Seeds of success

Sisal prices have more than doubled from the $600 per ton 10 years ago, with demand rising steadily in recently years. "This has proved beneficial for international business," he says.

Currently nine Chinese professionals work at the sisal farm, which employs 700 people permanently and 300 on a temporary basis.

"The monthly salary I receive from the farm is more than the earnings I made in a whole year earlier on," says Mobimba Toraboni, 38-year-old, who has been working at the Chinese sisal farm for about two years and now lives with his wife and two children at the farm.

Before joining the farm, Toraboni was planting sisal at home. The family's income was totally dependent on the natural environment, but those days have gone. "Joining the farm was definitely a life-changing decision," he says.

Community integration

There are hundreds of workers living in the dormitories built by the Chinese company at the farm. With the expansion of the farm, many more will come to the area.

Besides basic residential facilities, the compound also has a clinic and an electric-powered well. Though the clinic provides only basic treatment, it has helped to reduce the occurrence of illness on the farm, particularly diseases like malaria. The groundwater from the well provides safe and clean drinking water to the community.

Wang and his team have also rebuilt a disused factory as a recreation area for workers, and plan to open a kindergarten soon to look after children while their parents are working in the fields.

"We also have a martial arts and a football team," Wang says.

Charles Chamuhulo, a 66-year-old retired doctor from the Tanzanian healthy ministry, runs the small clinic in the Chinese farm.

"I like to work with Chinese company, because I believe they are good people. You can see for yourself what they provide for the Tanzanian farmers," he says.

zhaoyanrong@chinadaily.com.cn