As part of TAPBDS’s ongoing commitment to effective implementation and evidence-based impact tracking, Nyakainja Manyama (M&E Manager) and Mseti Mwita (Field Officer) conducted a monitoring visit to the Tuinuane Group in Milundikwa Village, Nkasi District Council, Rukwa Region under the YEFFA Project.
Tuinuane Group is a proud recipient of a Multi-Crop Thresher (MCT) acquired through a partial subsidy partnership with IMARATECH. Originally priced at Tsh 2.3 million, the group contributed Tsh 1.1 million, with the remaining cost covered through the CIAT MCT subsidy program whom TAPBDS has partnered to scale YEFFA Mechanization intervention. Today, the group actively offers threshing services for maize and sunflower to more than 200 surrounding smallholder farmers marking a strong step forward in grassroots-level mechanisation and improved agricultural service delivery.
Beyond the machine’s operational role, it has become a catalyst for job creation and youth empowerment. The group has announced plans to recruit four(4) local youths as machine operators, technician and crop handlers. Moreover, the ripple effect is significant: women are hired to sort and packing the harvested crops, others earn by transporting the machine, and local vendors benefit by selling food to the labor force. In total, each operating cycle creates an estimated 13 temporary jobs for young men and women demonstrating how a single asset can generate widespread socio-economic benefits. In a season, the machine is expected to offer work opportunities (permanent and part-time)to more than 100 youths.
The machine, capable of threshing 25 sacks per hour (operating 8 hours daily), charges Tsh 1,000 per sack, with fuel consumption of 1 liter/hour at Tsh 4,000. After accounting for labor, transport, and fuel, the group projects an impressive profit of approximately Tsh 6.5 million per maize season covering 3 peak months.
This field visit reaffirms TAPBDS’s work under YEFFA commitment to a dual approach: enabling transformational interventions and ensuring attentive, on-the-ground monitoring. The Tuinuane Group is a powerful example of how investment in mechanisation combined with youth involvement can unlock productivity, employment,and community resilience.
“The community is truly impressed by this youth group. People are amazed at how they managed to acquire such a machine, and now many are inquiring about how they can get one like it.”-Musa Mwalukosya, Tuinuane group Treasury