The Grumeti Fund developed and launched UPLIFT (Unlocking Prosperous Livelihoods for Tomorrow). This is a community outreach program designed to enhance the livelihoods of individuals living along the boundary of the concessions. In a corner of Tanzania where most wage earners are farmers – an occupation that is extremely vulnerable to external threats such as climate change and crop-raiding elephants – the Grumeti Fund is giving individuals the knowledge, tools and resources needed to provide for themselves, their families and their communities as a whole. UPLIFT employs a three-pronged approach to enhance livelihood security: assisting youth to achieve higher levels of education; increasing income generation opportunities; and promoting the peaceful coexistence of wildlife and humans.
Community Outreach
Education
The Grumeti Fund is enhancing the quality of education provided to youth from local communities to equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to pursue rewarding and successful careers. Support is provided in the form of scholarships for secondary school, vocational studies and education within the conservation and tourism sectors. For hands-on experience, scholarship recipients are paired with a mentor from Grumeti Fund and provided with life skills training and internship opportunities within the organization.
In the Tanzanian education system language rapidly changes from Swahili in primary school to English in secondary school, hindering many students ability to achieve academic success. Thus the Grumeti Fund has partnered with Concordia Language Villages to develop language camps aimed at enhancing English skills amongst primary school children through annual camp sessions.
Across all of the Grumeti Fund educational programs, girls empowerment is a key focus. Events for girls addressing empowerment, health, confidence, body image and career development are held several times a year.
Enterprise Development
At the same time that the Grumeti Fund’s law enforcement operations work to eliminate wildlife poaching, alternative options for income generation need to be developed to help households that rely on poaching make ends meet. The Grumeti Fund has partnered with Raizcorp – a business incubator that has a proven track-record of success in business development.
The enterprise development program consists of two key components: Guiding and Village Learning. Guiding is a high-touch entrepreneurial development approach providing intensive one-on-one business support to entrepreneurs to help them enhance business development skills, whereas Village Learning consists of weekly sessions for budding entrepreneurs on business skills and personal development.
Environmental Education Center
The Fund’s focus on education extends to the environment and the critical role each individual plays in minimizing their impact on the earth’s limited resources. At the Environmental Education Center (EEC), 12 students accompanied by their teacher are exposed to critical environmental issues such as deforestation, soil erosion and water conservation that affects each and every one of them.
