Islamic Help initiated livelihood projects this February on Mafia Island (Tanzania).  Mafia Island is situated off the east coast of Tanzania, where poverty is high. The aim of livelihood projects is to provide families with sustainable incomes, which will improve their lives in the long term. This in turn will allow for young children to receive a better education, which will in turn help them find work to support themselves. This can then improve the economic activity of Mafia Island and create more jobs.

Three projects have been set up; a chicken farm, a taxi service and distribution of fishnets. A chicken farm was set up because there was only one main chicken farm on Mafia Island. This farm is intended to provide a very poor family with a better income. The family consist of a farmer and his wife, who have nine children, some of whom are not yet in education, as well as his very poorly mother. The farmer has been trained on how to run a chicken farm which will help him support his family.

The rickshaw taxi service has provided four men with a job. Before they had this opportunity, they were working casually as rickshaw drivers or bus conductors. Every day they would wake up early in the morning with the hope that they would find work for that day, but sometimes would have go home disappointed, without a wage. This is the daily life of many people on Mafia Island.

For the third livelihood project, fishnets were given out to a group of fishermen. These 10 fishermen depend on catching fish to feed their families as they live on a remote Island (Bweju) where their main income is provided by catching and selling fish. These fishnets were provided so they could better their lives and have more fish to sell and eat.