The people Farm Africa helps are hard-working farmers and herders who just want a chance to earn a decent living so that they can feed their families. While we work an eight-hour day using technology to make our jobs easier, an African farmer toils by hand from sunrise to sunset, often on an empty stomach.

Your company support can make a big difference. With the money you raise, we can give farmers the help, training and tools they need to make a decent living. So by supporting Farm Africa at your place of work, you enable many rural Africans to build better lives.

How you can support us

Your company can lend us support in a variety of ways:

Cause related marketing: You may choose to support our work through your product sales as Clarence Court and St. Helen's Farm did in 2007. Research has shown that when price and quality are equal, 81% of consumers are likely to buy a product associated with a good cause.

Sponsor an expert: Many Farm Africa staff are experts in agriculture, forestry, veterinary science and a host of other disciplines. Why not sponsor one of our members of staff in Africa? We'll send you regular updates on their work.

Business mentoring: Can your employees share business skills with Farm Africa? Our staff in the UK and Africa benefit from training in business skills in areas such as IT, marketing and logistics. Farm Africa's work is increasingly focused on value addition and helping farmers to access new markets. As a result, opportunities exist for employees with the right business skills to mentor and advise our staff in the UK and in Africa. Helping some of our projects to develop and run more commercially is an important step in ensuring project sustainability.

Gifts in kind: Can your organisation donate items as well as cash? Farm Africa welcomes donations of end-of-line and surplus stock, as well as items we can use as raffle prizes or in auctions. If you would like to make a donation of this sort, please contact us beforehand to ensure that we can use it.

Fund a project: You could fund a project and receive regular updates on progress to share with all your staff.

Established over 20 years ago and still run by its original founder, Ashwood Associates is a major recruitment partner to many UK and European organisations. Ashwood Associates decided to support Farm Africa for two years starting in July 2010 by raising funds through each successful placement. Their  focus is our forestry management project in northern Tanzania.

The project supports communities living in the Nou Forest to build on traditional activities like raffia weaving, honey production and mushroom cultivation, turning them into profit-making enterprises.  This reduces reliance on slash and burn agriculture, thus protecting the forest’s precious natural resources for communities now and in the future.  In 2010, Ashwood’s support enabled Farm Africa to promote eight new forest-based enterprises including beekeeping, butterfly farming, tree nurseries and eco-tourism.  Martin Erro, a Tanzanian honey farmer, increased his annual honey production from four litres per hive to over 25 litres per hive, thanks to Farm Africa’s promotion of modern and more effective beehives.  

“Ashwood Associates wanted to work with a unique charity that makes a direct impact on the lives of those who need it most. We chose FARM-Africa for its innovative and effective approach to improving the lives of farmers and their families in eastern Africa. We are delighted to be able to support their work in Tanzania through this unique partnership.” Steve Marley, CEO Ashwood Associates

There are so many ways to fundraise - from personal challenges to team efforts, events to sponsored activities.

Here are some ways you can raise money:

• Get active - for example run, walk or climb for Farm Africa
• Set up payroll giving - you can do this directly with your employer
• eBay - sell any items you no longer want or need and donate the proceed to us
• Organise a fundraising event such as a race night, summer picnic or pub quiz for your colleagues and friends

We can provide advice on all of these, and plenty more! And if you have your own fundraising idea, then we want to hear about it and help you bring it to life.