Our work in Tanzania
In report after report and group meeting after meeting, we see it: the appetite for entrepreneurship programmes in Tanzania is huge. Despite this – or perhaps at the root of it – starting a business in East Africa’s biggest country is hard and getting harder all the time. Tanzania is ranked 141 for ‘starting a business’ in the World Bank’s Doing Business report, lower than any Hand in Hand operating country outside of Afghanistan. For women, especially those living rurally, the story gets even worse.
Read on to learn more about our programmes, meet our entrepreneurs and find out how you can help women in Tanzania overcome the odds.
Members trained: 29,296
85% of our Self-Help Group members are women. The rest are their husbands, brothers and sons
Businesses started: 20,025
Hand in Hand entrepreneurs are farmers, shop owners, tailors and more
Jobs created: 27,977
“Development happens through jobs,” says the World Bank. Our entrepreneurs make their own success, breaking the cycle of dependency
Lives improved: 110,065
Every business we help create in Tanzania benefits an average of five family members
Featured projects
Male engagement in north Tanzania
A joint-project between Hand in Hand, Cartier Philanthropy and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) is boosting women’s entrepreneurship by changing the attitudes of men.
The situation for women
Lower incomes. Unpaid farm work. Limited access to training, financial services and support. For women in Tanzania, barriers to entrepreneurship are everywhere. For rural and older women, they can be insurmountable without help.
73% of farm owners are men
Women do 66% of unpaid farm labour
60% of women live in extreme poverty
27% of women are illiterate
Meet our entrepreneurs
Independent evaluations
Published by Ipsos, our Tanzania baseline study provides Hand’s in Hand’s clearest picture yet of life in our target areas and establishing the baseline by which future progress will be measured.
Expansion map
We’re based in two regions in the country’s northeast. Densely populated, relatively literate and demonstrating a strong appetite for entrepreneurship, Arusha and Moshi provide an ideal context for our work. They’re also just across the border from Kenya, home of Hand in Hand Eastern Africa.
Meet Janet Maro, trustee
Janet Maro is a development expert and board member of Hand in Hand Eastern Africa. In 2011 she founded Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania, the country’s leading centre for organic and sustainable farming.