fd kilimanjaro mtakuja development project · 2017. 10. 17. · mtakuja development project 2010 2...

FD Kilimanjaro

Mtakuja Development Project

Year Two in Review

June 2009 to May 2010

Mtakuja Village – Kilimanjaro Region – Tanzania

The Mtakuja Development Project is an initiative supported by FD Kilimanjaro, an international

NGO registered in the Netherlands and Tanzania.

Mtakuja Development Project 2010

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TANZANIA, MAY 2010 – The Mtakuja Development Project is a partnership between Mtakuja village

and the Dutch NGO FD Kilimanjaro with the aim to eradicate poverty from the community of

Mtakuja. The village is located in the Kilimanjaro Region of northern Tanzania. It has approximately

4250 inhabitants as of 2008, of whom more than 50% are younger than 20 years of age. The project

lifespan is expected to be minimally five years (2008-2013). The project outcomes will have to be

sustainable and benefit everybody in the community, men, women, young, old, orphans, farmers,

pastoralists, landless people, the sick and disabled.

The project uses an integrated approach to development, at once focusing on Education, Health,

Income & Agriculture and Infrastructure. We seek to ensure this project is owned in the minds and in

practice by the community.

FD Kilimanjaro relies on a growing network of partners to help fund and implement various aspects

of the project; these partners include commercial entities, other local and international NGO’s,

foundations and local and national government agencies and offices. These partnerships are crucial

to the long term success of the project.

YEAR TWO ACTIVITIES – JUNE 2009 to MAY 2010

EDUCATION

SCHOOL LUNCHES – Across two primary

schools, 192,915 lunches were provided to

1,030 students.

EXTRA HOURS OF INSTRUCTION – The

teachers at the primary schools taught an

additional 3,975 hours after regular school

hours, while receiving a modest monthly

incentive from FDK.

PRE-PRIMARY CLASS ROOM – A class room

was constructed in the Masai neighborhood –

Remiti – of Mtakuja. It was constructed with a

significant contribution from the community

with the purpose to enable young children to

start school at the right age.

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM – A merit-based,

multi-year scholarship program for primary

school leavers was announced and initiated,

sending 10 promising students to a private

secondary school in Mtakuja.

SECONDARY SCHOOL SUPPORT – Provided

budget support to Mtakuja Secondary School

to help with the acquisition of 30 chairs, 30

tables and 10 beds to accommodate strong

growth of the number of students at the

school.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING RESEARCH – In July

and August two students from University

College Utrecht conducted one-on-one

interviews and focus groups with community

members to provide insight in the needs and

wishes regarding vocational training.

HEALTH

MEDICAL CAMP FOR CHILDREN – In

partnership with the Dutch NGO Medical

Checks for Children (MCC) and in close

collaboration with TPC Hospital and the


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village health clinic the first annual medical

camp was hosted. 1,193 Children under the

age of 10 were evaluated, treated and when

necessary referred to local health care

providers by a team of 9 health care

professionals from MCC.

INDIVIDUAL CARE – A number of children in

need of immediate medical care have been

supported by FDK for surgeries ranging from

cleft palate repair to urological surgery and

club foot surgery. All surgeries were

performed in Tanzania.

SUPPORTING CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

– FDK partnered with the international NGO

Comprehensive Community Based

Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT) to

integrate Mtakuja into CCBRT’s catchment

area to provide structural rehabilitative care

to children with disabilities in the Kilimanjaro

region.

VILLAGE DISPENSARY – In April a three-way

Memorandum of Understanding was signed

between the village leaders, FDK and the

Office of the District Medical Officer for Moshi

Rural outlining an agreement and each party’s

responsibilities in the construction of a new

village dispensary. The construction of the

dispensary is planned for later in 2010, and

will serve the 2,000 people living in the

southern part of Mtakuja.

