LIVELIHOODS

Young people in Tanzania often face difficulty accessing business advice and capital. In rural areas employment opportunities are often low skilled, low waged and rare. As part of the Raleigh ICS programme volunteer groups run a course that works with young Tanzanian entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 to 35, to improve their livelihood opportunities and help them gain further knowledge on running a business. Young entrepreneurs from some of the poorest communities receive support from volunteers over a three-month period to develop their business plans, access finance and start running their businesses. Roughly 30 people in each village graduate from the course and 15 of those are given the opportunity to pitch their business plan to a panel in the hope of gaining financial support. In addition to the self-confidence, sense of achievement and pride gained from completing the course many have a greatly increased income and an ability to run their own enterprise. 

I photographed pitching sessions in the villages Dodoma Isanga and Ulaya Kibaoni, where a total of 23 individuals and groups pitched their business plan to a panel. The 18 entrepreneurs that were successful in securing seed funding were taken to the town of Kilosa to purchase the equipment they needed to start their business.