How Tasaf grant extricated family from deprivation

Dar es Salaam. Ms Zainab Sabas never thought that one day she would get out of extreme poverty.

Now she gets a profit of Sh500,000 annually from her businesses, thanks to Tanzania Social Action Fund (Tasaf) support that has changed her life.

In her 40s, Ms Sabas resides at Makangarawe Street in Temeke Municipality.

Born in Kilimanjaro, Ms Sabas came from a poor family. She dropped out of school at the age of 11 due to financial constraints and stayed at home to help her grandmother to grow crops and cook.

They lived in a grass-thatched mud house.

Later she got married to a man who was living in Dar es Salaam, and relocated to the city in 2010.

“I thought that marriage would solve all my problems but I later realised that life was so tough,” she told BusinessWeek. “My husband was a petty trader who ran into deep financial problems after being prohibited from doing business in an area deemed unauthorised.”

“My husband and I struggled to make a living through different means but it was unsuccessful,” she recalls.

She said after three years of struggling with her jobless husband, she heard about a Tasaf programme to help the poor.

“I became one of the beneficiaries of the programme.”

She invested the money in economic activities instead of simply spending it on basic needs.

She said she received her first grant amounting to Sh60,000 in 2014. She started making liquid soap as well as vending food.

Within one year of soap making, she boosted her capital of Sh150,000.

“I also started ordering honey from Tabora in small quantities for sale on credit,” she said.

“I believe that the conditional cash programme from Tasaf opened my world because we later joined into a Vicoba, which enabled us to access loans from Tasaf.” Each group member was able to borrow up to Sh300,000. So, she expanded her soap making and honey businesses.

According to he, she makes a profit of Sh500,000 annually.

“I can now support my mother and help members of my extended family. We enjoy life with my husband.”

She saves money to get a sufficient income to buy a plot in Vikindu for constructing her house.

Ms Sabas was among six million out of 12 million Tanzanians living in extreme poverty who are benefiting from Tasaf’s anti-poverty programmes to enable them to access basic needs.

Tasaf was established in 1999 to reduce poverty.

This is an advanced programme which will enable beneficiaries of CCT to establish economic activities to boost income.

Tasaf director general Dr LadislausMwamanga said the second segment of implementation of the current third phase of the fund’s anti-poverty programme was aimed at boosting incomes through creating income-generating projects.

The social protection programme will be implemented through small groups whose members will be able to save and borrow to establish small income generating activities.