Field Agent Lama Barry, myAgro farmer Kamissa Diallo, and intern Talla Diallo.
Approximately 85% of myAgro’s farmers in Senegal grow peanuts. Peanut farmers typically sell their peanuts to peanut oil producers at a price set by the government, but so far this year there has been an unexpected delay and most farmers have yet to sell their cash crop.
As a result, many of our farmers are still waiting to sell their harvest and the Famine Early Warning Network reports that other farmers are being forced to sell at 20% under the official price.
In response, myAgro held a market-access day in the village of Sinthiou Malème to help farmers sell last year’s crops. This was myAgro’s first such trial in Senegal.
Our team pre-negotiated with a local peanut purchaser who committed to buying peanuts at the market price. In the week leading up to the event, field agents informed our farmers that they could bring peanuts to the seed co-op in Sinthiou Malème. After their peanuts were cleaned and weighed, the buyer immediately paid farmers in cash.
This was great news for families who had waited months to sell their harvest. MyAgro farmers sold approximately 3.5 tonnes of peanuts in total that day!
Kamissa Diallo, a farmer from Sinthiou Maleme who is planting with myAgro for the first time this year, was among those who sold his peanuts through our arrangement. He noted:
I didn’t sell previously because the purchasers I spoke to all offered prices below the market value. I am very happy that now I could sell peanuts thanks to myAgro even though I was not a member last year.
Thanks to the sale of my peanuts, I was able to save for my myAgro packet and buy food for my family. I also had a problem with agricultural supplies, but it is fixed now because I was able to buy some machinery that will help me to plant my crops.
Kamissa was not the only farmer who invested the extra income in their preparations for this year’s harvest. A myAgro vendor was available at the market that day and he reported that several farmers fully completed their savings packages on the spot!
