Programs Overview:

Interactive Programs Map
Mutimedia Programs Guide

New Projects:

TACARE’s activities are divided into five primary project areas: Community development – community-run savings and credit programs, village development funds, and promotion of fuel-saving stoves; Forestry – tree nurseries, planting trees around villages, and establishment of forestry reserves protected by village bylaws; Agriculture – development and distribution of improved oil palm seedlings, cash crop promotion, and training in agro-forestry; Health – family planning, water and environmental sanitation, and education in HIV/AIDS and STDs; Roots & Shoots – environmental and humanitarian education program for youth.

Community Development:

The community development aspect of TACARE focuses on improving the standard of living in the region of Lake Tanganyika while promoting reforestation, curbing soil erosion, and delivering conservation education to the local population. TACARE especially focuses on women’s development and encourages and assists in the development of women's networks that support small-scale businesses and individual goals.

There are three activities that contribute to successful community development:

1. Saving and credit schemes: TACARE has developed a savings and credit scheme to facilitate the creation of micro-enterprise finance institutions in the Kigoma region. The project requires members of each group to contribute a fixed, predetermined weekly or monthly savings amount. TACARE monitors the savings process on a regular basis. If a group makes sustained contributions, a two-week training course is initiated in the village. The training provides skills in group management, basic business operations, record-keeping and general administration. It seeks to develop among members a strong sense of ownership, responsibility, teamwork, leadership, strategic planning, and a methodological approach to the organizational management of a financial institution.
   
   As of May 2004, TACARE groups had collected their own savings of $9,400 USD and had revolved this to loans worth $46,000. Currently about 500 families have significantly improved their incomes. In Mwamgongo village, 35 of the 40 participants in savings and credit schemes are women.
   
   
2. Promotion of fuel-saving stoves: Women in Africa spend the majority of their time collecting firewood. Every two to three days they walk for perhaps eight hours. To help ease the burden of finding wood fuel and lessen reliance on the forest, TACARE promotes the use of fuel-efficient stoves which reduce firewood consumption by 60 percent. We've trained more than 400 women in the use and construction of these stoves. With the time saved, women can engage in other economic activities and ultimately elevate their status in the community and their self-esteem.
   
3. Village Development Fund: A number of community development projects have been initiated under the fund. These include infrastructure support, the rehabilitation of water systems, scholarships for women, and counseling and education on gender-related matters.
   

Infrastructure development projects have included:

• Rehabilitation of water systems
• Construction/renovation of medical dispensaries
• Construction of field stations
• Rehabilitation of schools

Scholarships for girls:

TACARE’s scholarship program creates opportunities for underprivileged and gifted girls to continue their studies. Girls have to meet certain criteria and be selected both at the village level and by the project scholarship committee. As of May 2004, the program had supported 112 girls through secondary school and college. Several women have completed their studies and work in a variety of fields, including law enforcement, human resources, secretarial work, accounting and community development.

TACARE recognizes the need to educate communities about their human rights, especially the rights of women. We distribute nine pamphlets created by the Tanzania Women Lawyers Association, covering topics such as constitutional rights, rights before court, rights before police, gender violence, inheritance laws, separation and divorce and custody of children. This information has been useful in settling disputes among local people.

Forestry:

TACARE’s forestry initiatives are multi-faceted. Tree nurseries support reforestation efforts and provide economic opportunity. Tree planting in and around villages promotes a conservation ethic as well as reforestation. Village-managed forest reserves provide a regulated long-term means of conserving forest.

• Tree Nurseries: Village Nursery Attendants (VINAs) are selected by the community to raise seedlings for use by the community in close cooperation with the TACARE project. To date, 80 village nurseries have raised more than 2.4 million tree seedlings and TACARE has trained 51 project and district staff members and 2,321 villagers in sustainable resource management.

• Tree Planting: With TACARE’s help, villagers have planted about 750,000 trees in 32 villages and have also planted 37 acres (15 ha) of demonstration plots and 163 acres (66 ha) of communal woodlots. TACARE also offers technical services to NGOs and private companies wishing to start reforestation and conservation projects.

