Climate-smart farming
Drought-tolerant crops, mulching, drip lines, better yields on the same land.
Inspired by Gcabho · Eswatini
You're not
starting at
zero.
Look around your community: waste with nowhere to go, fields drying out, water lost, power cut again. Each of those is a livelihood waiting for someone. In Eswatini, South Africa, and across Southern Africa this platform helps you turn one local environmental problem into work that pays. No CV, no capital, no permission slip required.
01
Find your green lane
A short quiz on what has stopped you, then the green role or business that fits you.
02
Simulate your path
Branching scenarios: rejection, first customer, first funder. See how it could unfold.
03
Get your funder map
Green funds, climate fellowships and training open to young people in your country.
Our story
Beyond the farm.
A platform for NEET Sub-Saharan African youth to start. You don't have to invent a brand-new life. You add one small capability to the path you already have access to.
Agriculture plus.
For generations, farming or farm labour was the default fallback, the thing you could always do if nothing else worked out. Climate volatility and a faster-moving economy have eroded that safety net: land alone doesn't reliably provide a livelihood the way it used to.
The response isn't to abandon agriculture. It's agriculture plus: smallholder farmers who add basic AI or tech tools like weather prediction, market-price information and simple efficiency tools can out-earn those who farm the old way alone. You don't need a completely new path. You need one new capability on the path you already have.
Started at 15
A garden that became a Rise project.
When I was in high school I ran a garden that grew produce organically, and I sold that produce to my community at 15–17 years old. It became my Rise project. That one small step of selling what I could grow taught me that a livelihood doesn't start with permission. It starts with something you can already do, plus one new tool.
Why this matters now
Eswatini needs options beyond the farm.
Today most people in Eswatini have fewer options to make money beyond the farm and maintain a sustainable living. That is the reality this platform is built from: if the old fallback is shaky, the answer is to upgrade it, not romanticise it. Farming, informal trade, or whatever you already have access to can each become a real livelihood when you add the right small capability.
Start your profileTell us your qualification, access, and starting point, including farming or informal trade, so we can tailor your next steps.
Where the work is.
Every one of these starts as a problem in your own community: a dumpsite, a dry field, a power cut, a river running brown. Each one is also a way to earn. Pick the problem closest to you and we show you the first paid step in it.
Water conservation
Rainwater harvesting, tank installs, leak repair, borehole and greywater work.
Clean energy
Solar installs and repair, batteries, cookstoves, phone-charging kiosks.
Waste and recycling
Collection rounds, sorting, buy-back centres, plastic and tyre reuse.
Textile reuse
Second-hand repair, upcycled fashion, offcut products, local resale.
Restoration and forestry
Tree nurseries, planting contracts, rangeland and river restoration.
Food processing
Drying, canning, milling, cold storage. Stop the harvest from rotting.
Regenerative agriculture
Compost, cover crops, livestock rotation, soil that holds water.
Nature-based income
Beekeeping, eco-tourism guiding, community conservancy work.
Starting from nothing
No qualification, no capital, no connections. One local problem is enough to begin.
Our approach
How this works.
We start with the green problem you can already see where you live — energy gaps, water loss, waste piling up — then match you to a lane, train you through weekly practitioner-led sessions, and connect you with local organizations where you can test the work in the real world.
3 lanes
Renewable energy, water, and waste to start
1 session / week
For 3 months, fully virtual
10–20
Young people per cohort
Your journey.
One short intake, then three steps. Every result is tailored to your qualification, access, and starting point, including farming or informal trade.
Step 0 · Start here
About you (4 questions)
Country, qualification, access, and starting point. Takes under 60 seconds.
BeginWant a green job, not a business?
Solar, water, waste, conservation and farming employers are hiring in the region. Seven questions to find which of them fits you and where those jobs are posted.
Take the employability quizBuild the streak.
Consistency beats intensity. Check in daily, log tiny wins, earn XP and badges. Like Duolingo but for your future.
Start your streakYour community's problem is your first customer.
Start with the one you can already see. Use what you have. Fix it small, get paid, then do it again next week.
Start the quiz