Malawi - Startup under 3 years old

Describe your project or startup in a few words

Small Farm Cities Africa is a social enterprise building affordable planned communities for disadvantaged families in Malawi by combining hyper-affordable housing and mortgages, family-operated backyard gardens, and educational and health infrastructure.

01.01 Describe your startup in more detail

After listening to young people and identifying common challenges, we decided to build communities in Malawi that integrated three core solutions. The first solution is a hyper-affordable, high-quality home that we build for $1000. Dirt floors foster the spread of parasites and bacteria, which contribute to illnesses like diarrhea, a major cause of childhood deaths throughout rural Africa. A high quality home reduces these risks. Our second solution is our family-managed backyard farm program. Each family living in our community cultivates the land around their home as a way of generating income and Small Farm Cities utilizes our team of expert agronomists and provides extension services and loans . Our third solution is community infrastructure. On our sites, we invest in clean water systems, communal bathrooms and recycling and compost systems. Each community also has a technology center with community tablets are used by children and parents for online learning.

01.02 What is the main problem you are trying to solve?

Small Farm Cities was created to address one question. A question that has weighed on my heart for many years, and a question that I believe unites millions of young people like me throughout the world together. The question: How do disadvantaged young people who live at the bottom of the economic pyramid move ahead in life? Young people know that system problems require systems solutions. Deeply complicated and tangled problems like poverty require a plethora of solutions to solve. Education without a job isn’t enough. Having a job but poor health can only last so long. Disadvantaged young people know this all too well. They are seeking education, jobs, a way to save money, and better health because they know that a quality life requires all these solutions. At Small Farm Cities, I lead my team on a mission to build agricultural communities that bring these solutions together to that disadvantaged rural families can begin a journey of ownership and wealth creation.

01.03 Tell us the major benefits and/or advantages of using the product/service that your startup provides (at least 3).

Our goal is that families living in our communities are moving ahead across four indicators: income, savings, education, and health. For income, families will be getting at least 100% more farm income on the same plot of land. Rather than depend on one rain-fed harvest per year like most farmers, our families have access to year-round water, expertise, and inputs which enables four seasons of high value crops per year. For savings and investments, through the mortgage program families will be increasing their wealth. Within three to four years, families will have $1000 in their name after completely paying off the mortgage. In health, quality homes with proper healthy flooring have been shown to reduce the incidence of childhood diarrhea and parasitic infections by 49% and 78%, respectively. Within education, our team members will be a part of over 130 hours of training per year (30 minutes every day) across personal finance, digital literacy, agriculture, health and more.

01.04 Please describe who exactly your startup’s product/service is aimed at serving. Who are the targeted beneficiaries?

Our customers are rural families living at the bottom of the economic pyramid. We know these families want our product because the Nyangu, Chiliko, and Mussah families, among a dozen other families, are all living in our communities and proving the social and economic model. The demand is so high that we now have a waitlist for families wanting to move into our communities. These families have chosen to move into our communities, live in our $1000 houses, pay mortgages every month, and work in their backyard gardens. Through the garden and house, families are increasing their income and savings every month. Their children use our technology center equipped with Starlink wifi (the cost is split among all community members) and community tablets to watch education videos that compliment their school lessons for that day. One community member is learning python coding in the evenings.

01.05 When was your company established?

2022-02-28

01.06 Are you already selling your product/service?

Yes

01.07 How many other owners are there within your startup?

1

01.08 Among the other owners, how many are female?

0

01.09 Please describe the profile of the other owners within your startup (skills, experience, etc.)

Jon Vandenheuvel and I founded Small Farm Cities to address how families could move ahead in life in rural Malawi. Jon has a background in agriculture and city development, with work in Ghana, Ethiopia, Somalia, Dubai and Malawi. Prior to this, we both worked in Rwanda launching an e-commerce platform. Before this, I worked with World Health Organization on their emergency management team.

01.10 If you have a website, a social media page (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin…), or app, please provide the link(s) here:

https://www.smallfarmcities.com/

01.11 Which industry best describes your project?

Other: Affordable Community Development and Management mixing construction, agriculture, finance, and infrastructure

02.01.01 My startup contributes to the No poverty goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.01.02 No poverty - Justification for my startup

Small Farm Cities employs over 100 people and through our farming program, we have sold 200 tons of tomatoes to over 100 tomato sellers.

02.02.01 My startup contributes to the Zero hunger goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.02.02 Zero hunger - Justification for my startup

Small Farm Cities has sold over 200 tons of tomatoes, of which 70% is sold to local rural communities. Because we produce year round, this means that we can provide affordable fresh vegetables to rural families even during the dry seasons when vegetables are scarce.

