Incubating More Than Dreams

In Tanzania’s Magugu AP, near Arusha, funded by World Vision New Zealand, this group of 30 poultry raising women is called Mwamko, or “Wake up”.

The group has worked for three years with World Vision, learning capacity building, and chicken husbandry. They’ve learned to tell signs of disease, build cages, and do vaccinations. They use the money they make to pay school fees and health services. Each member earns about $125 US per year. But there are challenges. Sometimes chickens die from disease. Some chickens get stolen. Sometimes the food price is high. 

This group is taking loans from VisionFund Tanzania. They want more space, bigger and stronger coops, incubators for their chickens. They also would like to get electricity. Mwanahamisi Rashidi, 46, has 7 children, ages 6-25. “I want to have more income to expand my poultry farms,” she says. “I’d like extra income for my children’s educational expenses and health services. I would like to be able to pay for electricity. I need it for incubators. I could have a refrigerator to store chicken before I sell it. I could also make ice cream. And my children would have light to do their homework.”