andrew youn helps subsistence farmers in africa to double their yields
An estimated 925 million people worldwide are affected by persistent hunger. One Acre Fund’s clients — one-acre subsistence farmers in East Africa — are among this group. But Andrew Youn, the Fund’s founder, believes he has found a path to enable Africans to solve their own hunger problems. His organization offers farmers an investment package of seeds and fertilizer, weekly farm education, and market access that makes it possible for them to double their incomes.
Below is an excerpt from an interview by Andrew Youn:
What exactly does One Acre Fund do?
We are not just a handout program – we make loans to farmers and expect them to repay us for part of the services that we deliver. By doing that, we can reach a lot more people and also ensure that we are around for a very long time to serve our clients.
Tell us more about the problem.
The world is facing a growing food shortage that hurts poor people worst – the price of basic foods has doubled worldwide in the last five years alone. Band-aid solutions will not work. We need a dramatic, sustained increase in the basic food production of subsistence farmers. This will rely on improved technology, but equally, on new distribution techniques. I firmly believe that we need a new army of private businesses and nonprofit organizations to multiply their current level of investment in credit, retail of farm inputs, and other market-oriented businesses to reach subsistence farmers.
What sets One Acre Fund apart from other hunger organizations?
There are very few organizations actually headquartered in a rural area of Africa, and we are one of those few. By being so close to our farmers, we can rapidly learn from our mistakes, and learn to serve them better. Over three years, we have learned that it is vital to provide a ‘bundle’ of services to people starting from scratch – one isolated solution does very little for them. All pieces – credit, seed and fertilizer supply, education, and markets – need to work together if a farmer is going to realistically increase their income. Any one piece – credit for example – is useless without the other ones working together. How is a subsistence farmer with a loan supposed to find seed and fertilizer, know how to use it, and sell their harvest?
One Acre Fund’s solution is innovative because it is a general solution that reaches into truly rural areas, and generates income for the most desperate of poor people. On average, we double the profitability of every planted acre.
What was the pathway that brought you to this work?
Many people have a core, intrinsic passion to want to help other people and do good. When I was talking to Kenyan farmers for the first time, I met the biggest opportunity to do good that I could ever dream of. It is shockingly simple to triple a subsistence farmer’s raw harvest, and double their farm profitability – and completely change their lives. Our farmers eat enough, send their kids to school, and have money left over to invest in livestock. There are ten million farm families in East Africa alone that need our services, and One Acre Fund’s primary mission at the moment is to grow to serve as many of them as possible.
Why does One Acre Fund offer investment packages instead of direct aid?
Many people think of nonprofit organizations as quaint, mom-and-pop-style organizations. We are using basic business principles to build an organization that has the same scale ambitions as any private company. By building this into our foundation from the beginning, we hope that we will one day be in a position to improve the lives of even millions of people.
What is in store for the One Acre Fund?
Agricultural lending is still an extremely young and undeveloped field. We hope to be one of the leaders out there, showing that we can lend to small farmers and improve their lives this way.
This interview was edited and condensed. [via Dowser]
Photo: Courtesy of Andrew Youn
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