Natural Extracts Industries Ltd (NEI) is a social enterprise in Tanzania providing sustainable social, economic and environmental solutions to rural communities.  NEI’s vision is to accelerate economic growth of small holder farmers in Tanzania by promoting and adding value to their crops and providing access to global markets.They use vanilla pods and cacao beans from their farmer network to create all-natural, premium extracts and flavor ingredients.  Karimu partners with NEI on our vanilla project. NEI provides training in vanilla cultivation and a guaranteed market for the harvest at market prices.

Karimu volunteers enjoy the good fortune of staying at the Integrated Agricultural Training Center (IATC) during their visits to Ayalagaya and Arri wards.  It sits on beautiful grounds approximately a 1 hour walk from the center of Dareda Kati town. Taxi service is available for those unable to make the walk or traveling to more remote locations. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania built IATC in the early 2000s to serve not only Lutherans, but all residents of this remote corner of its North Central Diocese with classes in modern agricultural methods. Today, IATC is used mainly to hold events and large groups such as Karimu’s volunteers. 

IATC’s accommodations are modest, but comfortable, featuring cement floors, twin beds fitted with mosquito nets, running water, showers with solar panel heaters, squat toilets, and lights provided by solar panels. The dining hall’s cooks and serving staff are trained in sanitary food-preparation methods and their meals, although simple, are generous and nourishing.  The grounds are ringed by a security fence and a watchman is on patrol throughout the night.

Social Capital Foundation (SCF) supports impact first organizations creating sustainable economic opportunities to improve people’s well-being, their sense of self-development and contribution. They partner with organizations driving on-the-ground programs primarily around income generation and business growth for communities and people living in extreme scarcity. More than simply funding projects, they create long-term partnerships in which they help to set the impact model, focus on leveraging local knowledge within the community, and share success stories and impactful programs across their partner network. SCF and Karimu are partnering on interrelated projects across financial services, entrepreneurship training, and agricultural income generation programs to increase the financial security of rural households in Ayalagya and Arri Wards, Tanzania.

The U.S. Embassy, Tanzania, awards and administers the Ambassador's Special Self-Help Fund to local community based projects in Tanzania through an application process.

The Ambassador’s Special Self-Help program started in 1964 in Togo and quickly spread across the continent as a grass-roots assistance program that allows U.S. embassies to respond quickly to local requests for small community-based development projects.  The program provides assistance to small, community-led projects that promise to have an immediate impact to Tanzanian communities as part of an ongoing commitment by the U.S. government to support Tanzanian -driven development activities at the local level.  Since the program began in Tanzania, more than $2.2 million in awards have been disbursed to community development projects across the country. Karimu was granted an award for building a kitchen for Arri Primary School.