Village Enterprise
Ultra-poverty graduation programs combining cash grants and business training in rural East Africa
Our editorial assessment
Village Enterprise operates one of the best-evidenced poverty graduation programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. Their model combines three elements: a small cash grant (~$150), intensive business training, and ongoing mentorship through savings groups. An independent RCT demonstrated a 65% increase in income and 40% decrease in food insecurity for participants 18 months after the programme — strong results that have earned GiveWell's attention. What makes Village Enterprise distinctive is their focus on the ultra-poor: people living on less than $1.90/day who are typically excluded from microfinance because they lack the stability to take on debt. By providing grants rather than loans, Village Enterprise reaches people that credit-based models miss.
The problem they're solving
The ultra-poor — roughly 700 million people — are often invisible to traditional development programmes. They lack the assets to qualify for microloans and the stability to benefit from training alone. Village Enterprise's grant-based model is specifically designed for this population.
About Village Enterprise
Village Enterprise runs ultra-poverty graduation programs in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.
Where your dollar goes
How this score was produced
The GiveWise score is our own editorial assessment, produced with a weighted rubric covering program spending, transparency and governance, evidence of impact, cost-effectiveness, and leadership. It draws on publicly available reports from independent evaluators such as GiveWell, Charity Navigator, and CharityWatch, but it is not a rating issued or endorsed by any of those organisations. Read the full methodology →