Ngara, TZ – Garden shop employee using skills to start new project – 27 May 2016

Elias joined the SODAT garden shop in March 2015. In September of that year he started a vegetable garden with two neighboring families. His experience working for the garden shop enabled him to lead those families in maintaining a profitable vegetable garden for more than eight months. Now they are using those same skills to start a new project.

Elias is using skills he learned at the garden shop and applying them to a new income generating project: tree seedlings. After getting experience with best practices for planting and maintaining vegetable seedlings, Elias decided to use some of the same practices to grow seedlings for lumber and coffee trees. The seedlings will be sold locally or used to expand Elias’ farm for future income. These long-term investments are a good compliment to the short-term savings and income from the vegetable garden.
It is no wonder Elias is starting to think long term, he’s getting married in June. At 21 years old, he is already thinking about his ability to take care of his wife and the children he expects in the coming years. Currently, he is focused on finishing the final wall of his house before the wedding.