It was by no means a coincidence that we ended up working for SAT. We were both looking for a project which has an impact on food sovereignty and organic agriculture in Tanzania. And we couldn’t have made a better choice than SAT on this perspective.

Aiming to gain field experience in a tropical country we made our way from the Swiss Alps and the Belgian lowlands to Morogoro, Tanzania. The tasks that were assigned to us there by Alex and Janet offered us the best conditions to gain a deep insight into their project “Bustani ya Tushikamane” (garden of solidarity). We accompanied SAT’s facilitators to the field and interviewed the participants of the trainings. Our task was to report on how they

apply the attained knowledge and what future plans they are developing. This has been a truly enjoyable task. It has taken us to the most amazing sceneries and places. Whether up the Uluguru Mountains to strawberry harvests or through the plains to wide rice fields – we were astonished how widely SAT has already spread the seed of organic farming and how it is spilling over to neighbouring villages and farmer groups.

However SAT’s trainings do not only take place in the villages but also at the Farmer Training Centre and so we found ourselves in the savannah at SAT’s training farm located 20km from Morogoro. There we received insights to the various courses offered by SAT and provided assistance in the facilitation and evaluation of some of the trainings. Our personal favourite has been the Attract Youth to Agriculture course, which provides youth

with a wide range of skills including organic farming practices, food processing, marketing and even an introduction to entrepreneurship. It has been very inspiring to watch the young people absorbing intensively the instructions provided and making plans on how to make use of them back home. The courses taking place at the Farmer Training Centre hosted up to 42 participants from different regions and countries at a time, which made us feel like part of a small village. There was a lot to discover at the farm, which was lead by a very welcoming and attentive farm manager, and we enjoyed very much joining the daily tasks of the farm work now and then.

It has been a great pleasure to contribute to SAT’s work and to meet all the places and people involved in their projects. There is no greater satisfaction than working for a project which has a sustainable impact and provides people with life skills.

We wish SAT a lot of success with their work and thank them for taking us in.