Agricultural project near Mapilinga strengthens local families

March 11, 2026 • 296 words • 2 minutes
David Schellhaas

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Although there is a primary school and some basic facilities, the living conditions of many families are difficult: incomes are low, infrastructure is limited, and access to clean water, healthcare and secure employment is often restricted.

To improve the situation, Brother Eli from Bugando Hospital was given about 10 hectares of land for food production. The land is cultivated together with residents from the surrounding area of Mapilinga. Field workers receive an above-average wage of 5,000 Tanzanian shillings per day (approx. €2) — nearly twice the usual income for agricultural labor in the region. This is possible because the project is not profit-driven but intended only to be self-sustaining.

Many people on site cannot simply take up farming themselves to earn money. They lack the start-up capital for seed, tools, or the time to work fields while also providing daily income. Often the available money is barely enough to buy seed for their own food for the next year. Brother Eli’s approach addresses this precisely: through fair wages and hands-on experience, the field workers should gradually become able to grow and later sell enough themselves to become independent of the project.

Our association supports the initiative by initially pre-financing seed and wages via a loan until the harvest can be sold. Repayments then flow back into supporting the field workers and into the water project in Ibondo.

To ease the work on the fields, we — together with other donors — also helped Brother Eli acquire a tractor. As a result, the land can now be farmed far more efficiently, and reliance on the often unpredictable work with draught cattle is reduced.

The project demonstrates how sustainable local support can help people build their own long-term prospects.