The Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) has injected over 101bn/- into development projects in Mainland Tanzania to empower citizens to improve their economic status.

This was stated by TASAF's Information and Communication Officer, Christopher Kidanka, recently while presenting a TASAF report at the General Meeting of the Shinyanga Press Club (SPC) members at the end of last week.

Kidanka said that this amount of money has enabled 500,000 beneficiaries to get temporary jobs and escape income poverty.He said that under this program, more than 27 million projects have been initiated in Mainland Tanzania and have directly reached 626,000 people after the injection of these funds.

Kidanka said that this step has helped to reduce the level of poverty in the country.The fund was established in the year 2000 to provide basic grants to poor households.

So far, many households have escaped poverty, and others have been removed from the program after improving their economic status. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) conducted an assessment of the program and found that the current poverty level would have increased by eight percent without TASAF.

According to NBS, TASAF's significant contribution has fulfilled the government's commitment to eradicate poverty in the country. TASAF has enabled many households to improve their housing, increase student enrollment in schools, improve children's clinic attendance from 0-24 months, and increase the use of agricultural inputs.

Beneficiaries who have been removed from the program after improving their economic status have been provided with production grants for business projects.Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOS) have also been formed among them, and they have been provided with loans for starting businesses and lifting themselves out of poverty.

So far, more than 50,000 groups have been formed, with 680,000 members. These groups have collected more than 7.9 billion Tanzanian Shillings, out of which 3.1bn/- is circulating among members for lending.