On International Women’s Day, myAgro wants to highlight the immense impact women have on the lives of their families and communities when given the opportunity to thrive in agriculture.
The social and financial barriers in women face in West Africa makes it difficult to establish financial independence and opportunities–in sub-Saharan Africa, only 37 percent of women have a bank account (International Monetary Fund), women are less likely to own farmland, and many women are not able to travel far from their homes to collect agricultural inputs. However, myAgro works to address these barriers, and more, by creating an organization that puts women at the center. Women like Fatoumata, a peanut farmer and women’s group leader from Mali.
In Fatoumata’s village, it was difficult for women to access quality agriculture products. Agricultural tools, training, and materials were targeted towards men and this, along with social and financial inequities, made it difficult for women like her to take part in agriculture.
However, with myAgro, Fatoumata was able to enroll in a program that gave her access to the products and trainings needed to earn income.
“Before it was almost impossible for us women to have access to quality inputs and agricultural trainings. Thanks to myAgro’s support, I have almost tripled my agricultural income.”
In addition to her income through agriculture, Fatoumata earned enough to buy a cow, which will contribute even more to her family’s finances and nutrition.
The income that Fatoumata earns allows her to be more independent, support her family, and invest in additional earning opportunities. She sees myAgro as an opportunity for women to grow and thrive.
“My advice to all the women of Mali is to urge them to join myAgro and to apply all their agricultural advice. They will have much more yield to take care of themselves and even help their husbands. myAgro has allowed me, at least, to be independent and dignified. If I can summarize myAgro in one word, I would say ‘dambé (Dignity)’. Thanks to myAgro, we women are no longer dependent on men here in the village, and our husbands even respect us more.”
Fatoumata, myAgro Farmer
myAgro is an organization rooted in furthering opportunity and gender equality for farmers like Fatoumata. With 52% of myAgro farmers being women, we are determined to create access to income, employment opportunities, and well-being for women and their families. We want to ensure that our work supports their goals, addresses their challenges, and is adaptable to their realities so that they can access packages, build an income, and gain economic empowerment. myAgro helps women by;
- Employing women living in the communities we serve. By hiring Village Entrepreneurs (VEs) with a focus on entrepreneurship, we’ve created a strong pathway to employment for women and young people in our rural program areas.
- At each stage of our research and development process, we disaggregate data by gender to ensure packages address specific barriers and motivators for female farmers.
- myAgro offers specific training for our sales teams, including focused sessions on women’s leadership, with groups broken out by gender.
- myAgro gender lens is not relegated to program design alone; myAgro has a strong focus on empowering women at all organizational levels, from the global team’s leadership to our vast VE network.
- We are changing the financial system and adapting ourselves to small-scale women farmers. If women cannot access a smartphone to save for inputs, we have village entrepreneurs available to support them in person. If women cannot join an in-person agricultural training, we provide agricultural training via VEs and/or radio broadcasts to support them. If they are not able to travel far, we come to them. Our team delivers packages at locations close to villages so it is easier for women to travel to delivery locations to pick up their packages.
In 2021, myAgro over 1 million myAgro farmers and their families were fed, and with the majority of our farmers being women, this means that women were leading the way in establishing household food security. As we work to grow our reach and impact, we will continue to celebrate and center women because we know that when you invest in women, you invest in entire families and communities.
Learn more about our work and the impact myAgro’s model and farmers have on communities.
