Tanzania

Look at the melting snowcap on Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro and you'll see the terrible effects of deforestation. Look just below the mountain, and you'll find who is most affected. Farming families suffer from washed-out, infertile soil. Incomes decrease and hunger rises. In fact, 42 percent of children under five in the country are chronically malnourished.

The majority of farmers we work with in Tanzania are women, many of whom are widows or single mothers. In Tanzania, women and children are among the poorest of the poor, and 25% of households are headed by women. Almost all economically active women in Tanzanian earn their income through agriculture, but they do not have the same access to training and resources as male farmers. As a result, female farmers produce 20 to 30 percent less than male farmers.

Through Plant With Purpose's sustainable agriculture training, partnering farmers in Tanzania are doubling their crop production through bio-intensive gardens, and they’re restoring land around Mt. Kilimanjaro by planting more than a million trees a year. They’re gaining access to savings and credit through savings groups. They are also growing in their understanding of their role in caring for creation and loving their neighbors through a curriculum titled “Redemptive Agriculture.”