For years, vegetable farming in Tongoni was a struggle. It was backbreaking work with low rewards, and most people in the area wouldn't touch it. Fakhi Juma Fakhi was one of the few who stuck with it, but even he was barely scraping by. He was growing watermelons, but his harvests were small; only four to five tons per acre. 

“I was struggling,” Fakhi says. “But things started to change when I started working with the IncluCities project.”

A Shift in Strategy
The project, supported by Enabel and the European Union, didn’t just hand out money; it changed how farmers like Fakhi viewed their work. They stopped working as isolated individuals and started acting like business owners.Fakhi became a lead farmer, a role that turned him into a coach for his neighbors. He realized that the biggest problems weren't just the seeds or the soil; they were the lack of organization and the high cost of fuel.

From Diesel to Sunlight
The transformation started with a solar-powered pump. For Fakhi, it was a game-changer. It slashed his irrigation costs by 80 percent, moving him away from expensive, noisy diesel pumps that ate into his slim profit margins. But his greatest success wasn't in his own garden; it was in the way he pulled his community together. Fakhi organized over 80 farmers into a production block. By pooling their harvest, they were no longer small-time growers begging for a price; they became a collective force. They started negotiating directly with large-scale buyers in Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, securing contracts that were previously impossible to reach.

More Than Just a Harvest
The numbers tell a remarkable story. Yields have jumped from four tons per acre to as high as 25 tons. More importantly, the mindset in Tongoni has shifted. Where there were once fewer than ten discouraged farmers, there are now over 80 people investing their time and money into the soil. They are even using their savings to install their own solar pumps, investing in a future that now feels secure.

future that now feels secure.
Fakhi’s journey is about more than just watermelons and peppers. It is about how one person, armed with the right tools and a bit of organization, can turn a dying trade into a thriving business. 

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