Thousands of villagers near national parks benefit from REGROW project

The project which is implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism aims to empower villagers surrounding protected areas around Ruaha, Mikumi, Udzungwa and Nyerere National Park. The purpose is to see them benefiting from the various opportunities that arise from conservation and tourism.

The villagers who are also involved in protecting the Ruaha National Park ecosystem, have formed groups whereas they save money and access loans.

However, through the groups, REGROW supports them to establish projects that help them to generate a good income. REGROW supports the group through provision of seed money which is channelled through Community Conservation Banks (COCOBA).

Some of the economic activities (projects) the groups conduct includes catering services (traditional food), agriculture, tie and dye, cattle fattening and traditional dances. With the generated income, most of the villagers at Tungamalenga have improved their livelihood with some being able to build better houses and start small businesses.

Secretary of the ‘Tembo Pilipili’ group, Batista Kihombo said the REGROW project has turned them into conservationists and boosted their livelihood. He said the group cultivates chili peppers that are used to scare elephants from invading their farms.

“We started cultivating chili peppers as a pilot project this year. Our plans are to cultivate five acres in the coming farming season since we have already received 4m/- as start-up funds from REGROW,” said Kihombo, adding the use of chili peppers in keeping away elephants has contributed to reducing wildlife invasion into villagers’ farms.

“Plans are to cultivate enough chilli peppers to also sell them at various markets countrywide,” added Kihombo.

Gerald Mbunde, Secretary of the Vision Group said with the 20m/- seed money from REGROW the group plans to procure a milling machine to add value to rice and maize.

“We are benefiting from conservation and tourism activities by selling our products to tourists. Adding value to our agricultural products will enable us to get a good profit, thus improving our welfare,” stated Mbunde.

Marketing Officer of the Jijenge Unity group, Shani Richard said the 15 members group received 20m/- as seed money from REGROW which was directed to various projects including sunflower cultivation.

“We also do catering services; we prepare traditional foods for local and foreign visitors and have so far generated more than 16m/-,” she stated, noting the group also practices traditional dancing.

Zuberi Ng’ingo, Chairman of the Jijenge Unity group said: “We commended the government for coming up with this supportive arrangement. I have successfully finished construction of my house as well as paying school fees for my children.”

Ng’ingo added that apart from cultivating sunflowers as a group; he has separately invested in cultivation of rice and maize.

Chairman of the BAKUKI group, Paschal Victor said they started engaging with the REGROW project in 2022 whereas they have so far benefitted with 10.6m/- seed money through COCOBA.

Victor said the welfare of group members have improved as most of them are now living a standard life and can afford to pay school fees for their children. The group deals with traditional handicraft art of textile printing (Batik), pig farming and agriculture.

Community Facilitator (REGROW) Aneth Elia said the project resolved to engage the community in conservation activities whereas apart from assisting them financially they provide them with financial literacy training to ensure proper expenditure of funds.

“We train them on financial literacy before giving them money; this helps to ensure that provided funds are spent properly on intended projects,” said Elia.

She noted that villagers are also assisted to secure markets for their locally made goods and agricultural products through the Village Livelihood Committee (VLC).

Deputy Project Coordinator (REGROW) from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Blanka Tengia said that so far they have provided 1.4bn/- as seed money to 159 groups from 15 villages.

She added that a total of 150 projects owned by different groups have been provided with seed capital worth 3.1bn/- to facilitate its implementation.

The REGROW project that aims to improve tourism in the southern circuit covers Nyerere, Udzungwa, Ruaha and Mikumi National Parks. It works with 61 villages whereas in the first phase it covered 15 villages. So far a total 761 groups have benefited with the empowerment plan.

“REGROW empowers villagers surrounding the four national parks economically to enable them to establish alternative income generating activities. This helps to reduce and ultimately control illegal activities within our parks,” stated Tengia.