INCOME & AGRICULTURE

FORMATION OF A VILLAGE BASED PROJECT

COMMITTEE – A 15 member project

committee was created of village

representatives. Over the course of time, the

committee will take on responsibility for the

general oversight and management of the

project and in particular the irrigation

scheme.

FARMER SELECTION – 180 Farmers were

selected and will have a chance to cultivate a

½ acre plot in the pilot farm in the second half

of 2010. Women make up 60% of the farmers

selected.

KEY FARMER TRAINING – 8 Key Farmers and

8 Assistant Key Farmers were selected to be

trained at the Kilimanjaro Agricultural Training

Center in April. Teams of 1 key farmer and an

assistant will lead irrigation blocks consisting

of ±22 farmers in the pilot farm. Training of

the key farmers was paid for by the Tanzanian

government through its PADEP funding.

VICOBA – Seven Village Community Bank

Groups were started in early 2009. During the

second year of the project, the groups

continued to grow their savings and receive

training. Borrowing has also started. Total

savings for all groups is up to about Tsh. 5MM

(or €2,750).

SACCOS – In partnership with the French

NGO FERT and the USAWA (Umoja wa

SACCOS za Wakulima Kilimanjaro Limited)

network – created and supported by FERT –

preparations are in a final stage to open a

SACCOS (Savings and Credit Cooperative

Societies) office in Mtakuja village. The

establishment of a SACCOS should greatly

increase access to professional savings and

lending services.

INFRASTRUCTURE

BOREHOLES – In July 2009 two boreholes

were drilled to depth of 58m and 80m

respectively. Together they are expected to

yield in excess of 220m3/hr, enough to irrigate

40 hectares of farm land. Construction of the

boreholes was partially paid for by the

Tanzanian government through its PADEP

funding.


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ROADS – The TPC Ltd. Company lent a hand –

and heavy equipment – to construct close to

9km of roads to provide access to the pilot

farm, including farm roads accessing all plots.

ELECTRICITY – Following a successful

application to the Rural Energy Agency (REA)

for co-financing of the construction of the

power supply, 4km of electrical infrastructure,

including high-tension and low-tension lines,

was constructed by the national electrical

supply company, TANESCO.

IRRIGATION SCHEME – Started construction

of a 40 hectare irrigation scheme, the pilot

farm. The scheme uses a pressurized piped

system, with main pipes and laterals buried

underground. Overhead sprinklers will be

used for irrigation. The scheme has been

subdivided in 96 plots of 1 acre.

OTHER

DOCUMENTARY – In August a film crew

came to Mtakuja to document life in the

village at the start of the project. The

documentary was subsequently shown in the

village to large audiences over two days in

February 2010.

WOOD SAVING STOVES – In partnership

with Floresta Tanzania, and leveraging the

VICOBA groups, a first group of 60 families

constructed wood saving stoves, significantly

reducing their use of firewood, lowering cost

and smoke production and hence reducing

adverse effects of smoke inhalation.

HOUSEHOLD SURVEY – In March a team of

interviewers from the village lead by

volunteer Giulia von Braunmühl conducted

nearly 300 interviews with heads of

households to provide a baseline

understanding of income and expenditures

for the average family in Mtakuja.

STAFFING – At the beginning of the year,

Stella Msarikie from Mtakuja joined FD

Kilimanjaro as the second Tanzanian staff

member, joining Zablon Sarakikya

(Agricultural Program Officer). Stella is the

Social Welfare Officer and plays a critical role

in maintaining contact with and involving the

community, in particular the most vulnerable

people, (sick, orphan) children, women and

the elderly.

At the end of the second year, Gerbert Rieks

joined FD Kilimanjaro as the new Project

Coordinator, taking over from Joris de Vries,

who left at the end of Year 2.

YEAR TWO – Starting to put the plan in action.

