Meet the 2025 SUSTAIN Champions
Across Tanzania, young professionals are driving bold, community-led solutions to strengthen water and climate resilience. We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2025 SUSTAIN Champion Awards! The Awards celebrate these changemakers, showcasing how resilience is built not just through top-down approaches, but through local action. These initiatives protect natural resources, support sustainable livelihoods, and build resilient communities.
“Winning this SUSTAIN Champion award provides timely support for my early-stage initiative, which seeks to foster Climate Action through Eco-friendly Briquettes Production and Agroecology. The initiative promotes integrated agroecological practices that restore soil fertility and diversify livelihoods. This award is crucial in supporting the efforts to reduce deforestation pressure on the natural forests of Kasulu.” – Michael Deogratius
Michael is transforming agricultural and carpentry waste into clean cooking briquettes, as well as progressing agroecology to reduce deforestation pressure and diversify rural livelihoods.
“Winning this award enables us to unlock the kapok value chain across SUSTAIN landscapes, protecting forest cover while turning an underutilised forest fruit into regenerative income for communities. It’s a win for rural communities, our forests and the future of sustainable materials.” – Maliehaa Sumar
Maliehaa is unlocking the Kapok Collective‘s value chain to protect forest ecosystems while creating regenerative and community-driven income opportunities.
“This award supports the importance of empowering local youth to lead change. It inspires continued efforts to scale climate-smart solutions across Tanzanian communities.” – Cuthbert James Magembe
Cuthbert is empowering local youth through a farmer centred model that transforms organic waste into high quality compost, reducing dependency on chemical fertilisers.
This article is part of the SUSTAIN Stories campaign, which is celebrating the ongoing successes of SUSTAIN across its three pathways and the individuals and communities that make it possible. The SUSTAIN initiative is supported through the generous contributions of Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
