Joy Desai

The Tanzania I knew as a child.... the lush green and thick forests... the clean air.... heavily snow capped Mount Kilimanjaro,.. the timely and adequate rainfall.... all are disappearing so fast.

Average per capita income in Tanzania is US$280 a year.

20% of the population live on less than US$1 a day;
60% on less than US$2 a day.

Poverty is not decreasing, despite relatively stable economic growth. Tanzania has LDC status.

The day to day strife to get a hot meal, the ever rising prices of fuels like wood and charcoal (1 kg of Sembe (Maize Flour) is almost as costly as the charcoal required to cook it) have forced me to look into alternate, affordable, researched and internationally approved/acclaimed energy technologies developed by Appropriate Rural Technology Institute, Pune, India.
These technologies are very appropriate not only Tanzania, but for all of Africa.

Having been born into well established business family, I see a very profitable business I can do by commercializing these technologies. While making profits, the business activities will have numerous developmental advantages for the society at large. This business is a WIN - WIN business.

By promoting and selling these products, I will be making a development impact in the following areas:
1. Protection of Environment due to reduction of deforestion thus reducing Global Warming and climate change.
2, Reducing Poverty by Creation of Employment and income generating opportunities.
3. Improved health of women and children due to reduction of Indoor Air Pollution
4, Cost saving to the users -" A penny saved is a penny earned"

At the cost of making profits, I would not like to see the snow cap of our Mount Kilimanjaro disappearing.

I want the Tanzania of my childhood to be the Tanzania of the next Generation..... a Green and Beautiful Tanzania.