What is the name of your organization?
HERVeg.05
What is the name of your solution?
HERVeg.05 ClimateSav
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
HERVeg.05 integrates farming and mobile layaway to improve nutrition and adapt to climate change.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Njombe, Tanzania
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Tanzania
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
Film your elevator pitch.
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What specific problem are you solving?
Climate change is intensifying food insecurity, malnutrition, and poverty in rural Tanzania. Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall have led to reduced agricultural yields and livestock productivity, pushing smallholder farmers into deeper economic vulnerability. Over 34% of Tanzanians — about 20 million people — are food insecure (WFP, 2023), and 31.8% of children under five are stunted due to chronic malnutrition (UNICEF, 2022).
This environmental pressure drives seasonal income fluctuations. When income is high, it's quickly spent on daily needs; when lean seasons arrive, farmers lack the savings to purchase inputs like seeds or fertilizer. Traditional microfinance models often fail due to high interest rates, rigid group dynamics, or inaccessibility.
With 65% of Tanzanians reliant on agriculture, this challenge has wide-reaching implications. Globally, more than 500 million smallholder farmers face similar struggles (FAO, 2021).
HERVeg.05 addresses this by introducing a mobile layaway savings system, accessible via USSD, allowing farmers to save as little as $1 anytime they earn. This empowers them to build capital slowly and securely — on their own terms — ensuring they can invest in climate-smart inputs at the right time, improving resilience, nutrition, and income stability.
What is your solution?
If farmers can save for ceremonies and weddings, why not for inputs that sustain their livelihoods? HERVeg.05 taps into this familiar savings culture by offering a mobile layaway system that allows farmers to save as little as $1 at a time through USSD on basic phones. This “little-by-little” model builds individual savings over time, free from group pressure or loans, and prepares farmers to purchase inputs right when they need them.
Once enough is saved, farmers unlock tailored packages that combine dual-purpose SASSO chickens, biofortified maize, and nutrient-rich vegetables. These elements are interdependent — manure from poultry fertilizes crops, and crop waste becomes chicken feed — lowering costs while boosting yield and nutrition.
The solution also includes training on climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and malnutrition, last-mile delivery of inputs, after-sales support, and market linkage services to ensure sustainability and income generation. By layering mobile technology with trusted Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA), we deliver a practical, scalable, and tech-enabled solution designed with and for underserved rural communities.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Since our solution has been put in place, many farmers feel empowered and relieved. "I used to spend all that I earned," one farmer stated, "but now I am able to save little by little and buy what I need when I need it." Another said, "I no longer borrow in fear. My farm gets better, and so does my family's diet.".
Farmers now report better planning, less stress during planting seasons, and more harvests. They feel in control to make decisions without waiting for group approval or high-interest loans. In the long term, they are not just farming — they're creating resilience, better feeding their families, and investing boldly in their futures.