In this second year of the Mtakuja Development Project many new activities were initiated, across

all of our main program areas of health, education, agriculture & income and infrastructure. That

said, the community continues to eagerly await the start of cultivation in the pilot farm, which is

now planned for July/August of 2010. Construction of the power supply infrastructure started in

April, removing a big uncertainty in the process of the construction of the pilot farm. There can be

little doubt that to the people of Mtakuja, the pilot farm is the focal point of the entire project, and

for good reasons. The expected increase in income generated by the agricultural output from the 40

hectares of irrigated farm land in pilot area should initially prove a substantial boost to people’s food

security and over time – including the expansion of the land under irrigation – increasing agricultural

output will need to lead to increased levels of disposable income. Agriculture in the long term will


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not drive continuous economic growth, but it will improve people’s food security, protection against

economic shocks, improve their health status and provide a basis for people to develop other

sources of income and other economic activities. For now the realization of the pilot farm is to a

large extent primarily a construction project of substantial size, including abovementioned power

supply, but also boreholes, road construction and of course the design and construction of the actual

irrigation scheme.

It has been all hands on deck, with the community working together to clear the entire area of the

pilot farm, removing shrubs, trees and tree trunks. TPC has contributed its heavy equipment –

graders, a compactor and bowser – and personnel to construct farm access roads. The drilling and

construction of the boreholes was contracted out to a local, Moshi based, company.

Clockwise from top left corner: Borehole drilling in July 2009; Road construction at the pilot farm in March 2010; Cleaning

the pilot farm by the village in March 2010; Poles for the power supply delivered to Mtakuja in April 2010.

It is a widely held maxim that constructing things is easy when it comes to claiming success in

international development. We are acutely aware of this and try to avoid the pitfalls of doing half

work. We seek to involve the community at all times, from decision making to making financial and

other contributions.

Few efforts are spared to keep the community as a whole informed about the project. Periodically

letters addressed to the community are written and widely disseminated highlighting project events,

meetings are organized with women or at the sub-village level and meetings with village leaders are


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scheduled regularly and often happen informally. It has been clear that the scope of the project and

its opportunities are hard to grasp – and to be believed – for many community members, but their

understanding is critical to the long term success of the project. To further inform the community,

we organized for the public showing of the documentary in the schools – during the day – and at

public spaces outdoors at night. These events in February were true happenings, partnering with the

Tanzanian nonprofit Maajabu, more than 1,500 people from Mtakuja viewed the documentary.

The documentary shown at Mtakuja Primary school and outside in the sub-village of Mafuriko.

In the years to come, new installments of the documentary will be filmed, to overtime develop a

visual assessment of the project and its impact on life in the village. FD Kilimanjaro’s partner in

Holland, the End of Poverty Foundation is making similar documentaries about other integrated

village based projects elsewhere in the world, in an effort to develop a library of visual materials to

help bring attention to this concept of development.

In the years ahead, management responsibility for the project, in particular the irrigation scheme

will have to be assumed by the community. Looking ahead, we have taken a first step by creating a

Project Committee consisting of 15 members, whom were selected from a group of candidates

elected by their fellow villagers.

Project Committee Formation Workshop. Project Committee on Study Tour in Arusha District.


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Following a three day workshop, the representatives elected the 15 members from among

themselves. Since that time the project committee has continued to receive training and has been

involved in such decisions like the irrigation scheme design.

Another important role will be filled by a group of Key Farmers and Assistant Key Farmers. This is a

group of 16 men and women in total who were selected from the community through a process in

which each sub village put forward a number of candidates, who in turn met with a selection

committee. This selection committee consisted of FD Kilimanjaro staff, village representatives and

village leaders. Each of the nearly 30 candidates was interviewed by the selection committee;

candidates were probed about their experience, interest in the work and commitment to the

community.

Clockwise from top left. Selection Committee members interviewing a candidate for a position of Key Farmer. Key Farmers

during the training at KATC. Zablon Sarakikya explaining the farmer selection process to people from Mabatini and Riservu

(left) and Mafuriko and Mbeya Kubwa (right).

In April the 8 Key Farmers went for training at the Kilimanjaro Agricultural Training Center (KATC).

