Church Donates 74,000 Fruit Tree Seedlings in Dodoma Region of Tanzania, November 2022

The Honorable Rosemary Senyamule, Commissioner of the Dodoma Region of Tanzania, expressed her sincere appreciation to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for donating tens of thousands of fruit tree seedlings in Dodoma, Tanzania on 16 November 2022. “Our partnership with the Church will boost lives in terms of food, the environment, and economic conditions,” she said.

Juventinus Rubona, President of the Dar es Salaam Tanzania District, represented The Church of Jesus Christ at this event. He thanked the Tanzanian government for allowing freedom of worship and reiterated the Church’s ongoing humanitarian support in the areas of health, education, food security, and water supply.

“We do these things as a gesture of love to our fellowmen. As followers of Jesus Christ, we do those things that He did while He was here on earth of caring for the needy and poor,” he said.

The Church provided 74,000 fruit tree seedlings, including avocado (21,600), mangos (30,800), lemons (10,000), oranges (5,100), and guava (6,500) seedlings for planting at schools, hospitals, and homes of needy families at seven locations across the Dodoma region of central Tanzania. The trees will also be used to beautify town squares and provide shade for pedestrians in this arid region in central Tanzania.

In July 2022, the Dodoma Regional Commissioner officially invited The Church of Jesus Christ to support government initiatives to enhance food production, nutritional security, and environmental conservation.

At the MOU signing event on 14 November, Dr. Fatuma Mganga, Regional Administrative Secretary for the Dodoma region, said “the 74,000 trees will benefit a lot of children by improving their nutrition, which will lead to increased school attendance. The trees will also improve their families’ economic conditions and beautify their neighborhoods.”

The Church of Jesus Christ is working in collaboration with Dodoma government officials and the charitable organization Foundation for the Educational and Environmental Advancement of Tanzanians (FEET) to manage the local distribution, planting, and care of the fruit trees.

At the handover event in Dodoma, FEET director Benard Mwanawile remarked “under our stewardship residents will eat fruit in the shade.”

This is the first tranche of 130,000 fruit tree seedlings that The Church of Jesus Christ will donate in the districts of Arusha, at the foot of Africa’s tallest peak Mount Kilimanjaro, and Dar es Salaam, the country’s largest business and population center, in addition to Dodoma, the nation’s official capital.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sponsors humanitarian and development projects in 195 countries and territories, and gives assistance without regard to race, religious affiliation, or nationality. The Church of Jesus Christ operates in cooperation with governments and charitable organizations.