Food Security with Perennial Vegetables in a Changing Climate

ECHO East Africa works to reduce hunger and improve lives through agricultural training and resources.

The current drought in East Africa is causing crop failures, livestock deaths and limited availability of milk and meat. For the northern Tanzanian Maasai people, food production has been impacted and malnutrition rates are increasing – particularly for women and children.

This project will support women and children in previously unreached Maasai village centres to improve their nutrition through growing perennial vegetables.

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will:

• conduct at least 20 training days – with up to 28 women per day – on nutrition, how to grow each of the perennial vegetable species and cooking demonstrations;
• provide participants with perennial vegetable seeds for their home gardens; and
• measure the degree of uptake of the perennial vegetables and any improvement in health outcomes for women and their children.

Organic Agricultural Training for Teachers and Students with Disabilities

Maisha Outreach Therapy Organization is providing access to sustainable rehabilitation therapies for people living with disability in Tanzania.

People living with disability are particularly vulnerable to climate change, as they can be more vulnerable to the impacts of extreme weather and may not be able to access the support and care they need to adapt and respond to a changing climate.

This project aims to empower students with disabilities – and their teachers – to learn about climate change adaptation interventions that can increase community resilience.

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will:

• educate three teachers and 30 students living with disabilities about climate change, climate action and organic farming practices;
• facilitate four field visits to demonstration organic farming plots for students with disabilities and their teachers; and
• design and create five high-density polyethylene pipes for horizontal organic green wall spaces.

Participatory Development of Climate Resilience and Vulnerability Protocols in Ngorongoro District, Tanzania

Traditional Ecosystems Survival Tanzania believes land is the source of life and it envisions a world in which people, livestock, wildlife and natural resources co-exist in peace, health and harmony.

Climate change affects the indigenous communities in Tanzania, but there is no tool or mechanism for regular assessments to understand and overcome these effects.

This project aims to develop a Climate Change Adaptation Toolkit (CCA Toolkit) to empower communities to document, report, and streamline climate change issues. The community will produce climate adaptation data that can be used to make future decisions on climate adaptation.

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will:

• develop a CCA Toolkit to be piloted in indigenous communities to identify which ecosystem services may be important and evaluate the current benefits compared with those expected under alternative land-use; and
• establish a community participatory land use mapping tool to identify the challenges and needs according to the CCA Toolkit, such as resources or training.

Raising Awareness to Youth and Women Smallholders’ Farmers to Enhance Climate Change Adaptation and Livelihood 
 
Vision for Youth is dedicated to empowering young people aged 15-35 to change their lives for a brighter future. The organisation’s projects focus on health promotion, economic empowerment, and civic engagement to achieve their vision of a responsible and independent society.  
 
In Tanzania, the young people and women in Arusha and Monduli Districts are highly dependent on local natural resources for their livelihood, which is being impacted by climate change. Despite having the potential to play an important role in addressing climate change in their communities, these workers have limited opportunity to participate in decision-making and climate change interventions.  
 
This project aims to empower women and young farmers to enhance their understanding and ability to act against climate change through education and training. 
 
With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will: 

• conduct advocacy meetings with 1,000 youth and women smallholder farmers on climate change and climate action;  
• launch a tree planting campaign to plant 100,000 trees in water sources, family compounds and schools to restore deforested areas and build community action; 
• conduct workshops on agricultural best practices for youth and women smallholder 
• farmers to improve agricultural food security, livelihoods and gender equality; and  
• deliver training to 100 youths and women smallholder farmers in income diversification to reduce pressure on natural resources. 

Sustainable Menstrual Hygiene for Schoolgirls and Young Women in Rural Tanzania

Comfy Care12 aims to improve gender equality through the menstrual health management of women and girls in low-income families in rural Tanzania.  

