Sustainable farming solutions

20/07/2026

THIS WEEK we join more than 700 organisation leaders, funders, social innovators and policymakers in Nairobi for Segal Family Foundation's AGM, Segal 2026, under the theme 'The Next Beat'.

The theme asks where philanthropy goes next. Our answer is rooted in what we need to see in Malawi: back bold local ideas, trust African leadership, and build genuine partnerships with the communities doing the work. That is how smallholder farmers restore land, grow incomes and shape their own futures.
Representing SFS in Nairobi is Vanessa Simwela Adiukwu. Our Founder, Tontho Uganja, is proud to be a 2026 African Visionary Fellow, and Vanessa will be carrying our story, our lessons and our ambitions into the room.

We value Segal Family Foundation's longstanding commitment to championing African visionaries, and we look forward to helping shape the next beat, together.

18/04/2026

Big week ahead for SFS.

Our founder Tontho Uganja is heading to The Skoll Foundation World Forum in Oxford to learn, share, and build relationships that can help move restoration and small-scale resilient livelihoods from pilots to scale.

She’ll also be part of The Sidebar conversation on smallholder farmers and scaling what works with Arti Dhar from Farmers for Forests (F4F) and Shantanu Agarwal from Mati Carbon.

Register here, a few spaces left: https://luma.com/6og23wqh

If you’re attending, say hello we’d love to meet.

07/04/2026

If putting trees on farms pays, then farmers will care for them and in turn restore degraded land. Thanks Segal Family Foundation for spotlighting our journey towards improving land and livelihoods.

Restoration is not only about the land. It’s about livelihoods. 🌱

Tonthoza Uganja is working on that.

In Malawi, land degradation shows up in the most practical places: yields, income, and whether a household can stay afloat through a tough season. Her work connects environmental restoration to what rural livelihoods actually require to keep going.

As the founder of Sustainable farming solutions (SFS), she leads a Malawian team of foresters, agronomists, technologists, and community organizers who work with local leaders and public agencies to restore land and to strengthen how it’s cared for over time.

What stands out is the measurement. They track survival and ongoing care, plot by plot, using GPS data, fixed photo points, and seasonal notes, and then verify it through field agents and satellite data. Farmers are paid for sustained stewardship, not for a one-time planting count.

Smart-Tree, the digital monitoring and traceability system they co-developed, links field data to transparent payouts, helping farmers access more reliable, equitable nature-based finance.

For Tontho, this work is also personal. SFS grew out of lived experience, including what it means to move between town and village life, to watch stability change quickly, and to see how much of the burden lands on women without real financial control.

That perspective still shapes the work: restore land, and make farming households more secure, more resilient, and better supported. That's why we are proud to welcome Tontho Uganja as a 2026 African Visionary Fellow 💚

If her work resonates with you, follow her and her team and drop her a note in the comments below. ✨

06/03/2026

06/03/2026

As we wrap up the tree planting season it’s good to remember why we do what we do. Co-creating with communities that matter, data, trust and dignity
NBS Bank. Putting the right trees in the right places.

-tree

12/12/2025

🌱 It’s that time of the year again - tree growing season at SFS!

The rains are here, seedlings are ready, and our team is back in the field moving trees from the nursery to the farm.

But for us, tree planting isn’t “one tree fits all”. Healthy farms need diversity - and farmers deserve choices that fit their land and livelihoods.

Why we plant a mix of species:

-fixing trees for soil restoration: improving soil fertility, rebuilding organic matter, and supporting healthier crops with less pressure on expensive inputs.

trees to strengthen incomes: fruits, timber, fuelwood, fodder, honey resources - the trees that pay back in food and cash.

species to restore ecosystems: shade, water infiltration, windbreaks, and biodiversity - the trees that protect the farm long-term.

preferences matter: we prioritise what farmers want, what they can manage, and what works in their local conditions (soil, rainfall, labour, and market access).

This season, we’re supporting farmers to establish tree-rich, climate-smart farms that deliver both livelihood benefits and land restoration - side by side.

If you’re a buyer, partner, or donor interested in agroforestry at scale (with absolute farmer ownership), let’s connect.