Farmer Turns to Bitcoin in Battle to End Extreme Poverty
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A farmer in Uganda’s poorest region is asking the crypto community for help as he tries to bring extreme poverty to an end.
Anthony Kalulu says his appeal for Bitcoin donations is a last resort after exhausting all of his other options.
In an open letter to the crypto industry, he said new technologies like Web3 were off-limits in rural areas like his own — and most people have never even used the internet.
Kalulu is hoping to raise 16 BTC to invest in a facility that would clean, dry and store cereal and grain produced in the county of Busoga so farmers can sell their produce and make a living.
He first tried to secure funding from the United Nations Development Programme eight years ago and fears his community is being left behind — telling Cryptonews:
“Between those years, I have precisely contacted the whole world, every global anti-poverty agency, every anti-poverty activist, every international journalist, every social influencer, seeking a voice on poverty, it all hasn’t worked. It is why I have decided to appeal to the crypto/Web3 community the way I am doing now.”
Kalulu has established wallets across multiple cryptocurrencies — including Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and USDT — in the hope of gaining support from kind-hearted donors.
Official figures from the World Bank show Uganda has made slow progress in reducing extreme poverty when compared with other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
He has founded a non-profit called Uganda Community Farm that aims to support more than one million people living across 1,100 villages.
Kalulu believes installing a grain facility would allow farmers to tap into a new market of institutional buyers, diversify their incomes, and make produce safer.
He went on to describe it as a “market necessity,” as most of the food produced in his region ends up going to waste because it isn’t stored correctly.
Previous attempts to drum up support included writing a letter to the effective altruism community — a group of people who state their goal as making as much money as possible so it can be given away. But Kalulu heard nothing back, adding:
“I have read that crypto donors tend to give more generously than traditional philanthropists. This makes me think I might have some luck finding support there, if my message reached the right people. I have also read that the main underlying ideology of crypto/Web3 as an industry is to afford all people the freedom and independence that other traditional systems have long failed to bring.”
Kalulu told us that he only learned about digital assets earlier this year — and any help in getting hisvision off the ground would be greatly appreciated.
The farmer went on to describe his plan as “an unlikely solution, by an unlikely creator in an unlikely part of the world” — but stressed that the grain facility would be majority-owned by the people who would benefit from it most. He added:
“I am turning to you, the people of crypto/Web3, after trying to befriend everyone from the global antipoverty world, and after trying everything else, for years, in vain. Let’s make crypto a force that can accomplish what other traditional systems have long failed to accomplish.”
With the bull market in full swing, data from The Giving Block has shown how crypto donations have become a more established revenue stream for charities.
Estimates suggest that more than $2 billion has been donated through digital assets as of January 2024 — and 56% of U.S. charities now accept crypto contributions.
Growing momentum has been fueled by the fact that 580 million people around the world are now believed to invest in the likes of Bitcoin and Ether.
Donating in crypto can be advantageous from a tax perspective — as depending on where you live, capital gains may not be due.
Charities are also beginning to see how the transparency of blockchains can aid their organizations — and allow donors to verify how their funds are being used, and whether they’re getting to the right place.
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