Founding year · 2026 Pilot opens · Tanzania · 2026 long rains

Every meal starts in a field. Every field needs a farmer who can thrive.

Hero image · documentary · Singida region, Tanzania

Manna works alongside smallholder farming families in East Africa — supplying the training, seeds, finance and market access they need to grow more on the land they already farm, and build futures rooted in their own work. Our goal is to reduce poverty and hunger by building the conditions for smallholder farmers to become more productive, resilient, and ultimately independent.

The premise

At Manna, we believe lasting change does not come from dependency — it comes from empowerment.

We do not believe in simply giving aid for a moment. We believe in helping farmers build the knowledge, tools, networks, and independence needed to thrive for generations.

Through training, agricultural support, farmer networks, irrigation solutions, and access to markets, we work alongside farming communities to help create sustainable livelihoods rooted in dignity and self-reliance.

Signed — The founders, Novi Sad · 2025

The context

A region where farming is everywhere — and so is hardship.

Four facts about Tanzania and Sub-Saharan Africa that shape every decision we make. Drawn from FAO, World Bank, ILO and UNICEF reporting.

80%
of Tanzanians live by the land.

More than four in five Tanzanians depend on agriculture for their livelihood — and most farmers work less than 2.5 hectares of mostly rain-fed land. Farming is not a sector here. It is the economy.

Source · Farm Africa, FAO
~28M
live below the national poverty line.

Roughly 28 million Tanzanians live below the national poverty line — the great majority of them in rural areas, and almost all of them, ironically, the people growing the country's food.

Source · IFAD, World Bank
$20
a bag of quality seeds costs 

Yet for most Tanzanian smallholders, it remains out of reach. Without access, farmers plant whatever they can find and harvest a fraction of what they could.

Source · UNICEF, ILO
< 2%
of farmland is irrigated.

Less than two percent of smallholders' land is irrigated, and only a fraction of households use improved seed or fertiliser. Closing those simple gaps — water, inputs, training — is what turns a hungry harvest into a household business.

Source · FAO Smallholder Survey

Our approach

From aid to independence with Manna.

Six commitments that move farming families from one-time relief to a working livelihood — repeated season after season, until our presence is no longer needed. 

01

 We Support

Smallholder farming families across East Africa through practical agricultural systems designed for long-term independence.

02

We Train 

Farmers through demonstration farms, field agronomists, and hands-on education that improves productivity and resilience.

03

We Connect

Rural communities with quality seeds, irrigation, agricultural inputs, financing, and reliable market access.

04

We Build

Stronger and more self-sustaining farming communities through knowledge, infrastructure, and local partnerships.

05

We Empower

Young farmers and rural entrepreneurs to create sustainable livelihoods and strengthen local economies.

06

We Strengthen

Food security and climate resilience by helping farmers adapt, grow, and prosper season after season.


The method

A bundle, not a programme.

Four services in one delivery. Each fails without the others. Together, they turn a subsistence plot into a household business.

01

Seed & inputs

High-quality, climate-resilient seeds and essential inputs tailored for smallholder farmers. 

More on inputs →
02

Field training

Weekly meetings led by a field officer. Hands-on, in Swahili, repeated across the season. The goal is to build long-term capability, not dependency.

More on training →
03

Crop finance

Access to agricultural financing and crop protection that reduce risk at the start of the season.  

More on finance →
04

Market access

Aggregated buying, post-harvest storage, and direct relationships with local millers — so farmers sell when prices are highest, not lowest.

More on markets →

Our vision

~50% of farming households live below the poverty line — yet they are the ones growing the food.

It is one of the deepest ironies in modern economics: the people who feed a continent often go to bed hungry themselves. We believe that with small, practical changes — better seed, a season of training, a fair loan, an honest buyer — the lives of these families can be profoundly improved.

Most people living on $1 a day are farmers. If all of the 50 million farm families in Sub-Saharan Africa could grow more on their current plots of land, they would be a powerful force against poverty and food insecurity in their own communities.

Farming is, in truth, the engine of Africa's development. When farmers have the chance to make their farming more productive, they build pathways to prosperity for millions of families — without leaving the land they already work.



Partners

Built with serious institutions.

Academic, agronomic & community partners

Lead academic partner

Faculty of Agriculture, University of Novi Sad

Designs the measurement framework, supplies agronomy expertise, and conducts independent year-one audit. The partnership covers research staff, graduate-student field placements, and joint publication of pilot results.

In-country academic partner

Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro

Tanzania's leading agricultural university. Co-designs the agronomy curriculum, places graduate students in field-officer rotations, and grounds the pilot in local soil-science and extension expertise.

Partner list grows.............................

Stand with a farmer

€72 carries one farming household from aid to independence — for a full season.

A single gift funds the bundle a family needs: quality seed, a season of in-field training, a small loan, and a reliable buyer at harvest. The loan portion is repaid and recycled to the next farmer — your gift keeps working.