U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania Visits Lake Natron, Inaugurates Women's Handicraft Center

Lake Natron in northern Tanzania, a highly alkali lake rich with algae, is the only breeding ground for the lesser flamingo. Each summer, hundreds of thousands of flamingos flock to its shores, forming an endless sea of pink.

But this breathtaking sight could soon disappear if plans to develop a soda ash extraction plant are carried forward.

This was one of the conservation issues U.S. Ambassador Mark Green learned about during a recent visit to the Maasai Steppe Heartland. After touring the Lake Natron area, AWF Heartland Director Steven Kiruswa and other staff briefed the ambassador on the importance of conserving the Lake Natron area, a prime breeding ground and dispersal area for many wildlife and bird species, especially the lesser pink flamingo.

On the second day of his visit, the ambassador joined AWF and its partners in inaugurating a handicraft business center, known as a banda in Kiswahili, for the Mshikamano Mwada Women's Group. This group of 30 women is located in the Mwada village, one of the nine villages of the Burunge Wildlife Management Area, formed to help local people benefit from wildlife-related tourism and conservation activities. AWF, with support provided through USAID, worked with the Mshikamano women to plan and build the banda and continues to train the women in business skills, marketing, product development and design, and quality control.

The women will use the banda as a business office, a store for selling baskets and weaved mats, and a meeting place for training and capacity building. Nonmember women will be invited to sell their products at the store at no cost to them.

Along with the Esilalei Maasai Women's Cultural Boma, the work of the Mshikamano Mwada Women's Group demonstrates AWF's impact in investing in women-led, conservation-based microenterprises.

"With the support of USAID and the Tanzanian government, AWF hopes to replicate this success with women's groups in the villages of Minjingu, Sangaiwe, and Vilima Vitatu in the coming years," says Kiruswa.