Activities

The economic activities vary widely but are almost all-small scale. The parishes are scattered in the Usambara Mountain ranges, where the climate is cool and with an evergreen forest cover and getting rains in two seasons - the short rains and the long rains. A sizeable number of people are subsistence farmers working on family plots. The sizeable number of people are subsistence farmers working on family plots. The main crops are:

• Maize
• Beans
• Coffee
• Tea
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Potatoes

Quite a good number of families keep livestock, cattle, goats, sheep and chickens. There are also trade-people in virtually all parishes supplying most of the daily needs in their neighbourhood.

Traditional crafts like basket weaving, pottery, blacksmith and tinsmith are a major economic activity for some households in some parishes, while tailoring is widespread throughout the District.

Programmes

Foremost in the District economic Programmes is the long felt need to construct a District Center-cum-Hostel to accommodate Offices for the Secretariat, Restaurant, Bookshop, Hostel, Seminar rooms, etc.

The center is projected to cost over 50,000 USD (according to preliminary estimates).

A building Committee has been formed to work out a fund raising strategy but it is understood that at this stage of a prevailing economic hardship in the District and nation in general external support in this venture is solicited and very welcome.

This Center is justified as the initial building block towards financial self-sustainability in the work of the District.