Bouncing Back with Feathers and Faith: Mary Samweli’s Journey

Determined, Mary approached REDESO for support who connected her to trainings, seasoned poultry farmers, and provided starter feed and vaccines. In 2024, she bought three hundred (300) chicks for TZS 450,000 (US$ 167). Three months later, she had sold two hundred and seventy-three (273) chickens at premium prices.

Her business soared until everything crashed.

In early 2024, her husband took TZS four million (US$ 1484) of Mary’s earnings and another TZS Three million (US$ 1113) from their joint savings—then disappeared to Mwanza, where he lost all the money to gambling. Mary was devastated. “He never returned for a while. Later he came back after losing everything, but our marriage didn’t survive. I had to move back to my mother’s house with my children.”

But Mary refused to give up.

The Scale Up Livelihood Project supported her with four hundred (400) tomato seedlings. She grew and sold the tomatoes at TZS 700,000 (US$ 260), enough to buy another batch of three hundred (300) chicks in December 2024. By February 2025, she had sold two hundred and seventy-one (271) chickens and restocked with one hundred (100) more, all of which were already fully grown and in demand.

Despite being a poultry farmer, Mary also farms tomatoes, onions, cabbages, maize and watermelons, that bring in a good money which helps to support her three sons with food, clothing, and school expenses. She also helps her mother with household needs. “Looking back makes me both smile and ache,” she says. “I’ve bounced back so many times. But losing that TZS seven million (US$ 2597.85) still hurts. I could have grown much further.”

Mary’s leadership continues. She now mentors eighteen (18) poultry farmers—ten (10) in Mihama and eight (8) in neighbouring villages like Lagana and Chanyawa. Her village has even become known as a “chicken marketplace,” and she’s entrusted with ordering chicks for her peers. As a poultry farmer she has attracted attention of organizations like World Vision in Tanzania who were inspired by her work and brought a poultry project in the village area.

Still, challenges such as drought loom across the village. This has made Mary to shift into irrigation farming so that to produce crops throughout the year. Most farmers don’t produce during this period hence giving her an edge of selling her cabbages, watermelons, tomatoes and onions at a better price since she’s among the few producers during the dry season. The use of simple technologies such as money maker pumps helps her push water from the dug wells near the river.

Mary dreams of expanding her business into goat and cattle trading. “The future is still bright,” she says. “And I’m not done building.”