Originally published on Forbes.com
Women farmers grow a majority of the food consumed in Africa, yet they face immense challenges. Program models serving members of marginalized communities must be tailored to their unique challenges and needs. In Senegal, Tanzania, and Mali—where myAgro currently operates—there are three persistent barriers that keep women farmers disconnected from agri-business, which contributes to the vicious cycle of poverty that farmers in Africa face.
Financial barriers
Farmers don’t have money available when they need it for planting. In general, farmers have their strongest cash flow at harvest time. However, there are few accessible, affordable, safe options for farmers to save this surplus of money and to reinvest it come planting season. Formal savings accounts are often inaccessible to many women (less than 20% of women in West Africa have a bank account) and cash on hand is at risk of theft, fire, or flood. At the same time, credit is not widely available, reaching only 6% of the rural population in Mali and Senegal — and even when it is available, many farmers feel it doesn’t meet their needs or are reluctant to take on debt.
Input barriers
Farmers, especially women, lack access to high-quality agricultural inputs, such as seeds and fertilizer, which are proven to significantly increase their yield. As well, farmers lack the up-to-date information needed to maximize land productivity and often use outdated, labor-intensive farming practices that are less effective. Less than 3% of women have received technical training, according to USAID.
Gender barriers
Regional norms and expectations create added challenges for women, including land being passed down to men only, an outsized share of family care work that makes travel difficult, and lack of buying power for high-quality seeds and fertilizers.
MyAgro designed its offerings to ensure that it operates to both meet women where they are and to set them up for success once they start on their journey of investing in themselves and their farms. The result: 60% of our farmers are women and we work to grow that percentage each day.
At myAgro, we support women in their efforts because we have seen firsthand the ripple effect a woman’s financial opportunity and economic stability can have on families and communities. When companies–both for-profit and nonprofit–operate with their target community in mind, it means success for those they serve. The proof is in the impact. MyAgro farmers grow 176% more food than similar farmers who don’t work with myAgro. This translates to a $194 increase in annual income per farmer.
The following women farmers are three of the thousands of myAgro farmers achieving their goals with myAgro.
Awa Samake is a 33-year-old farmer from Ouelessebougou, Mali, who has been farming with myAgro for 2 years. She has been relying on her farm for income since getting married 15 years ago. As a mother of 5, Awa’s hope is to build her family’s wealth so she can best support her children.
Awa first enrolled with myAgro after seeing her neighbor’s big harvests. It didn’t take long for Awa to see an impact. Her own peanut harvest increased; she went from a yield of 10 bags from her entire field, to 15 bags from just a fourth hectare of farmland planted with myAgro materials.
Before working with myAgro, Awa said that it was difficult to get fertilizer because she could never afford it. By paying little by little on layaway, Awa says she doesn’t feel the stress of having to save and pay for her inputs all at once. Awa even chose to reinvest in another package with myAgro this year because she sees the benefits.
“Everything just works well at myAgro. If they’re having any challenges, I have no idea,” said Awa. “The Sales Leader solves them before I even know.”
With her earnings, Awa hopes to buy sheep for her family, knowing that they are easy to feed and care for, and will bring security if she is ever low on cash. She is confident that she will be able to purchase and care for her own animals by continuing to work with myAgro.
When asked how she would explain myAgro to a farmer who has never heard of it, she said: “I don’t have words. Come and see my field, and you will see how different it is.”
Amy Sene is a farmer from Ndouf, Senegal who has been working with myAgro for 4 years. myAgro has helped her increase her income and has given her the financial security to invest in a goat and sheep. The income she earns from her livestock supports her children’s education.
She recently enrolled in myAgro’s new poultry pilot program in Senegal to continue earning income.
“I am very happy with this chicken package because I was not familiar with this breed and now I can do business with the chickens and the eggs,” Amy said. “Really I am very happy and I even enrolled for the fertilizer.”
Amy’s story shows how one harvest can transform a farmer’s income and give them the opportunity to invest in themselves, their farms, and their families.
Daba Ndiaye is a mother of six and a myAgro peanut farmer in Senegal. Before joining myAgro, Daba and her family shared a house with her extended family. Though she dreamed of a home of her own, she lacked the necessary inputs and tools to increase her harvest and make enough income to afford to be independent.
After working with myAgro for two years, Daba consistently sees her harvest and income increase. “It’s very easy,” Daba says of making little by little layaway payments with myAgro. “You hardly feel the payments.”
She uses her increased harvest to help her family, and she has built a new house for herself and her children. “Before myAgro I lived with another family,” she says. “Now I can live independently and run my own household. I am slowly building a wall around the house, and I paid for it myself.”
Visit myAgro.org to learn more about our work and the farmers we serve.