Managing menstruation is often challenging for adolescent girls in Tanzania, where it can be difficult to access privacy, water and affordable menstrual hygiene materials like sanitary pads. More than 90% of rural shops do not sell disposable menstrual pads and even if they are available, buying them is stigmatised, culturally sensitive and unaffordable. As a result, 48 per cent of schoolgirls miss or drop out of school due to menstruation challenges. This has negative repercussions on their educational performance, self-confidence and social inclusion.  Comfy Care12 seeks to provide young girls with affordable reusable sanity pads that can last them up to 18 months and combat gender inequalities in society.   

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will:

• work with a local partner to manufacture 600 affordable and reusable sanitary pads
• run training sessions on menstrual health awareness in Kilimanjaro and Dodoma regions
• encourage participants to trial the reusable pads and provide feedback
• plan and deliver menstrual health education sessions with young adolescent girls in three rural regions in Tanzania. 

Enhanced Nutrition for Maasai Women and Children in Northern Tanzania 

 ECHO East Africa aims to reduce hunger and improve lives through partnerships that equip people with agricultural skills and resources.   

East African villagers commonly suffer nutrient deficiencies, particularly women and children. Poor nutrition in women leads to lower birth weights, poor infant development, increased infant mortality and increased susceptibility to a range of diseases. Poor nutrition is most severe in pastoralist communities (like the Maasai) compared to agricultural communities.  

ECHO EA has extensive knowledge of a range of perennial vegetables that can be easily grown by villagers. These vegetables produce highly nutritious green leaves throughout the year with minimal water.   

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will: 

• meet with health centre staff and district officers in two Maasai districts to recruit women for the training 
• deliver at least 20 training days – with up to 28 women in each session – on general nutrition and how to cultivate and prepare each vegetable 
• provide participants with vegetable seed and cuttings for their home gardens
• purchase or gather materials for training sessions, including handouts, vegetable seeds and cuttings, cooking equipment and ingredients  
• conduct follow-up surveys to determine the uptake of the perennial vegetables and any improvement in health outcomes for women and their children. 

Career Day Events to Support Tanzanian Girls  

The Girls Livelihood and Mentorship Initiative (GLAMI) supports girls' education in Tanzania through mentoring programs. 

Schoolgirls in Tanzania often don’t know about the many career options available to them, or the pathway to take in order to be qualified.   

This project will support Career Day Events at seven schools in the Arusha and Moshi regions, to help female students understand their career options. During the Career Day events, female experts in various fields will present to students and provide advice on what they can expect from working in a similar role.   

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will:

• support more than 500 girls across seven schools to research and deliver a presentation on their career of interest
• arrange female role models in the fields identified by the students to present at the schools on how they succeeded in their work life and provide advice on how to enter their profession.  

Helping to Ensure Safe Deliveries and Healthy Births  

Maternity Africa provides good maternal healthcare services regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or tribe, free of charge.  

In Tanzania, the maternal mortality ratio is 556 deaths per 100,000 live births. Most maternal deaths could be prevented with improved access to skilled care and facilities equipped to handle obstetric emergencies. Only 50 per cent of rural women deliver in a facility, and cost and distance are critical barriers to accessing care. Maternity waiting homes help to address the distance problem, especially during the rainy seasons when sourcing timely transport becomes even more challenging.  

Maternity Africa plans to construct and equip a 20-bed maternity waiting home at its hospital, Kivulini Maternity Centre. This facility will house at-risk pregnant women, such as those who live far from the facility, women who have developed complications in the third trimester, teenagers, rape victims and women exposed to domestic or gender-based violence.  

Maternity Africa recently secured a donation of USD $30,000 to convert an under-utilised building into a maternity waiting home and requires funding to purchase some beds, bedding, lockers and ancillary items.  

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will: 

• purchase 20 hospital beds, bedding, bedside lockers and ancillary items for the newly developed waiting shelter
• maintain the beds, bedding and lockers.  

Improving Access to Quality Secondary School Education for Vulnerable Pastoralist Girls in Post-Covid Northern Tanzania through Permaculture 

Pastoral Women’s Council (PWC) is a women-led, non-government organisation addressing the marginalisation and gender inequities of pastoralist communities.   