02.03.01 My startup contributes to the Good health and well-being goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.03.02 Good health and well-being - Justification for my startup

In health, our quality homes with proper healthy flooring can reduce the incidence of childhood diarrhea and parasitic infections by 49% and 78%, respectively. Our borehole community water systems allow families to drink clean water every day and our waste and recycling systems let families enjoy a clean living environment.

02.04.01 My startup contributes to the Quality education goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.04.02 Quality education - Justification for my startup

At Small Farm Cities, every employee participates in over 100 hours of educational classes per year, ranging from personal finance, health, agriculture, and more. Our community children use the technology center and tablets to study after hours and certain community members are pursuing further online education in the evenings. We also offer classes to employees who have not finished their high school degree (MSCE).

02.05.01 My startup contributes to the Gender equality goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.05.02 Gender equality - Justification for my startup

We employ local women in our agricultural production and create indirect jobs for dozens of ladies who sell our tomatoes in local markets and on the side of the road.

02.06.01 My startup contributes to the Clean water and sanitation goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.06.02 Clean water and sanitation - Justification for my startup

Our community infrastructure enables families to drink from clean borehole water and use proper toilet waste systems.

02.07.01 My startup contributes to the Affordable and clean energy goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.07.02 Affordable and clean energy - Justification for my startup

Every house comes equipped with a Vitalite solar system and our larger Nsaru site runs on solar power.

02.08.01 My startup contributes to the Decent work and economic growth

7 - Strongly Agree

02.08.02 Decent work and economic growth - Justification for my startup

We have over 100 employees across our three sites.

02.09.01 My startup contributes to the Industry innovation and infrastructure

7 - Strongly Agree

02.09.02 Industry innovation and infrastructure - Justification for my startup

We use water, waste, and solar infrastructure across our communities so that rural families can benefit from these utilities.

02.10.01 My startup contributes to the Reduced inequalities goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.10.02 Reduced inequalities - Justification for my startup

By working in rural areas, we are focusing on fostering opportunities to those outside cities and far away from other opportunities.

02.11.01 My startup contributes to the Sustainable cities and communities goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.11.02 Sustainable cities and communities - Justification for my startup

Our communities are safe for families and their children, are made of strong materials that can withstand the test of time, and run on sustainable energy.

02.12.01 My startup contributes to the Responsible consumption and production goal

4

02.12.02 Responsible consumption and production - Justification for my startup

02.13.01 My startup contributes to the Climate action goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.13.02 Climate action - Justification for my startup

Reduction in waste/pollution: We reuse waste from greenhouses, poultry, fish and community as inputs for these production activities. We can track the tonnage reused monthly. Land reduction: We have shrunk the footprint needed for tomato production by 12 times the size, and can apply similar methodology to fish by increasing stocking density of ponds using solar aeration, and poultry through proper environmental set-up. Soil regeneration: We practice soil regeneration to ensure our plants have the best growing media by practicing appropriate crop rotations between tomatoes and legumes such as beans and well as integrating composted plant waste, fish water, and our poultry manure and can calculate the difference from before and after testing.

02.14.01 My startup contributes to the Life below water goal

4

02.14.02 Life below water - Justification for my startup

02.15.01 My startup contributes to the Life on land goal

4

02.15.02 Life on land - Justification for my startup

02.16.01 My startup contributes to the Peace Justice and Strong Institutions goal

4

02.16.02 Peace Justice and Strong Institutions- Justification for my startup

02.17.01 My startup contributes to the Partnerships for the goal

4

02.17.02 Partnerships for the goal - Justification for my startup

06.01 There are a large number of customers who already use a product/service very similar to the product/service we envision creating.

2

06.02 The product/service represents an entirely new type of product/service.

6

06.03 The product/service could be described as a new technology.

6

06.04 The product/service is an improvement on an existing product or service.

5

06.05 The product/service could be described as an extension of a range of products or services.

5

06.06 The product/service responds to a demand or need that has not been satisfied by other products/services.

7 - Strongly Agree

06.07 The product/service is a new version of an old product/service.

6

06.08 Justification for my startup

No one has been able to build a quality home at our $1000 per home price point. Others in the "affordable housing" space are double the price, if not more. We describe ourselves as creating a new category of housing - hyper-affordable. This category needed to be created because rural families in Malawi can only afford hyper-affordable. Our community approach is also novel, in that it combines many existing solutions into one community.

06.09 Competitive Analysis

We do not have any competition to date. No company is close to matching our $1000 homes and our community approach for rural families combing backyard gardens with affordable housing supported by community infrastructure is the first of its kind.

11.05 Are you initiating actions within your community to promote the role of female entrepreneurs?

Yes, our tomato production leads to dozens of indirect jobs where female entrepreneurs sell our produce. Within the company, we our head of agriculture and our head of construction (our two largest departments) are both female. They participate in weekly leadership development classes and are given significant responsibility in managing core operations at Small Farm Cities.