The farmers highlighted here are members of Tulinge Women’s Group; they started growing cashews in their village of Mambamba decades ago. They then started to process their own cashews after creating Tulinge Women’s Group. “Tulinge” in Swahili means ‘let’s get together.’ By getting together, these farmers decided to add value to their own cashews by processing themselves. The work is being done at home and is still done manually.
A place to process their cashews is still a challenge, and also equipment to be able to help them. Like many of their fellow cashew farmers, they still struggle with having a secure market to sell their processed cashews. By working with local farmers, we are seeking to change that by providing a secure market and best prices for their processed cashews. We are also building a community centre with automatic machines that these farmers can use to process their cashews at no charge. We asked them what would they like to achieve from the work we’re doing together. To read their answers, scroll down.
Here they are.
Zedatu Mgunya
44 years young
Processing her own
cashews since 2010.
Her goal:
She said she wants to build a house for her family; she would like to have a car and to expand her cashew farm.
Zainabu Mponda
73 years young
Processing her own
cashews since 1997.
Her goal:
She would like to improve her living standards; she would like to have a means of transportation, as she is now an elderly woman. She would like to also have goats and chicken, as they will help to provide income during the rest of the year as she wa its to harvest cashews again.
Amina Hassani
65 years young
Processing her own
cashews since 1997.
Her goal:
She said she wants to gain more income and this will be able to help her improve her life. She has a dream of building her own home and expanding her cashew farm. Her biggest hope is to improve the lives of her children and her family
Zainabu Ngwona
59 years young
Processing her own
cashews since 2011.
Her goal:
She said that she is now a grandmother and she would like to build herown house. She wants to be able to take care of her children and her family.
Somoye Chande
59 years young
Processing her own
cashews since 1997.
Her goal:
She said that she would like to improve her standard of living, a nice place to sleep and to have a car that will help her get around. She will take care of her farms and to be able to provide a better life for her children
Sharifa Nanamwa
63 years young
Processing her own
cashews since 2000.
Her goal:
She said she would like to build a house for her family, she would like to raise cattle and she also would like to have a car to help get around
Mustafa Mmalunda
47 years young
Processing his own
cashews since 2012.
His goal:
He said he would like to be able buy more cows; he has a few cows that produce milk. But he would like to buy a better breed for dairy production. His dream is to build a house for his family and to have a car to help getting around
Zainabu Issa
47 years young
Processing her own
cashews since 2006.
Her goal:
She said she wants to build a good house for her family, a car that will help her to get around. In Swahili she said she would like have “maisha mazuri,” this simply means a good life.
Somoye Majaliwa
58 years young
Processing her own
cashews since 2015.
Her goal:
She said she would like to build a house for her family; she would like to own cattle and more importantly to be able to educate her children.
Tabizuna Chinduli
43 years young
Processing her own
cashews since 2000.
Her goal:
She said she dreams of being a businesswoman and she hopes to be able to have a chicken farm. This will help her to have consistent income throughout the year. A big dream for her is for her children to go to good schools.