A few months ago, myAgro had the pleasure of linking member farmers with Grand Moulin du Mali, one of the largest and most prominent corn processors in the country. Members who–thrillingly!–harvested more than enough to feed their families had an opportunity to participate in our Market Day, and sell to Grand Moulin via myAgro. Several weeks of preparation went into the sale, including quality control trainings, preparatory quality checks, packaging, and assisting farmers with logistics. The event itself took place in Dialakoroba, a well-known, significant myAgro village, and involved farmers who had grown maize with the program over the previous season, and whose commitment to myAgro planting techniques yielded beautiful results–impressive enough to attract the attention of Grand Moulin. For their part, Grand Moulin representatives were excited to work with local farmers, and had been seeking an organization with which to partner to work out the details of sale with many individual small shareholder farmers. This year, our farmers sold a combined total of over 10 tons of corn to Grand Moulin! We are looking forward to a great collaboration over the next few years as myAgro grows in size, increasing the quantity of high-quality corn Grand Moulin will be able to purchase. And perhaps most excitingly, market access is the capstone element of the program services provided by myAgro to its members; it was a thrill to see farmers make real profit from their hard work. There were plenty of smiles all around on Market Day, as well as enthusiasm for next year!
