From January to May 2020, The Rufiji village in Tanzania was hit with extremely strong rainfall and flash flooding, causing social and economic disasters affecting the poor communities in the area. In total, 66,000 hectares of farms were swept away, leading to loss of harvest and a poor business environment. 3,500 homes were demolished. Families were left hungry and homeless, with higher risk of disease and heavily reliant on support from charities and the government.
WF-AID responded to this emergency by providing sustainable solutions, which will help the families rebuild their lives and give them a stable income. We worked with Africa Federation to identify 178 families (including 65 women-led households and 84 farmers) who needed support to kickstart their businesses or make up for trade lost due to the flooding.
We purchased items for each of the businesses, including buying livestock, equipment (such as machinery), and stock, which were gifted to the beneficiaries, along with a cash grant to get them through this particularly difficult period. The businesses your donations have helped include retail businesses, soap making, tailoring, and cow, goat, and poultry farms.
Providing support to local businesses allows for long term growth for the whole community both in the immediate term and for generations to come. The cash grants and stock help the businesses become operational straight away. The income from that and the equipment give the businesses the ability to remain operational and grow.
