Featuring: One Acre Fund

Article
By Ollie Nicholas
29/07/19

Subtitle

It’s a bitter irony that the majority of the world’s hungriest people are farmers.

Contents

1. Farmers First

2. Six Values

3. The One Acre Fund Model

4. Serving More Families

Chantal Nyirampozayo, Solange Nyirarukundo, and Suzan Mukabahiz prepare Solange's land for planting in Gitega, Rwanda. Photo by One Acre Fund

One Acre Fund is a non-profit social enterprise that supplies financing and training to help smallholders grow their way out of hunger and build lasting pathways to prosperity. The organisation has served over 800,000 clients in six countries, and are hoping to help 1 million farming families by 2020.

Subtitle

It’s a bitter irony that the majority of the world’s hungriest people are farmers.

Contents

1. Farmers First

2. Six Values

3. The One Acre Fund Model

4. Serving More Families

One Acre Fund is a non-profit social enterprise that supplies financing and training to help smallholders grow their way out of hunger and build lasting pathways to prosperity. The organisation has served over 800,000 clients in six countries, and are hoping to help 1 million farming families by 2020.
1. Farmers First

For all the innovation, development and change that the World has seen in the past century, in some parts of the World, the presence of poverty has remained as a constant. Many of the disparities that exist in the World are defined by proximity, rather than a lack of invention. There is a need to deliver and implement already existing ideas and practices to the places that need it most, so that we may address the overdue responsibility of ending poverty once and for all.

The majority of the World’s poor are farmers, which does actually provide an exciting prospect for the future, should we address the situation in the right way. Farming stands at the centre of food production, income source and as a means for reducing environmental land pressure. In parts of Africa, there are currently huge spaces of land that are occupied by low-yielding farming, which is a product of outdated farming techniques. To address this issue, there is no need for the next ‘Einstein of farming’ to emerge, and rather a need to deliver already known expertise and techniques to these farms, so that they and their communities can become prosperous.

One Acre Fund is a quickly growing organisation that is addressing this issue, by representing Africa’s largest network of smallholder farmers. Their ambition is to serve smallholder farmers, placing the needs of the farmer first, envisioning a future in which every farming family has the knowledge and means to achieve big harvests, support healthy families, and cultivate rich soil.

2. Six Values

The One Acre Fund is driven by six core values:

1. Humble Service: We meet farmers in their fields, and we get our shoes muddy. Farmers are our customers, and we serve them with humility.



2. Hard Work: We work hard every day. We execute with world-class professionalism and business excellence. Farmers deserve nothing less. 



3. Continual Growth: We improve every season. We work with determination to meet our goals and then stretch ourselves by raising the bar even higher.



4. Family of Leaders: We bring together the best leaders and build long-term careers. We care for team members like family.



5. Dreaming Big: We envision serving millions of farm families. We build for scale with every idea and solution.



6. Integrity: We do what we say, and our words match our values.

By abiding to these values, the organisation is determined to unlock the potential of more than 50 million smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa who are trapped in annual cycles of hunger because they’re unable to grow enough food to feed their families. The One Acre Fund recognise that the challenges that are presented by hunger are huge, but absolutely not insurmountable. Across the world, modern techniques allow farmers around the world to unlock giant gains in crop yields, and it is of the upmost importance that we address the lag that exists within remote areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, making modern farming techniques accessible for farmers in the region.

When farmers improve their harvests, they pull themselves out of poverty, producing food for themselves and producing surplus food for their neighbours. Improvements in farming will also help build the foundations for empowered and prosperous communities across Sub-Saharan Africa. If farmers have extra income, they are able to invest it in education, they can build businesses in their communities, and they can help neighbours in need. All this can be achieved whilst practicing sustainable farming techniques, where the environment around them benefits as well, so that future generations can continue to grow nutritious food.

By 2020, it is predicted that the One Acre Fund we will serve at least 1 million farm families, whilst producing enough surplus food to feed another 5 million of their neighbours. This is only the beginning and the One Acre Fund is determined to build an environment where millions of farmers can speak with one voice, and effectively pursue collaboration together with government and the private sector to broaden their reach.

Margeret Elumuka stands among her healthy maize in the village of Busota in Eastern Uganda. Photo by One Acre Fund

Suzana and Jimmy Nziku, smallholder farmers from Tanzania who first started farming with One Acre Fund in 2013. In their first season with us their family harvested more than 3,000 pounds of maize from their two acres of land. Photo by One Acre Fund

3. The One Acre Fund Model

Rural poverty is complex, and there is no single solution to helping farmers. For this reason, the One Acre Fund has pursued a holistic, long-term approach. They offer a complete set of services to help the organisation remain financially sustainable so it may expand, reaching more and more farmers every year:

1. Asset-Based Loans: Farmers receive high-quality seeds and fertiliser on credit, and the One Acre Fund offer a flexible repayment system that allows them to pay back their loans in any amount throughout the loan term. 

2. Delivery: One Acre Fund deliver inputs to locations within walking distance of every farmer we serve.

3. Training: Farmers receive training throughout the season on modern agricultural techniques.


4. Market Facilitation: One Acre Fund offer crop storage solutions and teach farmers about market fluctuations, so that they can time crop sales to maximise profits.

Every link in this chain of the model is important, if one is missing, then the others won’t work.

4. Serving More Families

When One Acre Fund was founded in 2006, it began with a pilot group of 38 farmers in Kenya. By 2018 the organisation has served over 800,000 clients in six countries, hoping to reach 1 million farming families by 2020.

One Acre Fund has a revenue-generating operating model: About 70 percent of field expenses are financed through farmer loan repayments, with donor dollars covering the rest. Improving financial sustainability is a key component of the expansion strategy. Naturally, the organisation wants to grow quickly, but it is important to stay inline with the funding that the One Acre Fund receives.

A key component of the One acre Fund is ensuring that farmers always come first in everything so that the overall mission always remains aligned. This means that they are consistently delivering high-quality products and services to maximise harvests each year. It means reaching out to the communities so that there is client trust and so staff in the field can emerge as leaders, helping the organisation grow. Finally, there is a strong focus on maintaining integrity, making sure that they delivery on their promises, and commit to staying with communities for the long haul.

You can support the One Acre Fund here, and follow the links below to learn more about this extremely important organisation.

“We have the tools to end poverty, we just have to deliver them.” - One Acre Fund co-founder, Andrew Youn

  • Featuring: One Acre Fund

Bibliography

One Acre Fund (oneacrefund.org)

Social

One Acre Fund Instagram (@oneacrefund)
One Acre Fund Twitter (@OneAcreFund)

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