PWC manages the community owned Emanyata Secondary School (ESS), which provides Maasai girls and boys with education and serves as a safe haven for girls rescued from early, forced marriage female genital mutilation and extreme poverty.  

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed communities across northern Tanzania into an economic downturn as tourism declined and the cross-border livestock business dropped. Significant school drop-out rates that disproportionately affected girls followed shortly after as families became increasingly unable to fund their children’s education.  

PWC launched a permaculture project at ESS in 2021 to enhance the resilience of the school’s economic model. This project will add more crops, herbs and trees in the proposed food forest to ensure sustained on-site production of quality food, which will enhance the wellbeing and learning of students.  

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will:

• purchase and transport seeds, fencing and plumbing materials to the school
• clear and prepare the food forest site and install fences with guidance and on-site lessons by the Practical Permaculture Institute of East Africa
• facilitate a site-visit for 30 youth, women and men from the surrounding community to facilitate inspiration to recreate the project. 

Capacity Building: Improving Results Through Training – Increasing the Knowledge, Skills, Experience, Competence and Confidence of our 75-Strong Workforce

Maternity Africa provides access to good maternal healthcare for vulnerable and marginalised women and girls. This requires providing staff with development opportunities in technical and professional skills.  This project will work with a local NGO training provider, Jobortunity, to deliver a curriculum to assist staff in developing their professional and interpersonal skills.   

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will:

• conduct a training needs analysis
• develop a training curriculum
• deliver the training to meet the needs of different departments 
• design and distribute learning materials 
• monitor the effectiveness of the training.  

Increase knowledge and uptake of reusable pads amongst adolescent girls in schools.

Comfy Care12 will improve menstrual hygiene awareness and increase the use of sanitary pads by adolescent girls in rural and remote areas of Tanzania by designing and distributing affordable, reusable sanitary pads.

Managing menstruation is challenging for adolescent girls in Tanzania, where the purchase of menstrual pads is stigmatised and expensive. This is especially difficult for adolescents in rural areas, where 91% of shops do not sell disposable menstrual pads. As a result, 48% of schoolgirls miss or drop out of school due to menstruation challenges, severely limiting their potential.

Comfy Care12 seeks to provide young girls with affordable reusable sanity pads that can last them up to 18 months. 

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will work in Manyara, Arusha and Pwani regions to: 

• deliver a product development strategy and pilot program
• strengthen the development of affordable reusable sanitary pads for young adolescent girls
• work with a partner to manufacture reusable pads for the pilot program
• run focus group sessions with young adolescent girls in three rural regions
• deliver three education sessions with young adolescent girls in rural Tanzania

Comfy Care12 will include males in the focus group sessions when addressing the stigma  surrounding menstrual hygiene management to create a more supportive environment for girls to manage their menstrual hygiene.  

Family support project

Umoja Tanzania Incorporated (Umoja) supports vulnerable and disadvantaged Tanzanian youth and their families through training and education.

Umoja has supported young Tanzanians since 2009, however there is also a need to offer support and education to the families and communities of the direct beneficiaries in order to encourage holistic change.

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will:

• raise awareness of training for the parents and guardians of Umoja students
• deliver training to 250 parents, guardians and community members in Arusha
• deliver training to 10 Umoja committee members who will then be able to train additional communities
• conduct monitoring and evaluation on the impact of the project.

Umoja will provide trainings on subjects identified by the Umoja Parents and Guardian Committee, such as business skills, small-scale sustainable farming, sexual reproductive health and domestic violence. With support from Umoja, the committee leaders will conduct trainings and workshop in their own communities.

Umoja will provide additional mentoring support, training of trainers, monitoring and evaluation to ensure sustainability of this project.

Physical therapy and exercise room for people living with a disability 

The Tanzania Flying Medical Service project will design and install a small physical therapy and exercise facility at the Olkokola Centre for the Physically Handicapped. The current facility is only able to help people living with a disability to walk or run, limiting the range of health and mobility benefits that can be achieved. 

