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  • Economic Empowerment

Building Stability and Strengthening Communities

Limited access to steady livelihoods, reliable markets and agricultural resources keeps many communities confined by poverty and food insecurity. When income is unstable, families have to make impossible choices — whether to skip meals, which of their children can attend school or how to survive the next season if crops fail.

That’s why economic empowerment is essential to long-term food security. When families can earn a reliable income, they gain the stability they need to feed their households, invest in their futures, achieve self-sufficiency and strengthen their communities.

  • The Challenge

Why Economic Stability Matters

Without access to sustainable livelihoods, families remain vulnerable to shocks like drought, rising food prices and economic disruption. These pressures limit opportunity and make it harder for communities to break free from cycles of hunger and poverty.

Economic insecurity doesn’t just affect income. It impacts nutrition, education and long-term resilience. That’s why we’re committed to empowering communities through economic empowerment programs that provide farming equipment and training and establish Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) that equip local families with loan and savings support.

  • Economic Empowerment Programs

Growing Income and Opportunity

Rise Against Hunger invests in economic development initiatives that increase household incomes and strengthen local food systems. By equipping smallholder farmers — especially women and young people — with training, grants, tools and business skills, we help families generate sustainable income while also feeding their neighbors.

These programs also connect local farmers to reliable markets, allowing them to sell what they grow, diversify their income and build long-term resilience through Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs). VSLAs are a proven international development model to help farmers and families build financial stability by pooling savings and accessing small loans. Through these community-led groups, families can invest in seeds and equipment, cover household needs and weather unexpected challenges. As livelihoods improve, communities are better positioned to establish food security across their communities.

  • The Impact

Livelihood That Leads to Food Security

Through these efforts, Rise Against Hunger helps families build both economic stability and food security. And when families become secure, their communities strengthen, too. Over the next three years, we project that 50% of households participating in economic empowerment programs will increase their income or savings by at least 10%.

Increased income and stability allow families to put meals on the table, keep children in school and reinvest in their communities — creating a ripple effect of opportunity and growth.

Here’s a glimpse at the global impact of our economic empowerment programs: 

  • Malawi: 111 Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) were formed, leading to the growth of $28,722 in savings and $40,251 in loans from $0. Participating households used these savings and loans to invest, diversify income and build financial resilience.
  • Zimbabwe: 45 VSLAs grew from $0 in savings to $53,489 and expanded school gardens that generated food and income amid drought pressures.
  • Mali: 267 farmers across 64 villages saved $23,510 through VSLAs and expanded gardens and livestock.
  • Economic Empowerment

Stories of Impact

  • Malawi

Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience

A Farming Success Story: Andrew’s Crop Yields and Livestock Support His Family’s Food Security
  • Philippines

It Starts With a Meal

Better World Tondo Food Bank Feeds Children And Empowers Women Like Elizabeth in the Philippines
  • #IYM2023

International Year of Millets

Celebrating the Resilience of Millets
  • Philippines

It Starts With a Meal

Good Food Farm Improves Access to Nutrition for Families in Magdalena, Philippines
  • Kenya

It Starts With a Meal

Over 500 Farmers Received Climate-Smart Agriculture Training in Kenya
  • South Sudan

Empowering Communities

South Sudan Agriculture Project Ignites Joyce’s Passion for Farming
Read More Stories of Impact
  • Give Today

Invest in Livelihoods and Communities

Your gift helps families grow income, strengthen local food systems and move from crisis to stability. Support economic empowerment programs that create lasting food security and resilience.

Strength, Stability And Hope

The gift that filled Nelly’s table.

“We were yielding very little, and the crops could not sustain us the whole year,” Nelly remembers. As a mother of seven and a farmer with two decades of experience, the stress of inconsistent yields was all-consuming. A poor harvest not only strained her family financially, but also limited their own meals to just two a day. Their story reflects that of many in their fishing and farming village near a lake in the Karonga district of northern Malawi. Here, heavy rainfall makes conventional farming methods nearly impossible. The entire village is, quite literally, saturated in food insecurity — a reality that leaves families struggling to survive season after season without a dependable source of nourishment.

In 2019, Nelly began participating in Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience, a sustainable agriculture project implemented by Rise Against Hunger in partnership with the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS). The project works with 3,100 smallholder farmers in Malawi’s Karonga and Mzimba districts to strengthen food and nutrition security by improving production methods, nutrition practices and household income.

Just one year later, Nelly was ready to expand the variety of crops on her farm. What land once only produced maize began to flourish with sesame, cowpeas, rice and groundnuts during the rainy season (summer), as well as maize and vegetables during the dry season (winter). Through climate-smart agriculture training, she learned new techniques like manure making, pit planting and mulching, crop rotation and intercropping. Equipped with these tools, Nelly’s farm began to thrive.

After the 2023–2024 growing season, she sold enough produce to purchase an ox cart. Her harvests in 2024-2025 season yielded over 500 pounds of crops, including 22 bags of groundnuts, seven bags of maize, 12 tins of sesame and three bags of rice. With this surplus, she was able to invest in a motorbike, which she now uses to transport African doughnuts (mandasi) that she cooks and sells — creating yet another source of income for her family.

The transformation reaches far beyond her finances. Nelly now has the stability to provide for her husband and children. “I am able to eat different food types, pay school fees for my children and fulfill the visions that I have made with my family,” she beams. “I am now sleeping peacefully without any fears of food or paying school fees for the children.”

Her leadership has also grown. Today, Nelly serves as a leader in the Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience project, teaching other farmers in her district to adopt climate-resilient, labor-saving practices. By sharing her knowledge, she is multiplying her impact — empowering her neighbors to experience the same transformation she has achieved.

Across Nelly’s community, food and economic security are on the rise. Lombani, a government extension officer for the region, explains, “I can see the community is being transformed in the sense that in the area, there is food, income and nutrition security. Development is also happening at the household level.”

Nelly reflects on what it means to invest in holistic programs that address the root causes of hunger: “We are now healthy people. Children are going to school after eating their breakfast, having high yields and different types of crops due to conservation agriculture practices. With the support from the project, we have food, and we can access other food items from the market after selling our produce.”

This is the gift that fills: a future full of stability, strength and hope. It fills tables with food, families with security and communities with the resources to thrive. It’s an investment in futures rooted in resilience and hope.