Although not plagued by the civil strife that its neighbors Rwanda and Uganda are known for, Tanzania still remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with over a third of its population living below the poverty line. The Tanzanian economy depends heavily on its agricultural resources which account for almost half of the GDP, provide 85 percent of the country’s total exports, and employ 80 percent of the work force [1].  The GDP grew at a rate of almost 6 percent last year, a trend which the IIJD believes will continue, providing that the global community increases its support of home-grown institutions like the Mwanza Rural Housing Program (MRHP).

The MRHP was founded in 1990 by a Belgian non-profit organization, COOPIBO (Coöperatie Internationale Bouworde), in order to find a more efficient way to build and maintain homes in rural communities. Since then, the MRHP has emerged as an autonomous NGO that works together with the local government, International NGOs, and members of the community. The program’s mission is to “enable communities of Mwanza Region to have better habitat and food security through increased production of building materials, food production and provision of loans to groups so as to improve household’s living standards and incomes” [2]. Along with 16 permanent staff, the organization is comprised of 400 members working in five different districts. In 2006, the MRHP was a finalist for the Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy, A British foundation that promotes and rewards the use of sustainable energy on a local level.

Although the program operates out of the region’s largest city, its work primarily focuses on rural communities, which face a host of environmental challenges.  These area’s arid landscapes are prone to desertification, drought, soil erosion, and deforestation.  According to the Ashden Awards, “the quality of housing in the area is extremely poor with the majority of people living in semi-permanent mud structures that are vulnerable to storms and earth tremors” [3].

One of the more abundant natural resources in Mwanza is clay, which is used to make bricks and thus offer a more permanent, stable home-building solution. However, wood was the fuel that locals were using in order to produce the bricks.  This was not a sustainable method in an area already vulnerable to deforestation. Therefore the MRHP searched for a more sustainable and cost-effective method, and found a brick-firing kiln capable of producing good quality bricks that used cotton waste, rice husks, coffee husks, and sawdust [4].

MRHP’s solution jump-started the regional economy. It sold the technology to local entrepeneurs and, through micro-loans, enabled them to start their own businesses. In 2006, there were approximately 50 brick-making businesses in operation, of which 91 percent had repaid their loans at a rate of 15 percent interest [5].

The MRHP has applied this alternative fuel technology to projects beyond brick production. The organization has educated local women in production of cooking stoves, and 14,000 have been produced since 2006 [6].

The IIJD enthusiastically supports the projects undertaken by the MRHP. Not only has it emerged as a thriving organization in its own right, but also through the incorporation of local resources and requests, it has created a sustainable business model that allows for the empowerment of local people. In lieu of subsistence relief measures, the MRHP has endowed the community with a means to determine their own economic progress. This embodies the IIJD’s belief in a bottom-up approach to development through capacity building projects that begin at the grass-roots level.