During the two week training, the farmers learned about proper cultivation techniques for half a

dozen crops, irrigation methods and management, leadership, market development and other

relevant issues. The Assistant Key Farmers attended 3 days of the training to help them prepare for

their role.


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Once the pilot farm is completed, the 96 one-acre plots will enable close to 190 farmers (including

the Key Farmers) to cultivate half an acre during the first season. The village leadership was a major

factor in the decision to initially assign two farmers to each one-acre plot, rather than one farmer to

an acre. This way the village seeks to give as many families access and spread the early benefits of

the pilot farm to more rather than fewer families. A long and elaborate process was designed and

implemented to select the farmers who would have a chance to cultivate during the first season.

Through a series of public meetings at the sub-village levels, interested farmers had a chance to

show their intent and commitment to being selected. Attendance – and timely arrival at the

meetings – were important factors that ultimately determined who would have an early chance to

cultivate in the pilot farm. Our main concern was to have the selection process be as fair and

transparent as possible, while aiming to select the most motivated and disciplined farmers. The

entire process was largely lead by Zablon Sarakikya, FD Kilimanjaro’s Agricultural Program Officer,

who patiently explained each step of the process and our expectations at meeting after meeting. At

the end of the day we selected 111 women and 76 men, very close to the 60:40 ratio we had

envisioned at the outset.

Mothers and children lining up for the medical

checks.

Child evaluated by a doctor from MCC.

The beginning of Year 2 also saw our first significant foray into realizing our goals for the Health

Program. The goal for this program is described as: Increasing access and utilization of primary

health care services locally and more specialized care further afield, while improving general health

and awareness of health issues and diseases. In August 2009 we partnered with the Dutch NGO

Medical Checks for Children (MCC), a volunteer organization for health care professionals. Through a

medical camp approach, where a team of volunteers with a diverse health care background, comes

to a site to perform basic health evaluations of children and provide on the spot care for an array of

medical issues. The evaluation and care focuses strongly on malnutrition and many associated health

issues, including worms, stunting, vitamin deficiencies, skin afflictions and other things.

MCC prefers to work with a local partner or partners to allow for proper referral and follow up

services. FD Kilimanjaro involved TPC Hospital to provide the initial follow up services, including

laboratory analysis of stool, urine and blood samples. By involving TPC Hospital we assured that any

children diagnosed with health issues that required follow up or continuous care would have an

efficient way of accessing the required services. In most cases FD Kilimanjaro covered the cost of any


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follow up care. During the first medical camp the MCC team saw 1,193 children. The MCC staff

worked together with a team of women from the village who acted as translators and interpreters.

FD Kilimanjaro agreed with MCC to a partnership for up to five years, with a team of doctors

returning to Mtakuja once a year. The goals for these annual camps are multiple. First, the camps

will provide critical care to more than 1,000 children each year. There is no doubt that due to this

annual check-up, children with health issues that would otherwise go unnoticed will receive the

attention they need. Secondly, the medical camp itself will increase awareness of health issues and

provide a forum to educate parents and children about important health and hygiene matters.

During the 2009 camp, a TPC Hospital staff nurse provided HIV/AIDS information and counseling for

those families interested. In 2010 we will build on this type of added services during the medical

camp by involving our new health care partner Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitative Care

in Tanzania (CCBRT) into the camp. Other local health organizations might also be asked to join.

Finally, we expect that the services combined with the awareness building and education

opportunities inherent to the camp, the annual camps will provide a basis for the introduction of

more structural health care services, for instance the creation of a team of Village Health Workers.

VHWs are typically trained to provide basic – mobile or home based – health care services, but also

seek to encourage and properly guide patients and families to access other health care services.

Training of these VHWs might take place in the context of the medical camp; in addition they will

receive support from the staff at TPC Hospital.

CCBRT Staff member Sabas explaining their services to women in the sub-villages Riservu and

Mabatini.