• Village Forest Reserves: Protected by village bylaws, these reserves allow for secondary growth within indigenous forests. Future clear-cutting is prohibited, although sustainable harvest of some products is permitted. Village forest management plans guide the utilization of the reserves. The project also supports government efforts to curb uncontrolled fires in the forest reserves by establishing and training environment committees in each village and promoting non-timber forest activities such as beekeeping and herbal medicine. To date, 32 villages have established 65 reserves that cover many hillsides throughout the region.

• Development of Kitwe Forest: Placed under the custodianship of JGI, TACARE has established a twelve-acre (five-hectare) hard wood plantation in the buffer zone surrounding this forest.
  

Agriculture:

To maintain the natural resource base for future generations and enable today’s farmers to live from the land, agricultural practices must follow sustainability principles. The TACARE agriculture program focuses on demonstration plots, training farmers and peer educators in on-farm agro-forestry and soil erosion control measures. TACARE provides information on land-use planning, contour farming with vetivaria grasses, and the use of organic manure and pesticides.

TACARE also promotes perennial cash crops as well as vegetable and mushroom cultivation. TACARE provides inputs (i.e. seeds and fertilizers) at cost.

• Oil palm hybridization: TACARE operates a pioneer program in Tanzania that raises hybrid oil palms from local germplasm. TACARE provides improved seeds and seedlings to farmers, who grow the high-yield oil palm as a cash crop. Currently 16 village nurseries raise improved oil palm seedlings.

• Cash crop promotion: Through hands-on training and demonstration plots, TACARE helps villagers grow cash crops including oil palm, coffee, and coconut. Many local people have begun to adopt the techniques of TACARE-trained farmers.

• Agro-forestry demonstration plots: To re-introduce nutrients to the soil surface and to reduce soil erosion villagers are trained to plant trees and grasses along contour lines. Thirty-one demo plots have been established on fields of key farmers and on communal land.
  

Health

TACARE’s health projects focus on improving access to family planning and reproductive education and supplies.

• Voluntary Counseling Services and Family Planning Methods: These services are provided to both men and women in conjunction with distribution of family planning methods. Available methods include condoms, oral contraceptives, voluntary sterilization, IUCD, Depo-Provera, and natural methods. Currently 57% of involved villages are receiving reproductive health education, and materials.

• Community-Based Distribution Agents: TACARE trains community members selected by peers to disseminate family planning information and resources. The entire community becomes involved and better informed on the issue of family planning. A 1999 survey found that 11,987 people were participating in TACARE’s family planning program. In addition to providing family planning methods, Community-Based Distribution Agents (CBDAs) also make house calls to those who cannot travel to family planning centers, provide private peer counseling, keep health records and reports, and serve as role models to their communities incorporating family planning into their own lives.
  
  In each village, CBDAs are working with more than 30 families in family planning and reproductive health services. There are 72 distribution agents in project villages, ranging from four to eight per village.
  

• Water sanitation: To reduce the prevalance of water-borne diseases, TACARE partners with villages to ensure safe water. The approach is two-pronged, improving water quality through rehabilitation of water supply systems, construction of water "harvesting" tanks and spring protection, while empowering village water committees to sustain these projects. We also train villagers in water hygiene and sanitation.

Roots & Shoots

Roots & Shoots, a global environmental and humanitarian initiative for youth, is also part of the TACARE project. In 45 primary schools and children’s centers in 20 villages, children are taking an active role in developing and implementing projects relating to animals, the environment, and their communities.

R&S activities in Kigoma region: R&S activities center on animals, the environment, and the community. Activities have included planting of trees and grass, excursions to Gombe and workshops on HIV/AIDS prevention and control as well as on children’s rights. In addition, training has been offered to teachers in Kigoma region.

Photo courtesy of Mwandiga Secondary School	R&S members creating a compost pile Photo Courtesy of the Mlati Primary School

In 2000, there were 73 R&S clubs registered, 31 from Kigoma town, 13 from Kigoma rural, and 29 from Kasulu District.