01
Laptop + phone
Shared, practical devices for planning, learning, communication and market access.
Why baobab
The Tree of Life is our operating model.
Across Africa, the baobab has long offered food, water, shelter and income. It does not stand above the community. It stands within it. That is our model: durable infrastructure rooted locally, branching into choices families can make for themselves.
Help that strengthens self-reliance
We are not building another system that delivers answers to communities. We are building tools that help communities create and act on their own answers.
Not another aid model
- Not defined by one-off handouts
- Not technology imposed without context
- Not families treated as data points
- Not impact promised before evidence exists
A social enterprise for agency
- Locally led livelihood planning
- Useful infrastructure designed for continuity
- Families choose the path and retain agency
- Pilots measured before they are scaled
The product
The AI Powerpack.
A practical bundle of tools, access and support—not a magic box. Each component is selected for the local setting and governed with participating families.
02
Connectivity
Internet access where technically and regulatorily feasible, including satellite options where appropriate.
03
AI model access
A suitable, locally tested decision-support model with human oversight—not an autonomous decision-maker.
04
Reliable power
Solar infrastructure where required, with maintenance and safe local operation built into the pilot.
05
Catalytic capital
Small, accountable capital aligned with the livelihood plans families choose and test.
STEP 01Understand seasonal income, costs and risks—with consent.
STEP 02Compare realistic livelihood and food-production options.
STEP 03Choose a family-owned plan with a local facilitator.
STEP 04Test, learn, adapt and measure what changes.
The human reason
A promise no parent should fear.
The first pilot begins with a simple belief: a child’s future should not narrow because opportunity, information or a route to market stops miles away.
Concept film using fictional AI-generated people. Any field production will require informed consent, child safeguarding, privacy protection and fair compensation.
First pilot
Start focused.
Learn deeply.
Grow responsibly.
This proposed rural Ghana pilot will work with one cohort of 15 families. The precise community and local delivery partners will be confirmed through due diligence before deployment.
Participants15 families
LocationRural Ghana
Duration3 years
Funding need$10,000 each year
01
Build trust and baseline
Co-design with local stakeholders, select appropriate tools, establish safeguards and begin voluntary livelihood planning.
02
Test livelihoods
Support family-selected entrepreneurship and food-production plans; track learning, costs, risks and early outcomes.
03
Evaluate and decide
Independently assess results, publish limitations and determine what—if anything—should be adapted or scaled.
Finance the proof
Three years to test the model responsibly.
$30,000Total target · $10,000 per year
Devices, power, feasible connectivity and maintenance.
Facilitation, training, coordination and community participation.
Accountable catalytic support for family-selected plans.
Privacy, monitoring, evaluation, documentation and independent review.
Planning target, not a finalized procurement budget. Exact allocations will be published after local partner selection, site assessment and community co-design. No fabricated precision; no hidden promise.
Why act—and why test
The need is vast. Our first claim must stay small.
baobab’s ambition is to help make poverty and child food poverty history. The first pilot’s job is not to declare victory. It is to learn whether this model can create measurable value for participating families.
children under five were estimated to live in severe child food poverty in 2024.
UNICEF source ↗children under five in Africa were estimated to live in severe child food poverty.
UNICEF source ↗of people living in extreme poverty were in Sub-Saharan Africa in the World Bank’s 2024 regional estimate.
World Bank source ↗Participation is voluntary.
Access to support must never depend on unnecessary financial disclosure.
Collect less. Protect more.
Purpose limits, role-based access, retention rules and accessible correction or deletion.
AI advises. People decide.
Local facilitators and participating families retain context, explanation and appeal.
Built with, not for.
Community involvement in design, permitted data use, implementation and evaluation.
Dignity is non-negotiable.
No exploitative storytelling and no identifiable child data unless strictly necessary.
Scale what works.
Publish outcomes, costs, limitations and failures before making broader claims.
Founding pledge
Finance the first pilot.
Tell us the amount you may be willing to fund. This is a non-binding expression of interest—not a payment or legal commitment.
$30,000Three-year goal · $10,000 annually
No confirmed commitments are shown until they can be verified.
Make a non-binding pledge
Enter a concrete amount and how you would like us to follow up.
Questions funders ask
Clear answers before commitments.
Is baobab a charity?
baobab is being designed as a mission-led social enterprise. The final legal and funding structure must be established and disclosed before any binding contribution is accepted. This page currently collects only non-binding interest.
Does AI decide what families should do?
No. The model is decision support: it may help compare options, map seasonal income and expenses, and surface questions. Families choose their plans, with local human facilitation and a clear ability to disagree or opt out.
Is Starlink guaranteed?
No. Connectivity is site- and country-specific. Satellite internet is one option subject to current availability, licensing, affordability and technical assessment. The pilot will use the most appropriate feasible connectivity.
What does success mean?
Success criteria will be co-designed and baselined before launch. They may include livelihood stability, progress on family-selected enterprise or food-production goals, service reliability, adoption and child dietary-diversity indicators. Causality and limitations must be evaluated honestly.
Can I fund only one year?
Yes. The planning requirement is $10,000 per year for three years. Use the pledge form to state whether you are considering one-time, annual or targeted support.
Is Kiva a partner?
No partnership is claimed. Local-partner and last-mile distribution models documented by organizations such as Kiva have informed the concept, but baobab must build and validate its own partnerships.
The first proof starts here
Let possibility take root.
Help finance three years of accountable learning with 15 families in rural Ghana.
Make a non-binding pledge →