Another important step toward a structural improvement of access to primary health care will be

the construction of a dispensary in the south of the village, the area known as Mserikia. About 2,000

people live in the area and today find themselves somewhat caught in between two less than ideal

options when it comes to accessing primary health care services. The village health clinic is located in

the north of the village, for some people as far away as 5km. TPC Hospital is about 7-8km in the

other direction. The distances to these health care centers pose serious problems to sick people and

the elderly in need of care. The construction of a dispensary – a smaller unit than the health clinic in

Tanzania’s hierarchy of care providers, but staffed on a daily basis – has been agreed upon with the

village and the leadership of Moshi Rural District. The agreement has been formalized in a

Memorandum of Understanding governing the construction and operation of the dispensary. The


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Memorandum provides for the community to make a financial contribution to construction cost. The

District has committed itself to provide medical personnel and medical supplies and medications

once the dispensary has been constructed.

Announcing the secondary school scholarship program in

August at Mserikia Primary School.

Community members helping with the construction of the

class room in Remit.

The Mtakuja Development Project sprung from a partnership between Mserikia Primary School (in

the south of Mtakuja village) and the FEMI Foundation, the primary supporter behind FD

Kilimanjaro. Education remains a large and important component of the project. In Year 2 we

continued the lunch programs at both public primary schools and expanded the extra hours of

tuition program to Mtakuja Primary School. Following very good results at Mserikia Primary School

at the end of the 2008 school year, expectations were high in December 2009. Results however were

disappointing, with only 50% of the students passing their final exams and enabling them to

continue to secondary school. Especially for Mserikia Primary School this was a significant set back

from the stellar results the year before, when they posted an 82% pass rate. Context is important to

understand these scores. The national pass rate for Standard 7 exams in 2009 was 50%. A shockingly

low percentage, meaning that nearly 1 million students did not successfully conclude their primary

school career and are now unable to enter secondary school. The impact a locally operating NGO like

FD Kilimanjaro can have is unfortunately limited as it does not operate in a vacuum, but we hope

and believe our impact going forward will not be insignificant. The schools have to make do with too

few teachers, class rooms that are spartanly equipped, large number of students in one class who

often range in age, with students differing 4 or 5 years in age being not uncommon, few books and

other teaching aides.

Following the disappointing results of 2009 we engaged the schools’ leaders in discussions about the

results, their experiences and the environment in which they run their schools. We also asked them

to present a plan to us on how we can improve the learning environment. Currently we are putting

most of the components of their plan in action. The additional aid will increase the number of books

in the class rooms for a number of subjects that were considered the most important by the

teachers. We will also provide funds to support the acquisition of general teaching aides. Finally we

will support the schools in their effort to improve the students’ English comprehension through

extra classes. As the year unfolds and the results roll in at the end of the year, we will assess our

progress.


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However, our education program goes beyond primary education. Our goal is to improve quality and

access to education at all levels from pre-primary education to adult education.

In 2010 we started the construction of a pre-primary class room in the Masai neighborhood of the

village called Remiti. The class will be an integral part of Mserikia Primary School and under

supervision of the headmaster of that school. The construction of the school in Remiti should enable

the young children of the Masai to start school at the age of 4 or 5, while no longer facing the long

walk through the bush to Mserikia Primary School, which so far has proven a serious stumbling

block. As inherent in most of our initiatives, the community was asked to make significant

contributions, both financial and in the form of labor. The class room is expected to open its doors to

the students in July after the break in the school calendar.

In August 2009 a new scholarship program was announced. The program seeks to send 10 high

performing students from the two public primary schools in Mtakuja to the private secondary school

in the village. The 10 grantees should include at least 2 orphans each year and preferably 5 girls. The

students receive grants ranging from 70% to 100% and are supported for four years of secondary

school, depending on good results at the end of each year. New scholarships will be granted to 10

students for each of the next three years.

