Forest Gardens in Tanzania
Blog page with the aim of documenting all main steps needed to establish a Forest Garden from an open shamba.
This blog derives its content from a project Forest Garden Farming for People and the Planet in Mwanga – and hopefully in the future also from Forest Gardens for Human and Environmental Wellbeing in Masasi. The project in Mwanga started in January 2023, however the blog documents activities starting from the beginning of 2024. We have two sets of farmers in the project, ‘old farmers’ who joined the project in January 2023 and ‘new farmers’ who started in December 2023. In this blog we follow the activities and trainings with the new farmers.
The project in Masasi started in January 2025.
We use a similar approach to Forest Gardens to what Trees for the Future uses elsewhere in Tanzania. We are grateful for their advise and support to get started in this valuable and impactful work. This is the first time this approach is put in practice in Northern Tanzania and the Southern Coastal Lowlands in Tanzania, and thus the aim is to learn as much as possible about the performance of the tree and crop species selected, and the way farmers receive the project.
The projects last for four years, which is the minimum required to go through all the phases from ‘protection’ to ‘diversification’ and ‘optimization’. Both projects are funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland through a Finnish organisation called Liana. The Mwanga project is hosted at, and locally operated from KIWAMWAKU and the Masasi project is done with KIMAS. In both projects, government agricultural extension officers work as facilitators alongside staff and interns.
The aim of this blog is to document practices, methods and techniques that the projects use. Transforming monocropped maize fields, or maize-bean fields into diverse Forest Gardens is a big thing. We hope that documenting our experiences will be useful for others who are interested in establishing Forest Gardens, or planning projects that introduce Forest Gardens somewhere in similar environments.
We also draw lessons from Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT) organic agriculture training courses, and thus we gratefully acknowledge them as the source of many organic practices that we describe in the articles of this blog page. All the facilitators and group leaders take part in these courses at suitable times of the Forest Garden establishment.
Who we are?
Yahaya Jumanne, Lead Forest Garden Project Officer
Yahaya is the main contributor to this blog. His articles are grounded in rich, hands-on experience working directly with local farmers in the field. He is a forester by training, having graduated from Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania, in 2021. Since his studies, he has been passionate about growing things, always eager to experiment and learn from the results. Before joining the project, he managed his own nursery in Arusha.
In September 2023, Yahaya joined the project in Mwanga, where he has steadily taken on more leadership responsibilities and has become a key pillar in sustaining project activities. As of September 2025, he has been promoted to Lead Forest Garden Project Officer, serving as the team leader for all activities, not only forestry.
Yahaya also posts related things on LinkedIn.
This blog is steered along by Liana Forest Gardens Project Coordinator Eija Soini Coe, who encourages contributions from the field and often helps bring the articles online. Eija has a PhD in development geography from the University of Helsinki. Her career in development research and community development began in 1999 when she joined ICRAF, though her experience in East Africa dates back to 1976. She is a founder member of Liana and has coordinated Liana’s activities since its establishment in 2005. At the heart of Eija’s work is international development and the leadership of community-based projects, supported by a rich set of complementary skills including research, solution-focused coaching, digital communications, graphic design, and organisational leadership.
Julius Mariki, Forest Garden Project Officer (Horticulture)
Julius stayed with the project from January 2024 till May 2025. He has a Bachelor degree in horticulture from Sokoine University of Agriculture, and his hands on experience in agricultural projects have equipped him with a solid foundation to understand the complexities of sustainable farming. He has expertise in soil management, crop rotation, intercropping and integrated pest management; and experience in working closely with communities. He is passionate about environmental conservation, and committed to sustainable agriculture, community development, and environmental stewardship.
Gladness Kaaya, Intern, Assistant facilitator, Forester
Gladness stayed with the project in Mwanga from September to December 2024 as an intern, and in Masasi as a Project officer from January to July 2025. She graduated from the Sokoine University of Agriculture with the Bachelor in Forestry in 2023. Despite of having graduated so recently she had already acquired valuable work from volunteering and through internship positions. Her interests lies in hands-on development and conservation activities, with a focus on Agroforestry.
Welcome to read!
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Keeping planting materials & seeds for next season
by Yahaya Shabani 1. WHY KEEP YOUR OWN PLANTING MATERIALS? 2. CROP SPECIFIC GUIDELINES A. Sweet Potatoes Planting material: Vines (cuttings) How to select: How to store between seasons: 1. Field…
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Self-assessment to farmers
In order to achieve any target in life, the objectives must be clear. In an endeavor such as establishing a Forest Garden — which takes several years — the objectives should…
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Organic pest management
The following is the handout prepared by Sarah Kanza (project intern in Mwanga) for farmers for the training sessions delivered at the beginning of the new cycle of vegetable growing in…
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Crop rotation
by Yahaya Jumanne Crop rotation is an essential technique for soil fertility and pest management in Forest Gardens. To simplify things, we used the rotation from green leafy vegetables to legumes,…
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Weaving and Pruning techniques for effective live fence
by Yahaya Jumanne 1. Introduction Live fences play a vital role in Forest Garden systems by protecting crops, preventing encroachment, and providing valuable resources like fodder, firewood, and mulch. Acacia polycantha…
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Raised beds instead of seedbags for tree seedling growing
by Yahaya Jumanne In January 2025, farmers were equipped with sustainable nursery techniques by using raised beds for sowing Acacia, Gliricidia, and Leucaena seeds. They learned an affordable and eco-friendly alternative…
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How to make compost? Composting as an integral part of Forest Gardens
by Yahaya JumanneIn March 2025, 369 forest garden farmers learned the production of organic compost. They were equiped with cost-effective, eco-friendly soil fertility enhancement techniques using local resources. The composting method…
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Encouraging farmers to plant timber, fruit and multipurpose trees in the Forest Garden (plus Lesson plan in Swahili)
by Yahaya Jumanne Our commitment to increasing biodiversity we have been selecting potential species for various timber trees, fruit trees, and perennial vegetables for some farmers for simple experimenting. Farmers have…
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Introducing Morus alba in Forest Gardens
by Yahaya Jumanne As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance biodiversity and sustainability, we have introduced Morus alba (white mulberry or Mandela) into our forest garden. This multipurpose tree plays…
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How to Grow Chaya
by Yahaya Jumanne Here are a few steps to grow your own Chaya plant: Why did we introduce chaya? Chaya (Cnidoscolus aconitifolius), often referred to as the “tree spinach,” is a…
Blog for Forest Gardens in Mwanga, Tanzania 