01
Listen & research
Farmer organizations shape priority questions, baselines, study sites, and the outcomes that count.
- Farmer research agenda
- Field diagnostics & baselines
Research-oriented NGO & Foundation
Research that strengthens Tanzania's farms.
We work with Tanzania's farmers to generate practical evidence—and turn validated findings into training, tools, partnerships, and support that strengthen agriculture.
Utafiti na wakulima,
research with farmers.
LEARN
Research to adoptionEvidence that travels
Our starting pointFarmer questions come first
Why this foundation
Evidence and support belong in the same field.
From the slopes of Kilimanjaro to the Southern Highlands and the coastal belt, farmers are already observing change, comparing practices, and adapting. Their questions should shape the research agenda.
Our NGO/Foundation model connects local knowledge, rigorous field research, capacity building, and practical farmer support—so good evidence becomes real agricultural progress.
10,000farmer research participants
25community living labs
12multi-season studies
100%plain-language outputs
Research
targets
Tanzania focus · Mwelekeo wetu
One country.
Many farming realities.
Our research and farmer support are designed around Tanzania's different climates, crops, cultures, and market systems—not a one-size-fits-all model.
Priority learning networkUnited Republic of Tanzania
Priority research questions
- 01What works under climate and water stress?
- 02Which practices reduce post-harvest loss?
- 03How can advisory improve real decisions?
- 04What strengthens farmer market power?
- 05Who benefits—and who may be excluded?
Northern Highlands
Arusha · Kilimanjaro · Manyara
Central Corridor
Dodoma · Singida · Tabora
Southern Highlands
Mbeya · Songwe · Iringa · Njombe
Lake Zone
Kagera · Mwanza · Mara · Shinyanga
Coast & South
Pwani · Tanga · Lindi · Mtwara · Zanzibar
Kiswahili kwanza
Consent, field tools, findings, and recommendations in clear Kiswahili—so research participation and value are never limited by language.
Research agenda
Six connected fields of inquiry.
Each theme connects biophysical evidence with livelihoods, adoption, and institutions—because a result only matters if it works in context.
01
Climate, crops & seed
Multi-season trials of locally relevant varieties, planting windows, crop diversity, and climate-risk strategies across Tanzania’s growing zones.
Adaptive field research
02
Soil, water & agroecology
Farmer-led experiments in soil health, water harvesting, agroforestry, nutrient efficiency, and regenerative production systems.
Measure what regenerates
03
Post-harvest & value chains
Applied research on storage, quality, aggregation, processing, logistics, price discovery, and routes to stronger farmer margins.
Evidence beyond the farm
04
Livelihoods, gender & youth
Mixed-method research on agency, labour, land, finance, health, entrepreneurship, and who benefits from agricultural innovation.
Equity in every question
05
Digital agronomy & AI
Responsible testing of weather services, decision support, remote sensing, AI, and low-bandwidth advisory in real farm conditions.
Useful, safe, accessible
06
Knowledge, policy & adoption
Research into indigenous knowledge, extension models, behaviour, institutions, and what helps proven practices travel responsibly.
From evidence to action
Participatory research cycle
Ask well.
Test fairly.
Learn together.
Rigour and participation strengthen each other. Every study follows a transparent path from local question to tested finding and responsible use.
Propose a research partnership- 01
Co-define the question
Farmers, researchers, and local partners agree the decision, outcome, and context that matter.
- 02
Design the protocol
Methods, comparisons, sampling, consent, risks, and analysis plans are made explicit.
- 03
Run on-farm research
Multi-site trials and mixed methods capture both performance and lived experience.
- 04
Analyze and validate
Findings, uncertainty, limitations, and farmer interpretation are examined together.
- 05
Translate and learn
Results become Kiswahili guidance, protocols, briefs, datasets, and the next research question.
Research integrity
Evidence people can trust.
Our operating standard joins ethical participation, methodological transparency, responsible data use, and knowledge that returns value to the communities that helped create it.
Farmer-defined questions
Research starts with the decisions farmers need to make—not with a technology looking for a field.
Free, informed consent
Participation is voluntary, understandable, and respectful of people, land, time, and local knowledge.
Responsible data
Collect only what is needed, protect identities, document provenance, and agree how data can be reused.
Reproducible methods
Pre-specified questions, clear protocols, appropriate comparisons, and transparent limitations.
Shared interpretation
Farmers and local partners help interpret findings before recommendations or scale decisions are made.
Open, useful knowledge
Plain-language and Kiswahili outputs sit beside technical reports, protocols, and learning datasets.
Open research shelf
Protocols, briefs, data frameworks, and learning products.
All items below describe the planned publication pipeline—not completed studies.
Research agenda
In development↗Tanzania Farmer Research Priorities
Field protocol
In development↗Participatory On-Farm Trial Toolkit
Evidence brief
Planned 2026↗Climate-Resilient Seed Selection
Data framework
Planned 2026↗Farm Resilience Indicator Set
Research to impact
A finding matters when it improves a decision.
We follow the full pathway from study quality to farmer relevance, adoption, resilience, income, and the distribution of benefits.
Research translation goal
“Show me what works here, what it costs, and what risk I take.”
Useful evidence combines effect, cost, labour, uncertainty, local fit, and farmer experience—not a headline result alone.
What we measure01—05
- 01Study quality
- 02Farmer relevance
- 03Practice adoption
- 04Outcome durability
- 05Equity of benefit
Illustrative dashboard · final indicators are agreed with each community.
Support research and farmers
Help evidence become action.
Contributions in USD or the TZS equivalent support ethical research, farmer participation, field demonstrations, Kiswahili learning, and translation into practice.
Test a soil sample
Support basic field measurements that help turn observation into usable evidence.
Choose this giftEquip a field researcher
Support practical data tools, Kiswahili research materials, and community feedback.
Choose this giftBack an on-farm trial
Help fund farmer time, trial inputs, monitoring, analysis, and shared learning.
Choose this gift100
Fund a full study Clear, honest reporting.
Partners receive protocols, progress updates, findings, limitations, and lessons learned—not just success stories.
Work with us · Tufanye kazi pamoja
Bring a question, community, site, method, or resource.
We welcome Tanzanian farmer groups, universities, research institutes, NGOs, foundations, extension teams, responsible agribusinesses, donors, and technical collaborators.
Questions, answered
Before we grow together.
Is this a research institution or farmer-support NGO?+
Both by design. The Foundation uses applied research to understand what works, then partners with farmers and local organizations to translate validated learning into practical support.
Where in Tanzania will the foundation work?+
Our Tanzania-first model is designed for farming communities across the Northern and Southern Highlands, Central Corridor, Lake Zone, and coastal regions. Actual program locations will be selected with local partners and communities.
How are research questions selected?+
Questions are prioritized by farmer relevance, evidence gaps, feasibility, ethics, potential value, and whether the answer can improve a real decision in Tanzania.
Can an institution co-design or co-fund a study?+
Yes. We welcome aligned farmer organizations, universities, research institutes, foundations, public agencies, and responsible private-sector partners for transparent multi-season research.
How will research participants be protected?+
Every study will require understandable consent, proportional data collection, privacy safeguards, risk review, fair recognition, and a clear route for findings to return to participants.
Will support be available in Kiswahili?+
Yes. Farmer-facing learning and advisory content will prioritize clear Kiswahili, with local-language support where community partners identify the need.
How will evidence and impact be reported?+
Research reporting will distinguish planned protocols, interim observations, completed findings, limitations, and downstream outcomes. Negative and inconclusive results still count as learning.