Mafuta

In rural areas of Tanzania, most farmers are women and young people. Despite their hard work to grow food for their families and communities, many face challenges such as limited access to land, training, and decent economic opportunities, as well as having little say in decision-making processes. These difficulties increase their financial dependence and often push young people to leave their villages.

HUMAN-ELEPHANT CONFLICTS (HEC) AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Elephant intrusions pose another serious challenge for farmers. The project region is located along the Kikwati migration corridor – an important route for elephants moving between Saadani National Park and other protected areas. As deforestation for income-generating activities such as charcoal production continues, elephants searching for food pass more frequently through farmland, destroying crops and endangering people’s safety.

INNOVATIVE-SUSTAINABLE FENCES TO PROTECT CROPS AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES

The project is implemented together with SA4D’s local partner organisations Saving Africa’s Nature (SANA) and Human Initiatives for Animals (HISA). It aims to support the economic empowerment of women and young people, equip them with the skills to start businesses and produce natural oil, and protect crops through locally made natural oil–chilli fences.

Women and young people in the villages of Gongo, Saadani, and Mkange will benefit from entrepreneurship training based on the validated sport- and play-based approach developed by SA4D. To put their newly acquired skills into practice, participants will also be supported in creating their own businesses. In addition, a local oil production facility will provide income as well as the raw materials needed to build harmless oil–chilli fences that repel elephants in a non-violent way. To provide food for elephants and foster peaceful human–elephant coexistence, 10 hectares of land will be reforested using the syntropic agriculture method developed by Ernst Götsch.