To support Maasai women in Tanzania, providing safe and effective infant formula that can be manufactured using locally-grown ingredients and then sold by these women will provide both economic security and affordable, healthy nutrition for infants. Our goal is to determine how to enable Tanzania’s Maasai women to create infant formula that meets energy, protein, and other nutritional requirements using entirely local goods that can then be packaged, marketed, and sold by WAEV women’s groups.
We’re currently meeting with our project advisors (from the WAEV nonprofit itself) to research and develop a plan for getting to the end goal of local (to villages in Tanzania) production of infant formula underway, dubbed the Cal Poly “Wean Team.” In addition, we’ll be working with WAEV to assess their other needs, such as for web design, and assist them where possible.
Women’s Agri-Enviro Vision, or WAEV, is a registered nonprofit dedicated to working to improve the lives of women living in Tanzania by alleviating poverty through agricultural opportunities. By focusing on working with the local Maasai community to enhance economic opportunities for women through vegetable and fruit production, WAEV hopes to both preserve Maasai culture while improving educational and health outcomes for Maasai women.
If you’d like to learn more about WAEV, a great place to start is their website, which has additional information about the nonprofit, its charter, and more detailed information about the programs they’re supporting. To learn more about the Maasai people, the Maasai Association has a wealth of information on both their culture and heritage, as well as their status today, the threats they are facing, and how to help preserve Maasai cultural heritage.