Dear friends and supporters of Unite,
I hope and pray this finds you healthy and well. If you haven’t had a chance to watch our new Unite Food Program documentary, click HERE now. The short film was created by our team in Tanzania and America and explains the “why and how” of Unite’s rapid and exciting evolution. For those of you have followed since our inception — which is now more than 13 years ago — this film is a “must see.” And now,
with a $25,000 matching grant, we have the opportunity to expand the Unite Food program and make it self-sustaining.
While I tend to shy away from making bold and direct asks for financial support, I humbly invite your participation in raising these critical funds.
Since launching the Tanzanian-women-owned Unite Food Program (UFP) in early 2021, we have invested more than $100,000 to build-out of a fully-operational and compliant food processing plant (along with investments in working capital, offices, toilets, protective walls and security systems, water, power, and more) at the UFP headquarters in Dar es Salaam. We have purchased ~100,000 kgs of organic maize and rice from more than 50 small-scale farmers across Tanzania and engaged a full-time professional staff of 13 along with dozens of part-time workers (most of whom are widow women) who help procure, transport, clean, pack, sort, and sell food items. Currently the UFP organic food products are being sold at dozens of retail and wholesale outlets around and beyond Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
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The funds from this campaign will be used for the following directed investments:
40,000 additional Kgs of organic rice & maize. (Cost: $10,000)
Maize being delivered in Dar es Salaam.
3,000 reusable Agro-Z® grain storage bags to keep the harvest safe and secure. (Cost: $5,000)
AgroZ® Bags are multi-layered, hermetically-sealed, storage bags that protect grains against insects and pests without the use of pesticide dusts.
A Bajaji “tuk tuk” to transport UFP staffers & UFP customers through the highly trafficked streets of Dar es Salaam. (Cost: $5,000)
A Bajaji can transport up to four people at a time.
A three-wheeler motorcycle-truck to transport products to retail and wholesale customers. (Cost: $5,000)
A three-wheeler motorcycle truck covered to protect cargo.
