A year ago, we had an idea. With so many of our Unite Scholars going home to small-scale farming families in need of a secure, fair market for their crops (their only salable possession of value), we challenged ourselves to:
Build a food program through which we would buy organic staple food items from the small-scale farmers in need (at fair prices) to later sell back to the community at fair-market prices — thereby empowering not only the farmers but also the consumers by supplying organic affordable staple food items.
And then, we forged ahead… We wrote business plans and budgets… Traveled the country to meet with small-scale farmers… Built a comprehensive food processing plant on the new Unite Food Program campus… Engaged a first-class team… Constructed a UFP office… Purchased hundreds of thousands of kilograms of organic staple food items… Installed milling machines and all necessary safety, hygiene, and compliance items… Built gardens and storage facilities… Implemented initiatives to serve the surrounding community… Built an outpost in far western Tanzania (UFP outpost will follow in next post)… and so much more.
Today, one year later, the success of Unite Food Program (UFP) is overwhelming. The demand for UFP products is tremendous, and our “dream team” (below) is working around the clock to meet the relentless “asks” of the market and ensure UFP continues to grow and thrive. UFP’s future is so bright. Thank you to everyone who has supported this idea — you have helped make this dream a reality.
Meet the UFP “Dream Team”
Here below, a few “measurable” highlights from 2021:
Small-scale farmers represent 80% of all farmers in Tanzania.
Click HERE to see a video of the maize off-loading process.
Click HERE to see a video of the water tank being delivered.
