Tanzania Fund

Latest Exciting News:

The European Union donated £1,000,000 to Phase 2 of our project in partnership with the Tanzania Fund, provided that we raised £100,000 ourselves. We have now achieved this target!

We made our latest triennial visit to Tanzania in June this year. The projects are all on plan and delivering impressive results. Read more here.

We are now looking to raise funds to continue this work in Shinyanga Region for the coming years.

OUR CURRENT PROJECT: TASU

Tanzania Agricultural Scale-Up (TASU) is an Oxfam programme, aimed at providing Tanzanians with sustainable and secure sustenance and income. 80% of Tanzanians work in agriculture, so improving agricultural yields and resistance to drought would lead to a significant improvement in living standards, quality of life and life expectancy. Shinyanga was chosen in 2007 to be the pilot region for this project, and Oxfam requested the Tanzania Fund to be the cornerstone donor. The European Community has now also backed this programme with €1.0m funding.

Phase 1 of TASU focussed on chicken farming and rice production. The Tanzania Fund provided the money for the chicken farming project. Chicken provides the largest and most reliable source of protein in this area. So far the project has provided training for chicken keepers, assistance to over 6,000 local people, vaccinations for 400,000 chickens and is working with farmers to improve revenue and marketing.

Phase 2 of TASU has broadened the projects to 61 villages and over 7,000 farmers for both chickens and rice, and now also to sisal production. The major step-up in the programme now includes production, marketing, supply chain, and infrastructure work.

See the summary of progress and the report of the 2011 visit.

Read about how this project is helping Yela Magembe in Old Maswa and Catherine Elias in Bukigi village.

The Tanzania Fund:

We aim to help fund livelihoods initiatives in Tanzania. It was suggested by a handful of ordinary Oxfam supporters after a visit to Shinyanga in 1999. Inspired by the spirit, dignity and determination of everyone they met, the group started the Tanzania Fund to provide a cost-effective means of establishing direct personal contact with the actual people who benefit. Since then, the Fund has raised over £450,000 to help people in the north west region of Tanzania, around Shinyanga.

Please read on to find out more about what projects we support and why we would like you! to join us...

The Tanzania Fund would like to recognise the major support to these initiatives given by the Tanzanian Government, European Union, Oxfam GB and Oxfam Tanzania. The projects themselves are all implemented by Tanzanians.

SAD NEWS ABOUT TWO OF OUR FOUNDERS...