Wakuria homestead
In the northern region of Serengeti National Park tourists from all over the world come to enjoy the diverse array of wildlife and, depending on the time of year, the great wildebeest migration. The Mara River bends and stretches itself west out of the northern tip of the park towards Lake Victoria taking with it rain water from Kenyan forests. Just across the northwestern border of Serengeti National Park and south of the Mara River Terminalis mollis trees dot the surrounding hills of Machochwe village, a friendly Wakuria community. In this village the Honeyguide Foundation has started a small business farming project.
Growing produce to sell to tourism camps
The Honeyguide Small Business Project addresses some of the fundamental issues regarding the necessity for communities on the boundaries of national parks to derive benefits from tourism enterprises within the parks. Often local community perceptions of National Parks are negative because many communities do not feel like they are benefiting from the park. The Wakuria, for example, used to hunt wild animals for sustenance. Now that the action of killing a wild animal is considered poaching and punished harshly by the law, the Wakuria have had to settle into a new agricultural way of life. The aim of the project is to provide Machochwe with a sustainable income by providing locally grown produce to safari camps within the Serengeti National Park in an environmentally conscious manner.
Read what a Head Chef has to say about Machochwe vegetables here >
Market trader
In order to achieve this, Honeyguide partners tourism enterprises with farmers in the village, provides local farmers with the necessary seeds, and transports the produce directly to the camps within the park. Currently, partnerships between five (5) farmers in Machochwe and camps inside Serengeti National Park have been formed with more in the process. Machochwe farmers allocate a certain amount of their farmland for produce to be consumed by the camps. As much of the produce the camps need are not used in a normal Tanzania diet the HGF provides farmers with the necessary seeds–these include herbs like basil, coriander, and rosemary as well as a wide variety of vegetables. With the profits from selling this produce to camps, these farmers have been able to purchase better farming tools, household items, and can now afford to send their children to school.
Find out more about the Wakuria people and life in the Serengeti here >
A farmer in Machochwe
