Our work in Tanzania involves strengthening access to local markets through business planning, marketing and establishing collection centers.
Tanzania has large areas of farmland but many of its people live in poverty. With the right tools, the country’s large youth population has the potential to increase jobs, grow the economy, and achieve food security.
Heifer International has worked with families in Tanzania since 1974. Our work focuses on increasing local farmers’ standard of living through the dairy and poultry value chains.
We distribute livestock to local farming families, but a large part of our work involves strengthening access to local markets through business planning, marketing, and establishing milk and chicken collection centers.
We have helped set up 26 milk collection centers in Zanzibar and the Southern Highlands, connecting thousands of dairy farmers to formal markets for the first time. We are also investing in a milk processing plant, together with other partners, so farmers can reduce waste and further increase incomes with value-addition products.
Through the hub system, farmers can also access a network of community agro-vet entrepreneurs — people from their local area, who receive training to provide basic veterinary care, at a small cost to the farmer. This increases the support local farmers receive so they can keep their livestock fit and healthy.
More than 852,000 families supported by our work.
At our network of farmer field schools, smallholder farmers learn how to construct chicken sheds from locally available resources that help keep their birds healthy.
Our East Africa Youth Inclusion Program is connecting 25,000 youths in Tanzania and Uganda to employment and enterprise development opportunities. Youth receive specialized vocational training, as well as support and connections to either find themselves a job or start their own business. As their businesses grow, they are also able to access financial services.
Through our eco-villages network, we are supporting farming families to become more resilient to the effects of climate change. Droughts, floods, environmental degradation, and crop or livestock diseases are a major concern for these communities, as they happen often and hurt productivity.
Our work enables farmers to plant trees, build biogas units, install solar lighting and energy-efficient stoves, improve access to clean and safe water, and other techniques to increase incomes. Improved sanitation means healthier families, and women spend less time fetching water and firewood.
Heifer works with farmers to secure a living income so they can lead dignified and prosperous lives. Learn more about what achieving a living income entails.
