An orientation visit to a demonstration farm at the village's well- known and accomplished smallholder vegetable farmer employing drip irrigation ignited Leonard's desire to engage in self-employment. Leonard Tlae had just returned to his town after two years of numerous failed attempts to secure employment in the city. Convinced of attaining high productivity, Leonard bought his first veggie kit and proceeded to grow cucumbers.

Farming under the Climate Economic Empowerment Program exposed Leonard to farming practices that enabled him to improve the plants' productivity and conserve the soil's moisture, especially because Galapo is an arid area. "The agronomists from the program taught me how to make proper beds, mulching, and spraying pesticides." His first attempt at the program was indeed profitable. The program is committed to reaching 18,000 youth who are most affected by unemployment by creating awareness of climate-smart farming techniques.

Determined to change the fate of fellow youths in the village languishing in unemployment, Leonard mobilized six other youths and formed Dirangw' group, and started farming under Climate-Smart Economic Empowerment. "We split the profit into two-part, 50% is shared equally among all the members, and the rest is injected back into the project", said Leonard, who heads the group.

The program facilitated by Norwegian Church Aid is implemented by ELCT- Northern Diocese provides the farmers with marketing officers whose role is to research and advise the right crops to grow. Leonard says the group's beds have increased to 23 and extended to producing vegetables and fruits, and excess produce harvested from the group's farm is transported to Babati Town for sale.

From the farm's good harvest and the group's iscreating full-time jobs for the youth while providing consistent income, making the group a model within the community.

Christina Paulo, a former attendant at a gas station, was on a break from work to attend to her ailing mother and joined the group. "I started the project with one drip irrigation system which cost me 7 USD, that I have since recovered and made some profit to enable me to invest in more drip irrigation systems".