FEMI has already been active in the Mtakuja area since 1999, through its board member, Douwe de Vries. One of the first projects involved the provision of school lunches to the children at their school.
FEMI was very aware that, when it decided to provide lunches to the pupils, this could not go on forever. That’s why a plan was developed to enable the people of the village to support themselves.
A consultation with the management of the TPC sugarcane plantation in Tanzania, by far the largest employer in the area, resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding between TPC and FEMI. TPC declared that it was prepared to enter into an obligation of best intents with regard to a project in Mtakuja. TPC has proved to be a very valuable and reliable partner.
Subsequently, village representatives were consulted. From the very first meeting it was emphasised that FEMI involvement would only be temporary and that the responsibility lay with the village itself. It was also noted that FEMI might have ideas about the content and the approach of the process, but that the project was essentially owned by the villagers; they would have the key role in the process.

To execute the project in Tanzania the international ‘FD Kilimanjaro’ NGO was founded, based on Dutch Law. The local board of FD Kilimanjaro consists of a Dutch project leader and two Tanzanian citizens.
On 1 June 2008 the ‘Mtakuja Development Project’ started with the arrival of the first project leader, Joris de Vries. In 2010 Joris was succeeded by Gerbert Rieks.