As we are almost ending the year 2019, the association of Friends of Ifakara and sister NGO  IALI- FOUNDATION is greatfull for all partners and members of the association in Austria and all people of Ifakara working together in livelihood improvement works. Starting from the farming groups, students, teachers, individual persons of special needs, katekists, founder members of IALI Foundation and the workers in Ifakara would like to express our sincere gratitude for making this year 2019 a smiling one.
Taking the case of katekists and workers of Ifakara parish, this year has restored back our happiness and immerse support from the foundation and association of Friends of Ifakara by making this group as part of their concern to contribute our household development. It has enabled us sponsoring our various development projects such as agriculture, animal keeping, small businesses like mini shops etc, this is big support of which is recognised to empower not only individual katekist but the katekist’s family. This makes us so proud of ourselves being katekists, mothers and fathers of the families around us.

These are quoted words from katekists themselves during our meeting together on December 6th 2019.

The coordinator and all members of the team would like to wish you a happy new year 2020, may the coming year be a wonderful one of progress in all our sponsors of the projects and plans so that to continue supporting the people of Ifakara. The livelihood of people especially poor are real of our concern that keeps us thinking, realizing and supporting in order to make each and every single person to feel recognized.

In collaboration with the local government we continue coming up with new ideas and projects to help people and promote their development. As it is coming, sunflower production is a new diversity of our projects to enabling smallholder farmers in cash crop production for income generation.

Below are the improved seeds already prepared for coming planting season of 2020above is the trial done in 2019 to see if sunflower is making good in different parts of Ifakara, it was recommended by agricultural officers that the crop is working good with the soil and weather only if cropping techniques are followed. So it is our role to teach the farmers and support them with seeds and all the required knowledge on the crop.

It is expected that farmers who will engage in sunflower farmers will increase their farm and household income because will have extended their income sources from rice only to rice and sunflower.