The Growing is Learning project helps women farmers feed their families
The Growing is Learning project helps women farmers feed their families
In Tanzania, nearly half of the population lives below the poverty line.
Stunting – a sign of chronic malnutrition – affects more than one-third of children under five years of age.
Despite growing 70% of the food needed to feed their country, women farmers find it incredibly difficult to provide nutritious food for their families. They work 15-hour days in the field, but lack the income and resources to provide nutritious meals.
The Growing is Learning project has already supported 3,825 farmers to improve their crop yields, learn how to improve their family’s nutrition, and increase their income from new trade networks.
Fast Facts
- In Tanzania, over 34% of children under five experience stunted growth as a result of chronic malnutrition
- Most families eat just one meal per day, and Tanzanian women are often anaemic
- Despite the fact that women produce 70% of the food, they lack the opportunities to increase production and earn an income
- Getting women farmers engaged in the production of soy will increase their income and improve their health
- Major partner: This project has been made possible thanks to generous contributions and ongoing support from the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP)
- Supporters: The Footprints Network
The power of soy
The Growing is Learning project will support women farmers to increase their farming productivity, income and their family’s nutrition.
Farmers will learn new skills to improve their existing crop yields, such as organic fertiliser production and seed multiplication.
This project will support women farmers to enter the profitable soy market by training them in production, and helping them link into the local market to sell their supply and earn an income.
Soy is a highly suitable crop for the region due to its nutritious benefits, resilience to drought and climate change and soil enhancing qualities. Importantly, soy is high in protein and excellent for treating malnutrition so it makes a great addition to family diets.
What we’re doing:
Increase Farming Knowledge
The Growing is Learning project will give women the training they need to be better farmers. Through 30 Farmer Field and Business schools, the project will teach 750 farmers about climate resilient techniques, organic fertiliser production and seed multiplication.
Soy Production
The project will support women to be part of the nation’s large soy farming market. Getting women farmers engaged in more soy production will increase their income and improve their health.
Nutrition awareness
The Growing is Learning project will help identify and train ‘Nutrition Champions’ to deliver nutrition awareness sessions in the communities, so they can illustrate how to grow fresh vegetables and reduce the need for purchasing food. CARE will also introduce new ways of cooking traditional meals in more nutritious ways and produce teaching materials around nutrition.
Training and support
CARE will train women farmers in soy production, connect them with suppliers and help them access finance through savings groups and banks. At the national level, the project will advocate for better conditions and representation of women farmers through working with private sector partners and key stakeholders in the soy industry.
Every Mother’s Sacrifice – Kalista
Kalista’s family lives in a small mud-brick home in rural Tanzania. Like many women in the region, Kalista carries the heavy burden of providing for her family. She works hard to grow as much as she can in her small plot. But last year, her crops didn’t grow. She replanted what she could. But Kalista won’t have food to feed her hungry children for quite some time.
Without a harvest to eat or sell, the family’s only source of food is a gluggy paste made with water and cornflour. Served on a single dinner plate, Kalista watches her little ones eat. There isn’t usually much – if any – left for her, even though she is heavily pregnant.
As a mother, Kalista doesn’t hesitate to go without.
Kalista is one of over a thousand farmers participating in the Growing is Learning project. She’ll gain the skills to grow nutrient-rich sustainable food to feed her children, so they grow up healthy and happy. Kalista will no longer have to go without either; she too will be able to enjoy nutritious meals and better health.
Read more about our work to end hunger:
CARE Australia is accredited by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), responsible for managing the Australian Government’s aid program. CARE Australia receives support for this project through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
Banner image: ©Timothy Buckley/CARE
