WAEV Project

WAEV PROJECT

Blue Planet United is supporting the work of WAEV – Women’s Agri-Enviro Vision in Tanzania

WAEV is currently centered in Lendikinya, a large Maasai community twelve kilometers southwest of Monduli, Tanzania. This village is one of many marginalized pastoralist communities in the Monduli district. As is typical in Maasai communities, women’s work never ends—food production, cooking, domestic chores, and the gathering of water and firewood from hours away. They are given little financial resources and, in most cases, have low social status in their families and communities. WAEV is determined to address these disparities and empower women socially and economically.

The Foundation: Women’s Groups

Our groups have planted over 12,000 trees!

Each woman’s group participant initially receives 20 saplings to plant around her homestead. In addition, she receives training to ensure her trees are successfully maintained and sustainably cultivated. This training is further supplemented by individual check-ins and consultations throughout the program. To remain in a women’s group, a woman must effectively maintain at least 50% of her trees. Those who demonstrate this skill and commitment will have the opportunity to procure additional trees. 

Since its inception, WAEV has grown from a single group of 17 women who met under an acacia tree, to now over 150 women and six cohorts. These women are the leaders of environmental and social justice in Lendikinya and are empowered change-makers in their communities. 

Our Trees

We select trees that are either native to Tanzania or are noninvasive, and suitable to grow in the harsh, unpredictable conditions of Monduli. We choose trees that are relatively fast-growing, easy to harvest (i.e. do not have thorns), and offer positive results to the native ecosystem and the women who plant them.

Benefits

Mature trees directly provide many different resources for the women, their families, and the greater community. Women use certain trees to fuel fires for cooking, collect fruit from others to feed their families, and harvest timber to sell for profit. Other trees will remain in their homesteads, revitalizing the local ecosystem, improving soil health and reducing soil erosion. 

Despite the challenging environmental conditions in the Monduli district, most women are successful, and the average tree survival rate so far is 70%. In the last three years, our groups have planted over 12,000 trees!

Visit - https://www.waevngo.org/ for more information.