How One Woman is Leading the Restoration of 10,000 Hectares in Tanzania

When Amina Njau planted her first three tree seedlings behind her home in Kilosa district in 2016, she had no way of knowing it would grow into one of Tanzania's largest women-led restoration cooperatives.

Eight years later, the Kilosa Women's Restoration Cooperative that Amina founded employs 340 women across five villages, running tree nurseries, managing a 10,000-hectare watershed restoration area, and training neighbouring communities in agroforestry techniques.

"We started because our rivers were drying up and our children were walking further every year for water," Amina says. "Now those same rivers run again in the dry season."

VIA Foundation began supporting the cooperative in 2021 with a technical assistance grant, followed by multi-year flexible funding that allowed Amina's team to purchase nursery equipment and formalise land-tenure agreements with local government — a critical step that secured the cooperative's long-term access to the land it restores.