World Vision Tanzania, RECODA enter into partnership with ROCKWOOL Foundation to rescue smallholder farmers in Tanzania from hunger and poverty

The ROCKWOOL Foundation’s RIPAT-scheme for improving farming in poor regions is now fully developed and is to be transferred to be co-owned by RECODA and World Vision Tanzania, which is part of one of the largest international NGOs in the world, World Vision. This transfer will lead to the further spread of the concept, to the benefit of smallholder farmers in Tanzania and Africa in general.  An agreement between the parties involved was signed in Arusha, Tanzania on Tuesday, 24 January 2017. Currently n Tanzania, the project is implemented in five districts namely Meru, Arusha, Karatu, Hai and Korogwe; in 41 villages, 2,500 households with more than 15,000 people.

RIPAT (Rural Initiative for Participatory Agricultural Transformation) is a programme that has as its goal the reduction of poverty, hunger and undernourishment among smallholder farmers by means of improved crop cultivation and animal husbandry, using the principle of help to self-help. The concept has been developed by the ROCKWOOL Foundation in collaboration with the local Tanzanian NGO RECODA, which has implemented a series of RIPAT projects in Tanzania since 2006. In these projects, experiments have been made with locally based agricultural technologies and social innovations, with the aim of introducing and spreading the use of new and improved crops and livestock among smallholder farmers. The overarching goal has been to increase production and income among the participating farmers.

A comprehensive research-based evaluation of the RIPAT projects has shown that the participating farmers and their families significantly improve their food security – especially during the “hungry period” immediately before the harvest – to the benefit, first and foremost, of children under five years of age, who grow and develop normally as a consequence of the improved nutrition. The research findings also show that participating farmers achieve greater independence and largely cease working for others as day labourers, instead beginning to employ day labourers themselves in the production of food.

The results have in fact been so good that World Vision Tanzania is taking over ownership of the RIPAT model in collaboration with RECODA, with a view to applying the scheme in their development programmes.  World Vision places special emphasis on improving the life conditions of children, which is precisely why the documented effects of RIPAT in terms of helping parents to be able to feed their children have been a fundamental factor in their decision.

“We are incredibly proud that a large and highly respected organisation like World Vision has adopted the RIPAT concept. It is the ambition of the ROCKWOOL Foundation to develop and present solutions to major challenges faced by society. The takeover of RIPAT by World Vision Tanzania will provide a secure base for the programme, as well as ensuring optimal conditions in the future for the concept to contribute to strengthening production by and income for the smallholder farmers of Tanzania – and, we hope, for farmers in a large number of other African countries as well,” says Elin Schmidt, President of the ROCKWOOL Foundation.

Tim Andrews, Director of World Vision Tanzania, is looking forward to working with the RIPAT concept. “This represents an enormous opportunity for WVT, especially because RIPAT is perfectly aligned with our Smallholder Farmer strategy which at its core requires an effective model for starting and replicating producer groups and producer associations.  While WVT has many successful programmes available to support smallholder farmers, we are convinced that RIPAT will fill a crucial gap and complement our work and other approaches. We are particularly excited about how RIPAT empowers people to take charge of their own development and helps them to work their way out of poverty and food insecurity. Some RIPAT groups are still working together, adapting and spreading what they have learned, even though facilitation stopped years ago,” he says.

• Read about the RIPAT projects and the evaluations of them on the ROCKWOOL Foundation website
• Visit the RIPAT website

Further information

For further information, please contact:

Jens M. Vesterager, Programme Leader, The ROCKWOOL Foundation. Tel: + 45 33 34 47 07, email: jenves@rfintervention.dk  

Dominick Ringo, Executive Director, RECODA. Tel: + 255 768 224 052, email: ed@recoda.or.tz

Melkizedeck Karol, Ag. Communications Manager, World Vision Tanzania, Tel: +255 716 903 3770, email: melkizedeck_karol@wvi.org