Charity Overview

Australia for Cedar Tanzania is a community development organisation that has been working in the Mwanza Region of Northern Tanzania since 2014. Their focus is broad yet deeply connected: improving health services, strengthening education, empowering women and vulnerable groups, and creating entrepreneurial opportunities in some of the poorest communities in Tanzania.

At its heart, Cedar Tanzania is about equipping communities with the knowledge, skills, and tools to break cycles of poverty. By combining participatory development with innovative training programs, they empower individuals — especially women — to transform their futures.

The Challenge

In Northern Tanzania, thousands of families survive on less than $1.90 per day. Limited access to stable income, education, and healthcare creates cycles of poverty that are incredibly difficult to break. Women, in particular, are often excluded from economic opportunities, leaving families vulnerable and children without the means to thrive.

Communities are eager for ways to create sustainable livelihoods but lack access to training, markets, and investment to turn ambition into reality. Without intervention, poverty perpetuates itself across generations.

Meridian’s Support

• Year Awarded: 2021
• Grant Amount: $15,000

Meridian’s grant funded the launch of an entrepreneurship training program in mushroom farming — an innovative and scalable solution to empower women in the Mwanza Region. The program provided:

• Training in mushroom cultivation, management, and benefits.
• Knowledge about distribution channels and export agreements.
• A pathway for women to generate consistent income to support their families.

This was more than skills training — it was an entry point into entrepreneurship for women who had previously been excluded from economic opportunity.

The Impact

• 200 women directly participated in the program in its first 12 months.
• The benefits rippled out to more than 35,000 residents in the wider community.
• Families gained reliable new sources of income, improving access to food, education, and healthcare.

Beyond immediate impact, the program established a blueprint for scalable, sustainable income generation. Women were not only learning a new skill but also building confidence, agency, and resilience.

The project’s innovation was recognised on a global stage when Australia for Cedar Tanzania won the AAMEG Award for “Best Innovation in Corporate Social Responsibility” in 2022 — a testament to the transformative effect of the initiative that Meridian helped to seed.

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Looking Forward

The mushroom farming initiative continues to expand, creating new opportunities for women and their families. What began as a small pilot has grown into a recognised model of community-led innovation, with the potential to be replicated in other regions of Tanzania and beyond.

By supporting Cedar Tanzania, Meridian didn’t just provide short-term aid — it helped spark a movement of economic empowerment, where families who once lived on less than $2 a day are now cultivating sustainable businesses that will transform their communities for generations.

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