There is no 'spare money' in rural Tanzania and it is a country where very little is provided by the government. There is no welfare state, no pension scheme and no NHS. This means that when times are tough, families and community members support each other.

For this reason, money to buy simple things like tree seeds and protection for them against hungry cattle and goats needs to come from elsewhere. Raising a multipurpose building for training, volunteer accommodation and a pre-school venue is a bold undertaking but will have a huge impact as the centre of our 1.5 acre demonstration farm plot.

Friends of Empowering the Future was established to resource a range of projects. Some, such as providing subsidised tree seeds and agricultural workshops can have immediate effects. Others, such as completing our building and growing our pre-school will have a longer time frame.

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Farming in Tanzania, as in the rest of the world, is under pressure due to climate change. Population growth and a reliance on wood as a cooking fuel add increased pressure on already stretched resources. A big focus of Empowering the Future is to train farmers and growers with climate-smart agricultural methods that can help adapt to the changing conditions. Understanding the need to care for soil and trees as living entities needing good health is important in Africa as in the UK.

Education is carried out in workshops and seminars as well as out on farms and on our own plot. As locals learn more they are encouraged to share new knowledge for increase local confidence.

In addition to teaching those out of the school system, we run an English speaking pre-school with the aim of embedding in village children a love of nature and growing things, whilst also enhancing the chances of later academic success; all secondary school education in Tanzania is conducted in English. Quite a challenge!

Financial and livelihood resilience can be greatly enhanced by some entrepreneurship and enterprise. This is something we are keen to encourage, particularly among young people who may not be able to continue education beyond primary or secondary school.

Sometimes a simple and smart idea can be hugely effective and have a great impact. But often a stumbling block is the finance and confidence to get started, so ETF looks to resource and encourage enterprise in the region, through finance and partnering with people.

This young man, Paul, is combining his new knowledge with the opportunity of subsidised vegetable seeds and is now generating income. He has earned enough in 6 months of hard work, to buy a cow.

As you may suspect, women in Tanzania have many responsibilities. In addition to preparing hot food for 3 meals per day, it is the women’s responsibility to collect water and fuel wood, to wash clothes (they do, at least, have no shortage of ‘good drying days’!), clean, and to look after children. They may also have a small business selling eggs or hens, or drinks or snacks at the local markets but preparation time for this can be at night, once all other chores are complete and the household in bed.

Some women do not have a husband or partner and have no-one to grow food or generate income for them. We have encouraged women’s enterprise in Dodoma city and in the rural villages. We have also shown how to build a safer and more fuel efficient mud brick cooking stove which requires less wood and produces less smoke.

In the future we hope to be able to offer specific support and training to young mothers while their children attend our pre-school.