We help rural women rise from making little of the land, crops and savings they already hold, into owning businesses that make the most of what they grow, and green the land as they prosper.
Group members, seedlings and the market · KilifiMche! Ima! — Ladies, rise.
The cause
She already holds the land , grows the crops and saves every week .What she doesn't keep is the value.
87%of members hold M-PESA in their own name
69%of their groups keep savings in a cash box
26%have a bank or SACCO account of their own
The money has reached the phone; the savings are still in the box. From our survey of 733 women's savings groups across the seven sub-counties of Kilifi.
From the calyx to the cup, the value travels away from her.
A woman in Kilifi sells hibiscus raw at the farm gate. Someone else dries it, packs it and sells it as tea, and keeps most of the money. The value was always in what she grew.
GrowHibiscus, moringa, neem and cashew on her own land.Her share stops hereHers
ProcessDried, milled, extracted and blended.Someone else’sHers
PackageA branded product a buyer can stock.Someone else’sHers
SellDirect to buyers, without the middleman.Someone else’sHers
Our model
Three moves, made in order.
See it.
The Imagination Tour
Women travel out of the everyday to meet the people who will buy what they make, and the women already running such businesses. Having seen it, she can picture herself doing it.
Real buyers
Women already in business
Each cohort shows the next
Grow it, make it, sell it.
Mizizi, “roots”
We walk women up the whole value chain: production, processing, packaging and sale, so they keep the value they create. Five crops only, chosen for the land and the market.
Hibiscus
Moringa
Neem
Cashew
Tea additives
Run it well.
Functional Literacy
Five modules over twelve sessions turn a risen aspiration into a working, well-governed enterprise: seeing herself as an economic actor, saving first, keeping business and home money apart, and keeping the trees alive.
Who Am I?
Plant Our Future
Smart Money Management
I Am Capable
Know Your Trees
The land
Every business we build puts trees in the ground.
When farming pays little and late, cutting trees for charcoal is the rational choice. So we design one plan for one farm: hibiscus pays within months, while moringa, neem and cashew grow beneath it and take over the income as they mature.
One farm, month 3Illustrative · not a forecast
PlantingMonth 6Year 2Year 3Year 4
Where the farm's income comes from
Hibiscus, the quick cropMoringa, neem and cashew trees
month 3: hibiscus gives 100% of the farm's income and the trees 0%.
One programme. Four returns.
GenderWomen lead.Young-women-led, with a majority-women board, working through the savings groups women already run.
LivelihoodsHouseholds earn.Women move from selling raw at the farm gate to owning the steps where the value is made.
ClimateThe land greens.Quick crops pay while moringa, neem and cashew trees grow, so keeping trees alive pays better than cutting them.
AgribusinessBuyers get organised supply.Groups of growers, with a named institution behind them, supplying five crops to identified buyers.
The numbers behind the seeds
Where the 733 groups keep their savings
Where savings are kept
Groups
Cash box only
443
An M-PESA account
101
A bank or SACCO account
189
The baseline
We began by listening to 733 groups.
Each seed is one women's savings group in Kilifi, sized by its members. Their colour shows where the group keeps its money.
, grows the crops 
and saves every week 
. What she doesn't keep is the value.
