Success Stories

Read inspiring stories from the field about the work we do with our clients.
News & Blog Feed

Turning a crisis into an opportunity- how Hadija provided decent work for herself and her community

Hadija always knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. This truth became clearer as she graduated from university. She saw how many young people like herself struggled to find work. So, starting her own business, or creating work opportunities for herself, seemed like the natural next step. In 2015, after Hadija graduated, she learned about onion farming and took a course on manufacturing industrial products in Kenya. After this transformative course, the seed of GBRI Solutions was planted, and Hadija founded her business.

October 27, 2022

Lifting his family out of poverty by growing the right seeds

Baltazari knows what it means to struggle: the farmer from Nyasa district, Tanzania, works hard to provide for his six children. Yet, despite his labors, he couldn’t earn enough to support them. Baltazari grows crops like maize, cassava, and sesame, but due to lower crop yields, he made little money.

September 6, 2022

“Getting a foot in the door”: How internships provide job experiences for young people that pay off

Around the world, youth unemployment remains a lingering problem, with millions of young people unable to contribute their time and talent to the workforce. In the long term, this means trouble: without a sense of purpose and experience, young people will be locked out of the labor market. This can quickly lead to increased poverty, especially among already marginalized groups, and floundering economies.

September 5, 2022

Planting a brighter future, one seed at a time – Selemani’s story

Selemani lives in Lindi region, Tanzania. For most of his life, he has been a farmer and grows cassava, sesame, and cashew nuts. At first, he only grew cassava for his food. His perspective later changed when he learned of the many opportunities to grow cassava as a cash crop.

July 4, 2022

How a retired banker harnessed the power of cassava to improve livelihoods in her village

Angelita Mbatia is a former Director of Financial Markets from the Central Bank of Tanzania. In 2004, she moved from Dar es Salaam to Bwama village, Kisarawe district. Her motivation to move there was clear: she was inspired by Julius Nyerere’s (Tanzania’s first president) philosophy of self-reliance and wanted to apply this philosophy to helping support the Bwama village community.

May 9, 2022

Promoting Sustainable Bioenergy in Kenya – Briq-O-Blaze Briquettes

Through MEDA’s M-SAWA project, funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC), TCP is providing 15-20 alternative fuel producer (50% women led) enterprises with training, mentorship, financial support, technical support, online resources, and access to a network of entrepreneurs to generate a positive economic and environmental impact by displacing use of traditional wood charcoal.

January 21, 2022

Supporting Inter-generational Rice Farming in Kenya

Lucas Odhiambo Oduor has been a rice farmer since childhood, supporting his grandfather and father’s farming business. Now in his early thirties, Lucas is a married father of 3 children. As the first born in his family he is also responsible for supporting his parents and siblings.

January 21, 2022

MEDA – Mennonite Economic Development Associates – is an international economic development organization that creates business solutions to poverty.

Follow MEDA

MEDA International is a Canadian non-share capital not-for-profit corporation incorporated under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act.

Mennonite Economic Development Associates is a 501(c)(3) status non-profit organization in the United States: EIN 23-7398678. Mennonite Economic Development Associates of Canada is a registered charity in Canada: No. 107 691 057 RR0001.

Quick Links

Latest Stories and News

Mailing List: Sign Up/Change Preferences

© 2023 Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). All Rights Reserved.