Oumy is taking part in a training today. She is one of myAgro’s 438 village entrepreneurs in Senegal and all her colleagues in her region have gathered for a full day of sales training.
Oumy, who constantly takes notes and asks questions during the training, is not new to myAgro. The mother of the quiet 2-year-old Ibrahima, who came to join his mom at the training, started working with myAgro as an agricultural intern three years ago. “My father is a farmer too, so I feel very comfortable working in agriculture,” she explains during the break. “I like supporting the farmers in my village and giving them information that helps them increase their harvests,” she adds.
When she stopped going to school, she wanted to find a job in her village, which was no easy task, especially for a woman. “Many women my age got married right after school and most of them do not have paid jobs. I married when I was 18, but I did not want to spend my time just doing household chores. I wanted to continue to learn and develop myself intellectually. So when I heard about myAgro, I immediately decided to apply.”
As an agricultural intern, Oumy was able to get her first salary ever. “I remember that I paid the electricity bill from my salary. My husband was surprised that I was the one to pay for it. He was so proud of me. That was such a great day! Since then, I am the one who pays for the electricity bills in our household,” she explains proudly.
“My husband has started to treat me differently. He now sees me as a partner. We communicate more and we share our problems and find solutions together. It wasn’t like that before,” she adds.
After working as an agricultural intern, Oumy was selected to become the myAgro village entrepreneur in her village. Equipped with a smartphone and myAgro’s mobile applications, Oumy’s responsibilities now include marketing myAgro inputs to farmers, helping farmers select the right package for their farms, and monitoring farmers’ progress toward their layaway goals.
“I now earn 30,000 CFA per month ($50) for doing a part-time job. In the morning I mobilize farmers to do their payments, and in the afternoon, I sell frozen products from my fridge, which I was able to pay for myself, using the salary I earned with myAgro.”
The entrepreneurial Oumy not only re-invested her salary to create a side business, she is planning to open the first beauty shop in her village. “I am planning to do a trip to Mali to buy beauty products and fabric, because it is much cheaper there,” she explains with a smile.
