Talking about agriculture in Tanzania, the first crop that comes into our minds is maize. Almost every farmer grows maize and most people eat it several times per week. There is more and we have to learn the Maasai that diversity is important.
Maize is the one of the most important food crops in Tanzania, it comprises 45% of the cultivated area. Tanzania is the largest producer of maize in East Africa.
Tanzania is a low-income country in East Africa with a population of almost 56 million inhabitants. Agriculture in Tanzaniais a cornerstone of the economy, providing 31 percent to GDP and contributing 25 percent of annual export earnings, in particular through the main export crops like cashew, tobacco, sugar, coffee and cotton. There is a continuous agricultural sector growth and is considered largely self-sufficient in its main staple crop maize. Cassava, paddy, sorghum and bananas are the second most widely grown staple crops by farmers.
83% are run by small family farmers
Livestock and poultry play an important role in the economy of a Tanzanian small family farm; the second source of income.
In Tanzania and particular in Mererani drought is the biggest challenge. Therefor we need to build water wells and learn the Maasai that, if they water their crops daily, they can grow vegetables and herbs for their own consumption all year round.
The Maasai will also learn to dig ditches. This is not only necessary to catch water for the vegetables and fruit trees but also very important to reduce floods.
When the school is build, we’ll use 1 classroom to teach the Maasai (men and women) about the importance of diversity and growing crops, herbs and fruits for their own usage all the time. We’ll also learn them about market opportunities and export, and we will connect them to several export companies.
Moringa trees
As soon as there is water in the area, the foundation will provide the Maasai with moringa trees. 2 hands full of short boiled moringa leaves give enough nutritions for a human being daily and will end hunger within only 3 weeks. The Maasai will learn how to reproduce the trees and later they will make moringa powder and -oil. Another benefit of the moringa tree is that it will also avoid hunger of animals during dry seasons and it’s a very good bio fertilizer.