from Lingeka CBO that have benefited from the new farming techniques. As a result, their income has increased and the couple managed to construct a modern house (iron sheet roofed house with three rooms) and shift from their small grass thatched old hut ( tembe). Mrs Ngwamba says: My husband and I built this new house and bought two tables and chairs and a bed with a mattress at a cost of Tshs. 660,000, and we have expanded our farm to 2.5 acres. We believe that this new way of farming really can improve