The Diocese of Worcester is working with Warwickshire College at Moreton Morrell to send an MF 265 tractor, and a trailer and plough to Tunguli, which is a village about 300k North West of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

This is a fantastic project which Massey Ferguson UK is very proud to support. Not only is this a great opportunity for students to work together to renovate an old tractor but it’s also amazing news for the farmers of Tunguli.  Massey Ferguson UK will be following and the progress of the students over the coming months.

Most of the people living in the village are subsistence farmers using hand hoes to till the land. The Diocese of Worcester is working with Warwickshire College in order to source and prepare a tractor, trailer and plough which they will then deliver to the people in Tunguli. The Diocese of Morogoro own some land in Tunguli that they would like to cultivate in order to raise funds for the development of the nearby clinic. Local farmers will also use the tractor to develop their own farms.

Having a tractor in this small African village will enable the land there to be cultivated and the proceeds used to improve the local medical centre. At the beginning of September, after an extensive search, a Massey Ferguson 265 was delivered to Morton Morrell where the students will work on improving it both mechanically and cosmetically before it goes to Tunguli.

The Archdeacon of Worcester, Roger Morris said: "When I visited our link Diocese of Morogoro in Tanzania, I was struck by how simple things that we take for granted are not available, but could make the lives of people there so much better.

This tractor will be used to cultivate around 200 acres of land in Tunguli village. The produce from the land will then be sold to enable the villagers to turn their small, very basic clinic into a proper medical centre, which will certainly save lives.

The tractor will also be used within a local cooperative, enabling others in the village to farm their own small pieces of land with any profits being put towards the ongoing maintenance of the tractor."

Tim Hutchinson, Course Tutor on the Land Based Service Engineering at Warwickshire College, told us: "The tractor will be worked on by students doing both the Intermediate and Advanced Apprenticeship and it will be a great opportunity for them to get some real hands-on experience.

The first and second year students will do the mechanical repairs and the third year students will do a range of diagnostic tests to ensure the final result is as good as we can possibly make it.
We're also planning to link with some of our motor vehicle and welding and fabrication students to help improve the tractor's body work. In a little over a year, the tractor will be in much better condition and will be ready to be sent to Tunguli."

Tony Linfield is the Apprenticeship Training and Regional Development Manager for AGCO in the UK and told us: "We are delighted to be able to support this project. We like our apprentices to get as much practical experience as possible, with machinery that might be encountered when they work in our dealerships. So this will certainly benefit our students as well as making a real difference to the lives of the villagers in Tanzania."

It is hoped that the tractor will be completely reconditioned and ready to go to Africa within the next 18 months. Why not see how the students are getting on by visiting: www.facebook.com/TractorForTunguli. There are some great pictures on there and it shows how they have progressed since they started.

If you would like to make a donation towards the overall cost of this project then you can visit https://mydonate.bt.com/events/tractor4tunguli/104885