Within the eyes of the youth is our world of tomorrow, and we are working hard with our communities to empower the youth for a brighter future for themselves and their communities. Communities that we work with in the Kigoma region can face extreme poverty, food insecurity and lack of access to clean and safe water. Furthermore, our land is degrading and the climate is changing, making it difficult for us in many ways, especially for our agriculture. But here at Mboni ya Vijana, we are helping the communities to take sustainable action.
In April 2025, our founder Benedicto travelled over to England, thanks to the Segal Foundation. Whilst there he had the opportunity to meet with the members of the Tanzania Development Trust that he has worked with for many years. Benedicto also had the opportunity to attend The Sidebar events at the Skoll World Forum, where he took part in an event, talking about empowering rural communities and sustainable farming, and our successes for far in Kigoma, as well as what we’re hoping to achieve in the next twelve months.
So, what has success looked like for us so far?
We have implemented 178 boreholes, providing clean and safe water to over 75,000 people in Kigoma region. After identifying the best place to implement the water well, we use our low-cost drilling method to install it so many people can finally have the access to clean and safe water that they deserve.
Over 2000 women and youth have been supported in establishing businesses with a 90% success rate. Traditionally, a woman’s place is in the home – but we know this is far from the truth. To empower a woman, empowers not only a family, but a whole community. Through entrepreneurship, women gain more self-esteem and become financially independent, not having to rely on others.
We have trained and supported 36,000 in sustainable farming. By encouraging farmers to use better and more sustainable methods, we have helped to increase yields by 175%, increasing food security and income for the farmers and their families.
We have also planted over 600,000 indigenous trees! Working with 14 schools, we have also been helping to encourage children to learn how to respect the environment – the children have been helping us by planting a tree themselves and taking care of it, like taking care of a friend.
Through such projects, we are empowering people in the community to create better lives for themselves, as well as ensuring they have access to some of the most basic fundamental human rights. We are also taking care of our environment, not only for our today, but also for our tomorrow.
What are we hoping to achieve in the next twelve months?
We are always optimistic about the future of our work and have many hopes and dreams for our communities. And with the incredible support that we have, we know we can achieve them.
Over the next twelve months, we hope to establish 24 more boreholes over 3 regions, reaching approximately 10,000 people that currently do not have access to clean and safe water.
We hope to distribute improved cassava seed to more than 200 farmers. This improved seed can increase yields by an incredible 500% for the farmers! Think of how much more income generation and food security this is for them and their families!
To ensure that we make the most of these increased yields, we want to improve crop processing. Currently, it can be easy to lose some of the crops – and we cannot afford to let any go to waste. By expanding the processing infrastructure, we can reduce loss and maximise the increased yields.
Finally, we want to train a further 60 youth in entrepreneurship through a revolving fund. We will continue to give them support in their business after their initial training to ensure they continue their success.
We also wanted to take this opportunity to thank every one of you for your support, whether you’ve been with us over the years, or whether you’ve just joined us on our journey. We couldn’t make the difference to people’s lives that we do without you – we truly are so grateful. You can continue to help us simply by keeping up with us online – follow us on our social media accounts, and engage with our content! We’ll always announce anything big online, so make sure that you keep up with us!
Asante/Thank you for all of your support so far, and here’s to the next year!
