SMART KIJANI HUB

In the Wards of Buchosa District, Mwanza Region, a quiet transformation is taking root.

SMART KIJANI HUB, a youth-centered initiative of Yapende Mazingira Foundation

(YMF), is equipping young people with the knowledge, skills, and hands-on

opportunities to farm smarter, protect their environment, and build resilient livelihoods in

the face of a changing climate.

Buchosa communities are feeling the pressure of climate change firsthand:

unpredictable rains, declining soil fertility, shrinking ecosystems, and limited access to

farming solutions that actually work on the ground. SMART KIJANI HUB was born to

meet these challenges head-on — not with theory, but with practical, locally rooted

action led by the young people who will inherit these lands.

Our Approach

We believe young people and communities shouldn't just receive knowledge, they

should also have real opportunities to apply it, test it, innovate on it, and lead with it.

That why every part of SMART KIJANI HUB is built around community-centered

action, practical learning, local knowledge, and youth innovation. From the

theories to the farm plot, participants dont just learn about climate-smart agriculture,

they live it.

What We Do

Farmers Capacity Building; We train young smallholder farmers in organic farming

and climate-smart agricultural practices, giving them the tools to grow more, protect

their soil and adapt to a shifting climate.

School Eco-Hubs; We turn secondary schools into living laboratories. Our School Eco-

Hubs give students hands-on space to explore environmental conservation, climate

action, and sustainable agriculture, planting the seed of environmental leadership early.

Community Demonstration Plots; Seeing is believing. Our demonstration plots let

farmers and community members observe, test, and adapt organic and climate-smart

techniques under real local conditions before adopting them on their own land.

Community Seed Banks; We are safeguarding the future of local agriculture by

conserving and sharing indigenous, locally adapted seeds, protecting biodiversity and

food security for generations to come.

Our Reach So Far

Since launching, SMART KIJANI HUB has made a tangible difference across Buchosa

District. 167 young smallholder farmers (aged 18–35) trained in organic and climate-

smart farming 620 secondary school students engaged across five schools, 5 School

Eco-Hubs established as practical, student-led learning platforms at Nyakasungwa

Secondary School, Nyakaliro Secondary School, Nyehunge Secondary School, Sumwa

Secondary School, and Bukokwa Secondary School.

The Impact We are Building Towards

Every training, every demonstration plot, every seed shared is a step toward something

bigger: farming systems that work with nature instead of against it. Through SMART

KIJANI HUB, we are envisioning contribute to:

 More sustainable and productive farming practices

 Stronger environmental stewardship across Buchosa communities

 Greater resilience to climate change

 Conservation of agricultural biodiversity

 Real, green livelihood opportunities for young people