With support from the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, the new facility will allow participants with prostheses, mobility issues and those in wheelchairs to improve their strength and movement. A physiotherapist will also assist with designing exercise program tailored to participants’ needs and goals. 

Project activities will include: 

• designing the gym and exercise facility in consultation with a physiotherapist  
  renovating the facility space 
• purchasing suitable equipment
• training participants to use physical therapy and exercise equipment. 

‍The Olkokola Centre also runs a residential program that trains people living with a disability in trades such as tailoring, carpentry and masonry. These clients will assist with renovating the facility space. 

In rural and remote Tanzania, people living with a disability face social stigma which affects their ability to support themselves. This project will improve participants’ health and fitness, making them more resilient in their daily lives. It will also improve participants’ ability to take advantage of prostheses and other mobility aids provided by the Olkokola Centre and to participate in vocational training. 

Engaging parents to promote girls' education in Tanzania

The Girls Livelihood and Mentorship Initiative (GLAMI) project supports gender equality by influencing parents’ attitudes about girls’ education and empowerment. With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, it engages parents to help their daughters finish school and encourages parents to become advocates for girls’ education.

This project is delivered at partner schools of the Binti Shupavu Program, a training and mentoring program for adolescent girls that addresses challenges that lead to Tanzanian girls leaving secondary school. This four-year program builds girls’ confidence, resilience, and the determination to succeed despite all obstacles.

Involving parents in their daughters’ education improves girls’ retention in secondary schools. This project holds annual parent engagement meetings at partner schools to bring together parents and guardians of Binti Shupavu Scholars. These sessions aim to increase parents’ support and advocacy for girls’ education. Parents are encouraged to discuss the challenges that their daughters face. Binti Shupavu mentors and scholars share their educational journeys with parents, highlighting their challenges and successes. These sessions encourage parents to identify how they can support their children to achieve their dreams.

This project supports gender equality by influencing parents’ thinking about girls’ education and empowerment. Parents learn from and inspire each other, developing a sense of support and belonging with their peers.

Digital transformation – creating economic opportunities for Maasai women in Tanzania 

Sidai Designs will improve its website to integrate online commerce and storytelling about traditional beaded designs produced by Maasai women. This will improve customers’ understanding of the impact of their purchase and expand market reach.  

Maasai women are among the most marginalised groups in Tanzania. They have little control over their resources, education and livelihoods due to an embedded patriarchal system.  

‍Sidai Designs previously employed 120 Maasai women to produce traditional beaded designs for local and international markets. Due to COVID-19, there has been a drastic decline in demand for these products. Lack of tourism and cancelled international trade shows (Sidai Designs’ largest marketplace) have significantly reduced sales and employees’ financial independence. Sidai Designs identified issues preventing them from reaching customers and competing in the international marketplace including an out-of-date website, lack of web integration and poor searchability. 

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, this project will: 

• upgrade Sidai Designs’ website to integrate online retail, wholesale and storytelling 
• conduct a website audit to identify all functionality, SEO ranking, optimisation, customer conversion and visual content needs 
• collect stories about Maasai women who produce traditional beaded designs including the history of their tribes and their techniques 
• integrate all sales channels onto one website 
• set up reporting dashboards across all platforms to analyse data and guide ongoing activities 
  upskill full-time staff through training. 

By bringing Maasai women’s products to international markets, this project will drive increased demand and preserve beading traditions. It will promote sustainable employment and financial independence for Maasai women, which is a catalyst for long-term positive social change.  

Supporting families of young children living with a disability 

The Mama’s Education Program provides support for mothers who have young children living with a disability. Mothers learn the skills to care for their children, care for their own wellbeing and to be advocates for children living with a disability in their community. With support from the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, the Mama’s Education Program will be integrated into the day-to-day activities of The Plaster House.  

