“If all the farmers come to enroll in myAgro, one thing is sure: there won’t be any more famine in the villages.” – Nahan Kante
Each morning for a week, myAgro farmer Nahan Kante spoke to groups of women in villages across Dialakoroba Commune in Mali, encouraging them in their farming. “Agriculture helps women to be financially independent of their husbands, fathers, and brothers,” Nahan told one group, speaking from experience as a widow heading a household of six children. “It was very hard to take charge of my whole family,” she shared, in part because “fertilizer was hard to come by, as vendors would ignore those who could not buy large quantities.” Last year, Nahan joined myAgro during a rough period in her life, she said, but by saving in small, affordable amounts with myAgro all season, she was able to buy fertilizer for her peanut crop. The resulting harvest this year is big enough that Nahan will be able to sell some it to pay for her children’s school fees.
Nahan’s story is surprisingly typical worldwide. “Female farmers produce less than male farmers, but not because they are less-efficient farmers,” reads a major report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. “Extensive empirical evidence shows that the productivity gap between male and female farmers is caused by differences in input use.” At myAgro, we know that to help small-scale farmers move out of poverty, our program must enable women farmers like Nahan and the groups of women she addressed to afford—and learn how to apply—agricultural inputs. Besides our “little by little” payment system, we offer crops that women commonly grow, like peanuts and vegetables, in packages small enough that even household gardeners can benefit. All our farmers receive training in efficient agricultural methods.
To ensure women get the support they need to make their savings payments and put their inputs and training to use, we encourage women to sign up for myAgro packages together. We work through existing women’s savings groups in Mali and help myAgro members form their own women’s committees in villages without these groups. We help connect successful women farmers like Nahan to others who might be experiencing the same difficulties and isolation she did. By exchanging experiences and advice, women farmers can help each other strive for a bigger harvest, a bigger income, and a bigger dream.
Women make up some 43% of agricultural laborers in developing countries, improving women’s ability to purchase and use fertilizer and improved seeds could have a tremendous impact on food security—according to the FAO report, potentially reducing hunger by 12- 17%! In Nahan’s words, “If all the farmers come to enroll in myAgro, one thing is sure: there won’t be any more famine in the villages.”
