YODEP is a youth-led group established in 2024 under the Tanzania Federation for the Urban Poor, formed by young people aged 16–35 in Mjimpya, Kipawa, near the Msimbazi River. The group mobilises community action through monthly cleaning campaigns, bamboo and tree planting, and creative outreach using music, drama, and public events like the Bamboo Festival. Their work tackles waste mismanagement, environmental degradation, and lack of opportunities for youth. They’ve created TAKA MNADA (“Auction Waste”), a system for purchasing household waste and reselling it, with future plans for composting and upcycling. They also offer tailoring training, aiming to redesign and resell old clothes. Despite limited resources, they’ve built strong peer leadership, community visibility, and trust with local actors. The initiative centres youth voices and inspires broader participation in environmental care, sanitation, and livelihoods around the Msimbazi watershed, showing how creative organising can spark both ecological and social transformation.
Working towards justice
YODEP expands environmental action by centring youth from a historically underserved area, the Kipawa ward, who are directly affected by poor waste infrastructure, flooding, and social exclusion. The group creates spaces where youth, including both young men and women, lead and influence decisions that affect their communities. Through participatory activities like river cleanups, creative education, and waste-to-value programmes, the group addresses multiple layers of injustice: lack of recognition of youth leadership, inadequate services in informal settlements, and environmental harms concentrated in low-income areas. Their actions are reshaping how the community views youth, challenging stigmatising perspectives relating to marginalisation and idleness. Benefits include increased environmental awareness, stronger social cohesion, new income streams, shifting attitudes towards sanitation and sparking local collaborations.
The potential to benefit people and nature
YODEP is already delivering multiple benefits through nature-based and socially embedded strategies. Cleaning campaigns and bamboo planting directly improve local ecosystems and help reduce flood risk along the Msimbazi River. The use of festivals, drama, and youth-led outreach helps bridge the gap between technical knowledge and community understanding. Their TAKA MNADA waste initiative holds great promise to reduce dumping and promote circular economies. There’s strong potential to deepen the environmental co-benefits by introducing composting, safer waste handling, and enhancing bamboo planting with additional tree and soil-stabilising species. Their grassroots structure, creativity, and growing social capital make this a model that could be adapted in other flood-prone neighbourhoods. With basic support, such as tools, waste sorting equipment, training in environmental and wildlife monitoring, and safer waste processing, YODEP/YEP could become a hub of youth-led nature protection, climate education, and sustainable entrepreneurship across Dar es Salaam. The group would benefit from ecological conservation training.