Following a study visit by two students from University College Utrecht, Willem van de Riet and

Renske van Millink, our plans for initiatives to improve access to vocational training courses took

further shape as well. The research shed light on community members’ wishes and desires for

vocational training and highlighted various options for FD Kilimanjaro to consider as we were

planning to enable people to access vocational training. Later in 2010 we expect to pilot a program

to grant a number of vocational training scholarships through a process during which interested

community members may apply for a scholarship.

Ibrahim Lema and Stella Msarikie conducting an

interview in Mbeya Kubwa.

An interview in progress in Mtakuja.

As part of our effort to honestly and objectively evaluate the project going forward, we conducted a

second household survey in the first half of 2010. Giulia von Braunmühl volunteered with FD

Kilimanjaro for three months, she designed a questionnaire focusing on questions regarding sources

and scope of income and expenditures, to help us better understand families’ economic activity and

spending patterns. Using a random sampling method, 276 households were selected for interviews


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to form a representative sample. The findings – unsurprisingly – confirm the limited opportunities

for income generation and hence very little economic activity. The main purpose of the survey was

to provide a baseline against which we can measure the nature and scope of changes in the coming

years. The interviews also provided us with an opportunity to ask about a number of practical issues

and regarding the respondents wishes, for themselves and the project.

GOING FORWARD – YEAR THREE

As we head into the third year of the Mtakuja Development Project and with the start of cultivation

in the pilot farm, the expectations are high. Nobody expected this to be easy, and it will undoubtedly

continue to be stop-and-go for a while longer, but considering the progress over the past two years

and the positive responses and involvement of the community and project partners, optimism

seems warranted. We will continue to push forward with developing the pilot farm and empowering

the farmers. In the second half of 2010 we will construct the new dispensary to expand permanent

health care services to the south of the village. Also in 2010 we hope to grant our first Vocational

Training Scholarships. We continue to pursue the possibility of a partnership with Heifer

International to bring their signature livestock program to Mtakuja, funding is currently the obstacle,

but such a program would give the most vulnerable families access to sources of income and an

opportunity to improve their nutritional intake by introducing milk, eggs or meat into their diets.

There are plans to enable families to buy subsidized solar lamps to bring light to their dark evenings

and facilitate home study for their school age children. All along, we will continue all our current

programs and continue to build on the partnerships we have developed so far, and continuously be

on the lookout for new and mutually advantageous affiliations with other partner organizations.

Finally, from May 1st

2010, the project will be lead by new project coordinator Gerbert Rieks.

Gerbert comes to FD Kilimanjaro with extensive experience in Africa, in community development

and tropical agriculture. Gerbert has many years of experience working with farmers in Tanzania,

helping them to develop their business and increasing income, with a particular focus on organic

agriculture. Gerbert received his degree from the International Agricultural College in Deventer.

WE THANK ALL OUR SUPPORTERS AND PARTNERS. TPC Ltd. and TPC

Hospital, Floresta Tanzania, Kilimanjaro Agricultural Training Center (KATC), AquaTech Ltd.,

Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT), FERT & USAWA, Moshi Rural

District, the Regional Commissioner for Kilmanjaro, Medical Checks for Children (MCC), Rooms

Katholieke Stichting Bijzondere Gezondheidszorg (SBG) and Stichting End of Poverty. The primary

financial supporter and founding sponsor of FD Kilimanjaro is Stichting FEMI. The Mtakuja

Development Project has received additional funding from Stichting DIRA 1, The Rotary Club Soest

(with partner organization Rotary Ahlen, Germany), De Wilde Ganzen, MCC, Net4Kids, all in the

Netherlands. In Tanzania we are grateful to have received funding from the Rural Energy Agency

(REA), the Participatory Agricultural Development and Empowerment Program (PADEP) and TPC Ltd.

For more information about FD Kilimanjaro or the Mtakuja Development Project, please contact Gerbert Rieks

at [email protected].

fd kilimanjaro mtakuja development project · 2017. 10. 17. · mtakuja development project 2010 2...

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