Question: What world do you want for your youth?
Our land is degrading, desertification is happening before our eyes...
Where our crops once grew bountifully, they can now struggle to grow at all. We are also watching deforestation happen around us as bad agricultural practices continue to take place amongst communities.
All of these have devastating impacts for the people of our communities. Small scale agriculture is the backbone of rural communities in Tanzania, but environmental changes mean that with growing enough food to eat is becoming more and more difficult.
Struggling to grow and sell crops means more hunger and poverty for farmers and small holders.
Food poverty means that farmers often unknowingly encroach on and misuse that natural environment, whilst trying to provide for their families. Natural vegetation is cut down and burned by small scale farmers to grow crops. After a while, when that land becomes unusable, the same process is carried out on a new plot. Further exacerbating this issue is the illegal logging and destructive agricultural practices are turning land into a barren desert.
Climate Change
The impacts of climate change are already being felt in our communities. Rainfall has become more erratic, with long periods of drought, followed by short sharp heavy rainfalls. Extreme weather not only claims lives through water scarcity and flooding, but also means that food security has steadily declined.
Crops die from either lack of water, or flooding. As the annual temperature increases, heat stress means that less crops are produced, and the likelihood of pest and disease damage increases.
As the climate changes, it may also mean that the transmission of some diseases such as dengue fever and malaria may increase as warmer weather and standing water provide suitable conditions for vectors such as mosquitoes and ticks to thrive.
“Climate change is having a growing impact on the African continent, hitting the most vulnerable hardest, and contributing to food insecurity, population displacement and stress on water resources…”
WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas
We know how vital it is for us all to act, to protect and restore our environment – and we are passionate about the work we do.
After all, it is our home; it is the lives of our communities that are already being impacted by climate change.
We are the vulnerable people that climate change is impacting the most. However, we are also the local communities that can take the most effective action.
But we are looking at even more severe consequence if we let climate change continue its current path. With a continuing increase in annual temperature, increased erratic weather such as droughts and flooding, we will be looking at more challenges in agriculture, and thus more food insecurity. We will also be looking at an increased risk of health implications as the climate conditions increase suitability for habitats of biting insects and transmission of vector-borne diseases. With the change in climate, we will be facing increased water scarcity, and together with bad agricultural practices we could be facing desertification. We will also be facing increased poverty – especially in communities like ours
“Climate change is having a growing impact on the African continent, hitting the most vulnerable hardest, and contributing to food insecurity, population displacement and stress on water resources…”
WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas
We know how vital it is for us all to take action, to protect and restore our environment – and we are passionate about the work we do. After all, it is our home; it is the lives of our communities that are already being impacted by climate change.
We are the vulnerable that climate change is impacting the most.
However, we are also the local communities that can take action the best.
Tree Conservation and Reforestation
We love our trees and it’s been heart-breaking to see so many cut down illegally around us. We believe that it’s vital to shift our conservation efforts to restore and preserve our land, including for our indigenous flora and fauna.
Our forest ecosystems are already degrading, and this will only be accelerated with climate change, with our trees and land being swallowed up by demands for food and income.
We need to continue expanding our conservation efforts into new areas and increase our management of existing areas to help them flourish and help absorb future impacts of climate change.
Vedasto is a farmer who has joined our environmental campaign to stop the deforestation process known as ‘slash and burn’. His sign reads, “it is prohibited to cut and burn trees in this location.”
We are working to expand our conservation efforts through reforestation. We care for the trees from seedlings in our nursery until they are ready to be planted at the right time, so they can grow strong. We are aiming to plant thousands of new trees in our area of Tanzania.
Vedasto is a farmer who has joined our environmental campaign to stop the deforestation process known as ‘slash and burn’. His sign reads, “it is prohibited to cut and burn trees in this location.”
We know how important it is to protect our existing trees and land. Income poverty in communities like ours leads to illegal burning of charcoal, timber, firewood and logging. We also know that failing to replace trees, as well as farming at stream banks can cause erosion.
We need our communities to understand that everything in our ecosystem is something to be cherished, something that ultimately, gives us a better way of living.
We need to challenge the damaging practices that still exist in the communities, such as ‘slash and burn’ agriculture, and help educate people on the climate and environment.
