Polish aid

On 19 September 2025, the employees of Kondiki, a dairy located on the slopes of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and supported for years by the Poland-East Africa Economic Foundation under the Polish Aid programme, were visited by ambassadors from 11 European Union countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Italy, and Poland. The diplomats were led by Christine Grau, head of EU Delegation to Tanzania. The visit was initiated by the Polish Ambassador to Tanzania, Sergiusz Wolski, and representatives of the Poland-East Africa Economic Foundation, Małgorzata and Robert Zduńczyk.

Over three days, between 17 and 19 September 2025, the ambassadors visited six different projects, including the TPC Limited sugarcane plantation supported by Denmark, the Kilimanjaro Plantation coffee farm cooperating with Germany, and the Forest Industries Training Institute collaborating with Finland. The last visit took place at the Kondiki dairy, where, with financial support from Polish Aid, the Poland-East Africa Economic Foundation implements a development project.

The visit was scheduled to allow the officials, after a short introduction, to spend as much time as possible learning about the work at the dairy. The guests were able to observe various stages of dairy produce manufacture, ask the implementers questions, and speak with the employees.

A very important element of the presentation and discussion was the support the dairy has received from the Poland-East Africa Economic Foundation and the Polish Aid programme, thanks to which the scale of raw milk collection and dairy produce manufacture have increased more than fivefold, from 1,500 to almost 8,000 litres per day. Thanks to project activities, a number of important processes have been modernized or implemented: technological (the purchase of machines in Poland), supporting (e.g. water filtration and treatment of post-production wastewater) or managerial (a new financial and accounting system, the shift from cash payments to bank transfers in settlements with farmers, etc.).

According to the visitors, one of the main qualities of the project is its local character. These are the local farmers who, through the cooperative, own the dairy – young Tanzanians carry out all functions, from the management board to daily cleaning, together shaping plans and strategies for the future. The Kondiki example shows how effectively good local development can be implemented with relatively modest financial means and by giving recognition to partners. The dairy’s young but professional management and staff also drew positive assessments.

Adrian Kimario, the dairy manager, said that thanks to the expansion of milk produce collection and sales, in 2025, Kondiki, with its own generated funds, was able to independently purchase two new trucks for milk transport and another cooling container, which allows the dairy to start selling its produce in Dar es Salaam, a city with a population of 7 million inhabitants. This confirms the effectiveness of Poland's development cooperation with farmers from Kilimanjaro.

At the end of the visit, the management of Kondiki and the Poland-East Africa Economic Foundation presented the challenges and future plans. The most important of these is the construction of a new, professionally designed dairy hall that will make it possible to increase the production capacity to 30,000 litres of milk.