Lulu Adama, a smallholder farmer and mother of six from the Singida Region of Tanzania, relies on sunflower farming as her main source of livelihood. Like many farmers in central Tanzania, this is how she supports her family.
However, several years ago, increasingly arid conditions posed a climate challenge for her crops. Lulu was harvesting less than one and a half bags of sunflowers seeds per quarter acre, due to declining soil fertility and erratic rainfall. In search of a solution, Lulu tried using chemical fertilizers on her land. While she did see a dramatic improvement in yields, it came at a high cost of 170 USD per acre, which was more than she could consistently afford.
Caught in an operation requiring expensive external inputs, increased production costs, and significant labor, Lulu’s new system proved to be both financially and environmentally unsustainable.
In Search of a Sustainable Alternative
In 2025, through the Feminist Entrepreneurs Growing Green Economies (FEGGE) project, MEDA trained Lulu and her savings group in biochar production and wider climate-smart techniques, and supported the demonstration plots where she saw the results firsthand.
Lulu embraced biochar, a carbon-rich, charcoal-like substance made by heating organic waste without oxygen. It is part of the climate-smart agriculture interventions FEGGE provides to improve production outputs and lower costs for smallholder, mostly women farmers, like Lulu.
Seeing other farmers’ success, Lulu applied biochar made from sunflower stalks and maize cobs across her farmland. The results were remarkable. Her sunflower yield increased to 5 bags on a quarter-acre plot.
Lulu also has access to more land. Soon she was producing 20 bags per acre, compared to her previous rate of 6 bags per acre, more than tripling her previous production levels. Meanwhile, overall production costs declined. Beyond yield improvements, biochar enhanced soil moisture retention and crop resilience, enabling her farm to remain productive even under drought conditions.
Community-Wide Benefits
This shift also led to a noticeable reduction in her workload. Lulu no longer needed to frequently purchase, transport and apply chemical fertilizers, reducing labor intensity and allowing her to focus more on farm planning, experimentation and leadership within her Muungano Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA), a group of eight women engaged in farming and small-scale income-generating activities. As chairperson, she supports other women in adopting similar practices.
“Even a poor farmer can use biochar because it is made from farm residues. It only requires time, but the cost is very low.” —Lulu Adama
Lulu also helped to establish a shared demonstration plot, strengthening collective learning and adoption among community members.
Pathways for Growth
Lulu now envisions expanding biochar production as both a farming input and a business opportunity, with potential to supply other farmers at an affordable cost. She also aspires to improve her family’s wellbeing, including access to better education for her children.
Her journey shows that FEGGE’s integrated approach is delivering measurable change in women’s economic empowerment and climate resilience. By increasing production, reducing costs and lowering workload, the project is enabling women farmers to sustain and improve livelihoods under climate stress and driving sustainable agricultural transformation within their communities and beyond.
