How 3 Women are Leading Change in Tanzania

In the rugged landscapes of western Tanzania, resilience is the way of life, and no one embodies this more deeply than the women leading change in their communities. Here, by the shores of Lake Tanganyika, women rise to the daily challenges of nurturing families, farming, and making a living. Through the Tuungane Project—a partnership with Pathfinder that fosters healthier families, farms, and forests—women like Nusura Sadiki, Doris James, and Velena Ponsian are sowing the seeds of transformation and proving that empowered women can reshape their communities.

Nusura has always been a farmer, but life changed when she learned conservation farming techniques through the Tuungane Project. Before that, she would plant maize on her two-acre plot without any specific method or understanding of soil health management practices, resulting in poor yields. “I farmed randomly, planting here and there without knowing where to place the seeds, and I’d get very little from my efforts,” she recalls. Each harvest brought frustration as her hard work yielded only eight sacks of maize, not nearly enough to support her family.

Through Tuungane, Nusura was introduced to new farming practices that emphasized maintaining soil health by applying organic manure to farmlands, timely planting, mulching, crop rotation, use of technically recommended plant spacing, and using ridges to prevent soil erosion from carrying away the fertile topsoil from sloping farmlands. Convincing her husband to shift from their old ways to these modern methods wasn’t easy. “He was doubtful at first,” she says, but she persuaded him to try it as an experiment, with a promise to stop if it didn’t improve their harvest. The results were undeniable: Their farm’s yield skyrocketed to over 40 sacks of maize, transforming their livelihood. With the additional income, Nusura was able to move her family from a grass-thatched hut into a modern house and finally afford school fees for her children.

“Before, life was hard—I could barely afford school fees or basic needs,” she shares. “But now, I can educate my children, and my life has truly changed.” Inspired by her success, Nusura shares her knowledge with other women, encouraging them to follow technically recommended farming techniques that she promises will improve their lives as they did hers. “If you adopt the technically recommended farming practices, you will see the difference.”

In 2016, Doris attended a community meeting in Rukoma Village, where Tuungane mobilizers explained the benefits of community conservation banks, or COCOBAs. COCOBAs are grassroots financial cooperatives where community members save money together and provide low-interest loans to each other. This model empowers women by giving them access to the capital they need to start or expand businesses without the financial strain of high-interest loans. Investing in women through COCOBAs helps the environment by reducing economic pressures that often lead to unsustainable practices, such as deforestation and overfishing, as women find more sustainable ways to support their families.

Doris was initially nervous about joining the COCOBA, fearing she might lose her investment. But the promise of an opportunity to build a more stable income encouraged her to give it a try. Doris took out a small loan from the COCOBA group to open a tailoring shop in her village. Her shop soon became a success, and the income allowed her to send her daughter to university—a dream Doris once thought was out of reach. “We no longer need to choose between sending children to school and conserving the environment,” she says. “With COCOBAs, I can support my family without sacrificing the land we all rely on.”

Today, Doris is a respected leader within her COCOBA group and teaches other women how to benefit from these microfinance structures. She passionately encourages others to see COCOBAs as a pathway to both independence and environmental responsibility. “My mission is to make sure women know that they don’t have to face these choices alone,” she says. For Doris, the COCOBA model represents not just economic empowerment but the possibility of a future where her community thrives in harmony with their environment.

In the mountainous region near Lugonesi Village, Velena has become a dedicated guardian of the community’s natural forests. Through Tuungane, the decision was made to establish woodlots—designated areas where fast-growing trees are cultivated specifically for household uses—to reduce the pressure on indigenous forests. This initiative allows villagers to meet their needs for firewood, construction materials, and even charcoal, all without harming the natural ecosystem.

Velena learned the delicate balance of nurturing young seedlings and preventing wildfires through Tuungane training. She takes her role as a tree monitor seriously, ensuring that the woodlots thrive and teaching her neighbors how to care for the seedlings. “Forests have so many benefits,” she explains. “They give us clean air, fertile soil, and wood for building, but more than that, they are our heritage—a gift for our children.” Velena has seen how these woodlots have brought the community together with a shared commitment to preserving the environment.

Thanks to dedicated champions like Velena, the Tuungane Project has planted over 10 million trees in the Kigoma and Katavi regions, achieving an impressive survival rate of 86%. For Velena, this work is about more than meeting immediate needs; it is about instilling a sense of responsibility in the next generation. “When we take care of the forest, we take care of each other,” she says. Velena’s leadership has not only improved local ecosystems but also strengthened the community’s bond and pride in their shared land.