The Plaster House offers surgical rehabilitation services for children living with a disability. The Impact Fund project will help build the skills of existing staff, supporting them to deliver four three-month residential education programs to children living with a disability and their families. It will support the production of resources and materials and the capacity development of staff through mentoring and training. 

The Mama’s Education Program provides Tanzanian mothers who have young children living with a disability with new ideas, skills and knowledge aimed at improving their health and wellbeing, and the health and wellbeing of their children. Mothers participating in the program will be encouraged to demonstrate these new skills at The Plaster House, so they can be applied when they return to their community. 

Participants will also learn about the services available at The Plaster House, so they can be advocates for children living with a disability in their community and improve the outcomes for children living with a disability more broadly across Tanzania. They will become part of a support network, creating enduring relationships that will continue past their residential stay. 

Improving nutrition capacity through Tanzanian health clinics  

ECHO East Africa will improve the nutrition of vulnerable peri-urban populations in Arusha, Tanzania by targeting those who work at and attend mother and child health clinics. It will provide families and health practitioners with training sessions and resources to grow and prepare perennial vegetable varieties. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, resource-poor households struggled to provide nutritious food to their families. Malnutrition is widespread. Perennial vegetables are nutritious, easy to grow, bear green leaves throughout the year, are resistant to pests and need minimal water. Most Tanzanians have access to carbohydrate-rich maize, rice and sweet potatoes, but limited access to nutrient-dense foods rich in protein, vitamins and minerals. Many perennial vegetables varieties can be readily adopted because they resemble traditional vegetables.  

With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, the project will: 

• deliver training and resources on growing and preparing perennial vegetables varieties to mothers attending health clinics 
• train health professionals on the importance of providing patients with nutrition and food security messages  
• provide seeds and cuttings of perennial vegetables varieties to participants.  

Peri-urban gardeners will reduce malnutrition and promote improved food security at the household level. Self-reliant, nutritious food production allows participants to address their own nutrition challenges using affordable and available resources. 

Enhancing food security and school retention of female Maasai students in rural northern Tanzania

The Pastoral Women’s Council will expand the Emanyata Secondary School’s agricultural program. It will provide healthy food to students, improve community food security and expand opportunities for girls to attend school. It will purchase crops, trees and poultry to broaden production of the school’s 50-acre farm.  

The Emanyata Secondary School is a community-owned school in Ololosokwan, a pastoral Maasai village. It provides students with a safe foundation to become confident and self-reliant global citizens, while celebrating and promoting indigenous Maasai culture.  

The Ololosokwan community has faced significant economic hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in families being unable to fund their children’s education. In response, the school revisited its economic model and identified alternative methods to support children’s education and address food insecurity in its community. 

‍With the support of the Australian Volunteers Program Impact Fund, the project will: 

• develop a viable and sustainable permaculture business plan assisted by a permaculture expert
• purchase crops and gardening tools, including vegetables, tubers, legumes, fruits, medicinal trees and herbs 
• build a coop to accommodate 200 chickens. 

By selling surplus food, the school will enhance food security in its community and create an additional income-generating activity to deliver free quality education to Maasai children, particularly girls who would otherwise miss out. The project will also bolster opportunities for students to learn farming skills.  

Perennial vegetables for urban Tanzanians

ECHO - East Africa will increase the nutrition of urban Tanzanians during the COVID19 pandemic by promoting the growing and consumption of nutrient-dense perennial vegetables, in small urban gardens with minimal space.

GLAMI Radio Project

The Girls Livelihood and Mentorship Initiative (GLAMI) will continue mentoring Tanzanian secondary school girls during COVID-19 and into the future by developing the GLAMI Radio Project, an innovative way to reach existing and new scholars with lessons on resilience, leadership and confidence.

Providing access to good, evidence-based maternal healthcare for vulnerable and marginalised women and girls during the COVID-19 emergency

Maternity Africa will continue towards their goal of making every childbirth safe for every woman in Tanzania, by providing access to maternal healthcare services during the COVID-19 pandemic.