Our Impact
Since its founding in 2010, PDF has implemented 30+ projects across Tanzania, improving lives in rural and peri-urban communities and addressing the root causes of poverty and inequality. Our work spans five core areas: Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), Child Protection, Agriculture & Climate Change, Legal Aid, Livelihoods & Economic Empowerment, and Health Promotion.
In WASH, PDF has become one of Tanzania’s leading local organizations delivering safe water and sanitation at scale. We have constructed 53 water systems in schools and healthcare centers, drilled over 54 boreholes, built 148 toilet blocks with 928 stances, and installed 300+ water points — reaching over 2 million people with improved WASH services. Our interventions also include menstrual hygiene facilities, inclusive designs for people with disabilities, and community-led behavior change campaigns, helping entire districts achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF) status.
In Child Protection & Child Rights Governance, we have built and strengthened Community-Based Child Protection Committees (CBCPCs), junior councils, and school clubs, creating safe spaces for children and adolescents to report and prevent abuse, child marriage, and harmful practices. Programs such as Girls Get Equal have mobilized youth and duty bearers to prevent child marriage, address GBV, and empower girls through education and economic initiatives
In agriculture, nutrition, and climate change, PDF has trained thousands of farmers in Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), established kitchen gardens and small livestock projects to combat malnutrition, and promoted water-efficient, climate-resilient crop varieties. Our flagship Zanzibar VIUNGO project works with 60 villages to strengthen horticulture value chains, empower women farmers, improve household nutrition, and increase income through value addition and market access. We also implement watershed protection, community tree nursery programs, ecosystem restoration, and afforestation initiatives to safeguard natural resources for future generations.
In livelihoods and economic empowerment, PDF has formed 300+ Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) with over TZS 500 million mobilized in community savings. These groups help women and youth launch small businesses and escape poverty. Through the Msaada wa Kisheria mobile app and our legal aid clinics, we have expanded access to justice for thousands of vulnerable individuals, helping them resolve disputes and protect their rights.
Our health promotion initiatives have strengthened community health systems, increased uptake of COVID-19 vaccination across 25 districts, upgraded WASH facilities in hospitals, and trained community health workers and peer educators to improve maternal, child, and adolescent health.
Across all sectors, PDF integrates strong monitoring and evaluation systems and works in close partnership with local government authorities and international donors to ensure sustainability and scale. The result is not just service delivery, but systemic change — empowering communities, shifting social norms, and building local capacity to sustain progress.
Our Values:
- Safety: The safety of our partners and the public is of utmost importance to us. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards safety violations and ensure that all safety measures are in place.
- Integrity: We conduct our organization with the highest level of honesty, ethics, and moral correctness. We hold ourselves accountable for our actions and decisions.
- Respect: We believe in mutual respect among our members and partners, and we do not tolerate any form of discrimination.
- Teamwork: We foster teamwork and collaboration among our members, as we recognize that various roles overlap and complement each other.
- Accountability and Transparency: We have a zero-tolerance approach to theft and corrupt practices, and all cases lead to summary dismissals
- Leadership: We promote leadership at all levels of our organization, encouraging a sense of responsibility and respect.
- Loyalty, Honesty & Trust: We value loyalty, which leads to honesty and trust. All our members are required to adhere to our policies on these values
- Ingenuity: We promote the power of creative imagination, allowing our members enough room and resources to create and come up with new ideas. We are flexible enough to accept change and improve everyday.
- Gender equality: We promote fairness and equal treatment of individuals regardless of their gender.
- Diversity and Inclusion: We recognize and respect diversity in terms of religion, beliefs, disability, race, health status, etc. We encourage inclusiveness and do not practice segregation
