Family Alliance for Development and Cooperation (FADECO)

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Family Alliance for Development and Cooperation (FADECO)

Tanzania
Project Stage:
Scaling
Budget: 
$1,000 - $10,000
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

Starting in northwestern Tanzania, Joseph Sekiku is improving economic possibilities for small-scale farmers by giving them greater control over their products post-production and greater access to global markets. By doing so he equips farmers to make their own decisions about their business rather than be directed and exploited by middlemen.

About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

Following independence in 1963, President Julius Nyerere passed the Arusha Declaration that pronounced everyone as equal. While this declaration was positive on the surface, its practice was not. The government set a threshold on personal wealth and took over property and businesses that reached beyond it. While the wealth of the nation was meant to belong to all, government services did not reach the majority of Tanzanians—particularly those living in rural areas—and the overall situation for poor people worsened. The restrictive policies dampened the spirit and practice of entrepreneurship, and citizens who protested were silenced. In today’s Tanzania, government and private institutions that aim to help farmers and improve food security tend to focus on increasing crop yield. Little emphasis is placed on helping farmers manage the yield, reduce waste in the post-harvest processes, and connect to the market. This is a problem because an estimated 60 percent of the produce in Tanzania is lost due to inefficient post-harvesting methods, and small-scale farmers are vulnerable to exploitation from middlemen, who absorb much of the profit.

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

Joseph is fostering entrepreneurship among farming families in northwestern Tanzania. He does this by helping small-scale producers understand how markets work, and how they may move beyond subsistence by adopting new approaches to post-harvest production, marketing, and distribution. He introduces methods that improve yield, such as low-cost techniques and tools for drying and packaging fruits, and helps farmers connect to each other and to new markets. Taken together, these approaches yield higher incomes to small-scale producers—but just as important, they inspire rural farmers to see themselves in a completely new light: As enterprising initiators paving a better future for themselves and their families. As Joseph notes, the time is ripe to realize changes in the economics of small-scale production, as farmers are supported by a burgeoning citizen sector, an economy that is open to global markets, and improved information exchange.
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