PRESS RELEASE: buildOn and Piggy Bank Partner to Empower Rural Farmers Through Education and Entrepreneurship
STAMFORD, Conn., August 22, 2025 – buildOn, a global nonprofit dedicated to uniting people through service and education to ignite a more equitable future, has announced a new partnership with Piggy Bank to expand access to education and entrepreneurial resources for rural farmers. With $84,000 in funding from Piggy Bank, buildOn will implement 14 Adult Education Programs across Nepal, Mali, and Malawi, benefiting more than 515 participants in underserved communities.
Through this initiative, buildOn will integrate literacy and numeracy training with hands-on business education, equipping participants with the knowledge and skills to launch and sustain successful farming enterprises. The program will also provide essential seed funding to support small businesses, fostering economic growth and self-sufficiency.
Key Program Highlights:
- Educational Impact: The program will strengthen literacy and numeracy skills among rural farmers, ensuring they have the foundational knowledge to succeed in agricultural entrepreneurship.
- Business Training: Participants will gain access to open-source, digital business plans tailored to small-scale farming operations, providing a roadmap for financial stability and sustainable growth.
- Economic Empowerment: Seed funding will be allocated to support new farming businesses in 14 rural communities, offering participants a tangible opportunity to generate income and improve their livelihoods.
Maurice Muchene, VP of Business Development at buildOn, shares, “This partnership represents a transformative opportunity to combine education and entrepreneurship, enabling individuals to build a more secure and prosperous future for themselves and their communities.”
Brady Lowe, Founder at Piggy Bank, emphasized, “At Piggy Bank, we believe the first seed isn’t the one you plant in the ground—it’s the one you plant in people. This partnership is about giving farmers the literacy, the plans, and the resources to stop surviving season to season and start building long-term, generational stability. Our mission has always been to take what feels uncertain—food, income, stability—and give it structure one business plan at a time.”
About buildOn: buildOn is a nonprofit organization dedicated to uniting people through service and education to ignite a more equitable future. Through partnerships with rural communities in low-income countries, buildOn catalyzes transformational change by constructing schools, enrolling out-of-school children, and empowering adult learners. Since 1991, buildOn has partnered with communities and Ministries of Education to construct 2,773 schools through 5,050,304 volunteer work days, with 359,832 children and adults attending buildOn schools daily. 41,992 adults have graduated from the Adult Literacy Program- 81% of whom are women. For more information, visit www.buildon.org.
About Piggy Bank: Piggy Bank, founded by Brady Lowe of Taste Network, is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that supports small-scale farmers through Open Access Agriculture (OAA), providing free access to critical business resources, industry knowledge, and genetic conservation programs to promote sustainable agricultural practices. Piggy Bank fosters a collaborative network of farmers, researchers, and industry experts to drive innovation in sustainable agriculture, offering mentorship, financial literacy training, and strategic planning tools to help farmers scale their operations and improve responsible farming methods for long-term sustainability. For more information or download a business plan for free, visit www.piggy-bank.org, or www.tastenetwork.com.
For more information, please contact:
Maurice Muchene, buildOn, Email: press@buildon.org
Brady Lowe, Piggy Bank, Email: global@tastenetwork.com
Source: buildOn