How One Organization Designs For Women—From The C-Suite To The Peanut Fields Of West Africa
Originally published on Forbes.com on August 23, 2022
By Deepti Mathew, Managing Director, myAgro
The Future is Female. Making ‘herstory’. Women’s rights are human rights. There is no shortage of catchy slogans about the importance of women’s roles in building a more just and equitable future. But how can mission-driven organizations truly contribute to a future where women thrive? At myAgro, we believe that responding to women’s needs is key—whether by designing programs for the women farmers we serve or intentionally constructing an organizational culture that supports women leaders.
myAgro is a multinational organization that empowers smallholders farmers to become more food secure and earn additional income. We work with women all over the world—from our c-suite to part-time Village Entrepreneurs (VEs) to farmers.
Supporting Women Leaders
As an organization founded and led by a woman of color, with many women in leadership roles, myAgro has taken an intentional approach to recruiting and retaining women at all levels.
First, we proactively recruit women; we try to ensure that at least 50% of shortlisted candidates for most roles are women. As well, our culture considers women’s needs—from remote work and flexibility, to an investment in professional development and coaching for emerging leaders. We also prioritize giving actionable, good feedback that incorporates an array of perspectives both to mitigate bias and because a cross section of voices and views always nets a stronger outcome.
We also invest staff in our mission. A compelling ‘why’ and an equally strong ‘how’ sets a foundation for shared values that cut across gender, race and geography. As organizations grow quickly, as myAgro is doing, it is important to remain intentional and even protective over culture so the ‘why’ continues to drive all touchpoints, like onboarding new people and adopting new systems and processes.
Empowering Women Entrepreneurs
Too often, the power of women entrepreneurs in Africa is underutilized. myAgro’s model taps young entrepreneurs, offering an opportunity to earn sales commission by enrolling and selling myAgro products to farmers.
We focus on recruiting women Village Entrepreneurs (VEs). Last year, we ran a pilot in select zones where we hired only women VEs. These all-female VE teams enrolled more farmers than male VEs overall, and reached a higher ratio of women farmers: 50% of newly enrolled farmers were women, compared to only 25% in non-pilot zones.
The VE role is designed for women. It is part-time and care-taker friendly. Many women bring their children to visit farmers and to trainings. Though the role suits women’s realities, we struggle to recruit women VEs. We found that male Sales Leaders in Mali and Senegal sometimes do not think to recruit women as VEs—they host recruitment events at times inconvenient for women, or speak to local leaders who only refer male candidates. We now help Sales Leaders see women as high leverage recruits and tailor training to women’s needs. In fact, this year, we are only recruiting women VEs.
So many women VEs have ambitious goals—to educate their children, build a home, or build a business. For example, Mame, a Village Entrepreneur in Kew Ngatta, Senegal has three kids and a husband who she supports with her VE income. Mame has purchased school supplies for her children and has been able to ensure her family has nutritious food. She has grown her confidence and skills since becoming a VE: “What I like the most about my work is that now people look up to me, and that feels good. Now when I go out with my myAgro bag on my back, people respect me.”
Designing Women-Centered Solutions
Though women are the backbone of agriculture in Africa, they do not have the same access to financial tools, quality agricultural inputs, or agricultural training as their male counterparts. Men are the primary beneficiaries of government support, despite women growing 80% of the food in Sub-Saharan Africa. As few as 5% of women have access to government agricultural extension programs.
We focus on women farmers because we know that if we want to have a notable impact for farmers, we must design for women. Our data-driven user research seeks to deeply understand women in the communities we serve: how do women farmers engage with others? How does she work her land? What keeps her up at night?
Our research has shown that many women want opportunities to earn income outside of the rainy season and lack access to large plots of farmland. One response to these challenges is a poultry program, which is not seasonally dependent and doesn’t require land. Our pilot showed that the participants were overwhelmingly women and they earned $50 net profit from an initial $16 investment. Farmers can re-invest that profit three times each year, earning $150 of additional annual income—a 21% increase for farmers living on less than $2 a day. This year, thousands of women raised chickens with myAgro, selling them for income, and using them for food or eggs, thereby increasing their food security and supporting entrepreneurship.