In 2020 we started a three-year plan to plant 200,000 trees in four villages. This project involves 1000 people, 16 institutions and at 11 streams will be planted by community groups in collaboration with local government. So far we have planted over 63,600 planted trees, over 51,000 in farms and 12,600 in schools and institution
Trees such as palm, pines, fruits and drought resistant Mvengi are being planted, by local schools and health care centres. We have trained 30 youth ambassadors in 6 schools who are responsible for the upkeep and progress at each site.
Moringa Oleifera
For the last decade we have been supplying communities with seeds from a fast growing and drought resistant plant called moringa oleifera. Benefits from the plant include medicinal, nutritional, beekeeping and soil improvement values. Moringa oleifera is the best plant for the restoration of degraded land and greening the environment.
In Zeze village alone, more than a half of the population now grow the moringa oleifera either at home or at the farms as a cash crop.
Wood Trees
As part of our efforts to reduce deforestation and illegal logging, we have been educating small farmers about the negative impacts of depleting the natural forest. Communities are encouraged instead to grow trees for timber and firewood. Coniferous pines provide an excellent source of fast-growing firewood and so far, we have planted around 10,000 trees supplied either from the nursery we established or distributed to small farmers.
Fruit Trees
Many small farmers weren’t interested in growing fruit trees because they take a long time to produce fruits. However, now many people understand that the trees are not only for eating but also for shade before they fruit. We have been providing palm trees, avocado and mango seedlings and individuals grow them as part of their involvement in the processes of managing the environment.
We aim to educate people through farmer training so more sustainable practices can be maintained. We also run sessions to educate the community and their leaders on climate change and adaptation means, with the aim of improving the land rather than shifting from exhausted soil to a virgin land.
Climate Education
Although grid electricity became available in Zeze in 2022, it is still unaffordable for most households. People still rely on wood as the main source of energy for cooking, and kerosene for lighting their homes.
This means often schoolchildren cannot study after dark, and when they do, the kerosene smoke causes stinging eyes and coughs.
We provide solar lights to subsistence farmers in Zeze village and beyond, which allows children to study after dark in a healthier environment. Families can use spend the money they save on kerosene to buy more nutritious food for their children, and maybe even start small businesses.
We are also manufacture clay stoves, which only use half the firewood of traditional cooking stoves.
Together with our other strategies, these reduce carbon production and deforestation, and allow sustainable growth.
Beekeeping
Another unusual method for discouraging illegal logging and deforestation has been the introduction of beehives in trees.
One benefit of the hives is that angry bees act as a deterrent to anyone considering removing their home! But the hives are also seen as someone’s vital source of income and means the trees are left alone.
We also educate communities about the disadvantages of starting wildfires and now deliberate burning of the land is reducing in areas with hives.
Since we began our initial project with 60 hives, we have now hung more than locally made 600 hives that are helping to protect the trees. We have shown communities how bees can be beneficial for income, nutrition and environmental conservation
Clean Energy
Grid electricity came very recently to Zeze, and many households cannot afford to connect to it. Therefore many people rely on wood as the main source of energy for cooking, and kerosene for lighting their homes, when they can afford it. This means often schoolchildren cannot study after dark, and when they do, they get stinging eyes and coughs because of the kerosene smoke.
We provide solar lights to subsistence farmers in Zeze village and beyond, enabling children to study after dark in a smokeless environment. Families will be able to spend the money they save on kerosene on more nutritious food for their children and to start small businesses as a route out of their current extreme poverty.
We are also manufacture improved clay stoves, which require 50% less firewood. Together with our other strategies, these will hopefully reduce carbon production and deforestation to allow sustainable growth.
Tanzania development Trust
We proudly work with the Tanzania Development Trust on various projects. MVG’s founder Benedicto is a local representative of TDT, and they strongly support our environmental work. You can purchase trees for us to plant directly from their shop!
1% for the Planet
In 2021 we were very proud to announce that we became official non-profit partners of 1% for the planet!
We are dedicated to taking action to ensure our planet and future generations thrive, and are so excited to join this incredible solution-driven, inspiring and global organisation!
Together, we can truly make a difference.
Climate Stewards
We were very grateful to Climate Stewards who, in 2020, funded us to plant 13,000 trees near the MVG site and at Zeze Secondary School.
These were a combination of 3 native trees, Msave, Mgoti and Muyovu, plus Avocado for producing fruit for nutrition and income generation.