Testing the research framework in Tanzania

Testing the research framework in Tanzania

Lieke Hulshof (social geographer) is recently testing our research framework in Tanzania. In time to come, the framework will be used to give us a good understanding of the impact of our projects.

The projects of Justdiggit have a lot of impact on both the physical landscape and the people living in those environments. Re-greening projects are always in development and the impact and results change over time. It is important to keep track of the impact that our projects make on the environment and the people. That’s why a monitoring and evaluation framework has been developed.

Together with LEAD Foundation, a Tanzanian organisation promoting re-greening, this research framework is now being tested in the field. After designing household surveys and focus group exercises, we are piloting the methods in cooperation with LEAD. It means we get to work with a lot of farmers in the Dodoma region in Tanzania. The farmers have many interesting stories to tell. It shows us how challenging their circumstances sometimes are, but also their great motivation to make changes. They share a lot of local knowledge about the difficulties and potentials within their environment. We can learn a lot from them!

Augustino is an example of a real ‘champion farmer’ and protects all 3,000 trees on his land. He often even guards during the night to protect trees against people looking for firewood. Augustino explains it takes two main things to be a good farmer. The first is to have some jealousy and turn this jealousy into the right action. If you are jealous of another farm, you should take up action and learn how to reach the same. Another success factor is simply working hard.

As an ex-militant, the farmer has a lot of discipline and states: “you dig or you die”.