REGENERATIVE PRODUCTION LANDSCAPE COLLABORATIVE - KIJANI HAI

Agricultural challenges, unique to Tanzania, reinforce the need for the RPLC’s place-based solutions. 75% of the landscape is semi-arid or arid with water scarcity which, combined with unpredictable rainfall patterns, makes cotton production increasingly difficult. On a socio economic level, subsidies for pesticidesare a deeply ingrained part of the Tanzanian agricultural industry, which has discouraged farmers towards regenerative practices.

As such, the local community was engaged early in the planning process in order to understand the nuanced, location-specific issues, which was then fed into both District Environmental Action Plans and national Organic Agriculture Strategies. The Kijani Hai programme has developed from a value chain development initiative working alongside four major cotton ginneries and local communities.

The ginneries are key to providing smallholder farmers with the training and resources in regenerative techniques, ranging from crop rotation and molasses traps, to more niche, local methods such a increasing the fungus resistance of seeds and pest management practices based on locally available botanicals. In semi-arid landscapes that experience varied rainfall patterns, the integration of livestock can play a vital role in regenerating land. Cattle enrich the soil by providing organic manure and locally produced biochar from cotton stalks. Healthier soils not only increase the nutrient-absorption capacity
of plants, but also have an increased ability to hold water – storing vital reserves for periods of drought.

 
Previous work of GIZ and Helvetas in Tanzania has also laid an excellent foundation to engage in creating a regenerative production landscape in Tanzania’s cotton growing areas. The country has become the largest producer of organic cotton in Africa, with over 60,000 organic certified smallholder farmers and a growing number of ginners investing long-term into smallholder production and livelihoods as well as shifting to regenerative certification.

TRACKING TRANSFORMATION, DELIVERING IMPACT: KIJANI HAI'S REGENERATIVE JOURNEY

The Kijani Hai programme demonstrates a robust and measurable impact framework, anchored in both environmental regeneration and socio-economic upliftment. Environmentally, the integration of livestock, organic manure, and biochar from cotton stalks has directly contributed to soil health improvement in semi-arid landscapes, enhancing water retention capacity and nutrient absorption—critical adaptations for regions experiencing unpredictable rainfall. The programme's success is quantifiable: over 70,460 farmers have been supported across approximately 260,924 hectares, with some farms reporting yields that have tripled since adopting regenerative practices. This evidence underscores the programme's effectiveness in reversing land degradation while building climate resilience at scale.

Socially, the programme has strengthened local governance and community agency through the development of District Environmental Action Plans (DEAPs) and the empowerment of Village Environmental Committees. These structures ensure that communities are not passive recipients but active planners and custodians of their natural resources, with decision-making power that feeds into district-level environmental planning. The inclusive, participatory approach has fostered a sense of ownership and accountability, while the concession zones—where ginners are legally bound to purchase certified cotton—have provided farmers with stable, predictable incomes. This has reduced livelihood vulnerability and created a tangible business case for farmers to sustain regenerative practices beyond the project timeline.

Economically, the Kijani Hai programme has catalysed a transformative shift in Tanzania's cotton sector, elevating the country from one of Africa's smallest cotton producers to the largest producer of organic cotton in Africa and the fifth largest globally. This achievement is underpinned by strong multi-stakeholder partnerships, including ginners, the Tanzania Cotton Board, and the Tanzania Organic Cotton Organization (TOCO), which provide the regulatory and market infrastructure needed for long-term scalability. By 2028, the programme aims to reach over 100,000 smallholder farmers, demonstrating a clear trajectory for growth. The commercialisation of locally available botanical pesticides further illustrates the programme's potential to reduce dependency on costly chemical inputs, lower production costs, and create new economic opportunities—all while reinforcing the environmental and social gains already achieved.