One Acre Fund in Tanzania
Elda Msemwa, 40, is a farmer in Maguliwa. She plants maize and onions, raises 30 chicken and two adult children ages 18 and 22. Her oldest daughter is one of the only 7 people in her village attending university after winning a government scholarship. When asked if she’s proud of her, and if she’d be upset if her daughter never returned to Maguliwa, she smiles, and says something roughly translated as: “there’s not enough land for everybody, I want her to have a better life”.
A group of farmers in Maguliwa meet for a training on farming techniques by One Acre Fund. They all took a microloan and paid for their services, not cheap to local standards, with the promise of doubling their crops yield. A few we talked to were going for a 2nd season, pretty happy with the investment.
Maguliwa, population 5,000, is a lovely village in the Iringa region of Tanzania.
Almudena Toral is reporting on agriculture and food security in Tanzania as a fellow with the International Reporting Project (IRP).
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