Feed the Future Tanzania Mboga na Matunda (“Vegetables and Fruits”) increases the productivity of horticulture activities that add value to product, while integrating women and youth. Through collaboration with dozens of private sector partners, the activity stimulates women’s engagement in horticulture by training them in crop production, technologies, markets, access to inputs, and nutrition. Currently, of the over 50,000 individuals trained by the activity, 47 percent are women.

Mboga na Matunda also stimulates women’s involvement by training them in basic business planning and development, and how to access affordable credit and financial services. Today, forty percent of total loans distributed have been to female borrowers, equating to nearly $350,000 in credit.

Furthermore, through a recently established “Women and Youth Enterprise” initiative, Mboga na Matunda is assisting women in exploring other horticulture-related businesses such as seedling production and food processing. The activity provides training in processing skills, basic business principles, and marketing.

As a result of these trainings, four women’s groups have started their own businesses. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, the groups have earned a cumulative total of nearly $7,000 in new income.

Hanisa Chonanga, agriculture service provider from Ruaha Mbuyuni village, Iringa testifies, “many of us grew up seeing our parents farming, but we never saw them produce seedlings or provide transplanting services like we do. After the USAID trainings, we’ve started a successful seedling transplanting business.”

Chonanga and five other colleagues provide land preparation and transplanting services to farmers in their village. They have a high demand given the good job they do and the uniformity in their transplanting activity.  

“Recently, we’ve had very high demand for our services. To meet the demand, we’re training more youth so they can have the same opportunity to improve their lives” remarks Chonanga.

The Mboga na Matunda activity also facilitates trainings on market standards and trends to empower women to produce quality crops that meet market requirements and are timed when demand and prices are highest. In fiscal year 2019, total sales by women beneficiaries reached nearly $2 million.