Help communities move from subsistence to thriving
Support hard working farmers to have profitable farms and build life-sustaining businesses
About the campaign
In rural Tanzania, most households rely on subsistence farming, struggling to meet basic needs like food, education, and healthcare. With limited access to credit and savings, they often purchase low-quality seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides, leading to poor yields. Additionally, many lack entrepreneurship skills in areas like budgeting, customer acquisition, and market differentiation. The situation worsens for unemployed young adults and the poorest households with little or no land.
Karimu has successfully raised household incomes above the poverty line by providing: access to capital through savings groups and no-collateral loans, entrepreneurship training tailored to rural communities, commercial income-generating opportunities for farmers and livestock keepers.
Our financial services program in Ayalagaya and Arri has shown significant impact: in Ayalagaya, savings increased by 97% from 2020-2025, and in Arri, by 87% from 2022-2025. We’ve also funded $124,252 in zero-interest loans, all repaid on time. Our next goal is to train more groups and form federations to ensure long-term sustainability. Finally, Karimu helps to form federations of graduated savings groups who come together to pool their resources and provide the long term lending hub as Karimu exits the area. For 2026, we need $19,000 to support training and field officer development.
Our entrepreneurship program, based on the Street Business School curriculum, has helped 88% of graduates start businesses, with their income increasing by up to 252%. We aim to reach 15% of households in each ward, though we’ve currently reached only 4% in Ayalagaya and 6% in Arri. For 2026, we need $56,000 to expand this initiative.
Our income programs combine agricultural training with business, group negotiation, and savings education to help farmers increase yields and access larger markets. Pilots for green beans, biochar, and chicken, have shown promising results, with each surpassing profit expectations. In 2026 we plan to scale the successful pilots, launch pilots for additional crops, and review and refine our strategy for the best crops by ward as we expand into Dabil ward. Each project requires training, oversight, and often a small grant or loan. Some projects are ideal for young adults or the poorest families with few assets while others require land for cultivation or nearby water for irrigation. Our goal is to raise $107,000 to support the income projects:
Biochar - $27,300
Chicken - $26,700
Green Beans - $34,100
Avocado - $3,300 (Pilot)
Strategy refinement - $15,600
With Social Capital Foundation already contributing a big portion of the total amount, we aim to impact 3,600 households across Ayalagaya, Arri, and Dabil wards in 2025. Please help us close the funding gap and continue this life-changing work.
