The Front lines of the Climate Crisis: Helping Build Farmers’ Climate Resilience

myAgro works in West Africa, where there are 60 million farmers, most of whom live on less than $2 per day. The population in this region is growing faster than any other in the world and with this growing population comes a growing food security issue affecting millions of people. To meet increasing nutritional needs, agricultural production must increase by 60% by 2050. However, as climate change causes growing seasons to become shorter and more inconsistent, it makes growing food much more difficult. 

Harvests have stagnated in the past 30 years. The need to feed a growing population has taxed the land and led to unsustainable agricultural practices that can degrade soil, according to a UNHCR report on climate in the Sahel. This has led to more than half of the population experiencing food insecurity, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. UNOCHA also expects an increase of more than 40% in the number of people facing severe food insecurity from 2021 to 2022. This equates to 29 million people across the Sahel facing severe food insecurity.

Smallholder farmers throughout West Africa are most vulnerable to climatic shocks as they rely on natural resources to earn money and provide food for their communities. This reliance means that a single climate shock—drought, a flood, or even a bad storm—could mean losing their income and the ability to feed their family.

At myAgro, our mission is to help move farmers out of poverty and our climate strategy is essential in fulfilling that mission. We focus on helping farmers adapt to the effects of climate change, which will enable them to become more climate resilient. Specifically, our agricultural packages are climate-smart, our farmer trainings build adaptation and resilience, and our model is designed to ensure that we are constantly innovating to support farmers through the unpredictable impacts of climate change.

Climate-Smart Packages: myAgro packages are designed so that farmers can have the best yields and highest return on their investment despite seasonal variability. This includes climate-smart seeds, the correct amount of fertilizer, and climate insurance. 

Climate-resilient seeds

Our seeds are adaptable: they can withstand higher temperatures and need less water, allowing farmers to get a good harvest even in unusually hot years. Depending on the crop, some of our seeds are treated, which protects them for 45 days if the rain is delayed after planting. Most seeds in West Africa are sold untreated, which puts them at risk of things like mold and pests, which could jeopardize their harvest. 

Correct Fertilizer

myAgro has done extensive research to identify the right type of fertilizer—including R&D on bio-fertilizers. We also train farmers on how to apply the smallest amount of chemical fertilizer needed to ensure the biggest harvest possible. The soil in the places myAgro works is so degraded that some chemical fertilizer is necessary. myAgro follows best practices, helping farmers increase uptake of organic fertilizer and composting while ensuring that the right fertilizer approach helps increase their harvest. 

Climate Insurance

Every myAgro package offered in Mali and Senegal includes climate insurance (also known as yield index insurance), which pays farmers a portion of the cost of their package if an entire area is less productive than it has historically been as can happen due to climate-related events. In 2021, 10% of myAgro farmers received a payout that they could apply to their next package or take as cash. This helps improve smallholder farmers’ resilience and enables them to continually enroll in myAgro’s packages and maintain their livelihood. 

Dry Season Products

Our farmers have asked for more types of packages—ones that can help them earn more income outside of the regular growing season. In response, myAgro launched three new products as pilots this year, including tomatoes, poultry, and moringa trees. These products aren’t reliant on a particular season and offer access to new markets that will help farmers increase their incomes.

Agro-Ecological Trainings: To help farmers plant sustainably, myAgro provides guidance on techniques that will help improve their harvest. This includes organic composting, crop rotation, and microdosing fertilizer.

Agricultural Training

Being equipped with climate-smart agricultural practices, such as composting and crop rotation, is a key to climate resilience. When farmers have scientifically-backed strategies to improve their soil and grow more harvest, they can better withstand the unexpected. myAgro equips farmers with these practices through regular trainings and technical support offered during the entire cropping cycle, from preparation to harvest. 

Microdosing fertilizer

myAgro is continuously searching for ways to help farmers plant more of their land, more efficiently. Microdosing allows farmers to reduce the amount of fertilizer and labor needed to plant a large field and produce more on land that has been impacted by land degradation. myAgro provides guidance to farmers, showing them the benefits of microdosing and providing clear instructions on how to implement this approach. For smallholder farmers living and working on degraded land, investment in soil nutrients can be a big economic risk with no guaranteed return; however, microdosing offers a lower-stakes solution that results in a larger harvest. 

myAgro’s Model: Farmers pay for their packages in small increments, instead of paying a large sum up front, which makes myAgro packages affordable. Our team is constantly innovating to ensure that farmers have what they need to increase their harvests and incomes.

Innovation & Iteration

Innovation is baked into myAgro’s DNA. Each year, we measure the difference between how much myAgro farmers are growing compared to non-myAgro farmers; this has shown that myAgro farmers grow 50-100% more food. These learnings elucidate key insights that shape myAgro’s offering. In addition, lean-testing guides package development and pilots help test and improve products that support farmers’ climate resilience. For example, myAgro is currently conducting R&D on biofertilizer use,  running an agroforestry pilot, and learning from a poultry pilot that delivers chickens bred to withstand harsh conditions and disease.

Crop Diversity

Many myAgro farmers grow multiple types of crops making them both more food secure and more resilient to climate change. For example, 90% of myAgro farmers grow something other than maize, an important cereal crop in Senegal. Crop diversity is important to soil health and also means that if one crop is lackluster, farmers have several other types of crops they can rely on for food and income. 

Weather and Climate Information

Through myAgro’s partnership with Senegal’s Agence Nationale de l’Aviation Civile et de la Météorologie (ANACIM), farmers receive climate forecasts and rainfall reports to help them determine the best time to plant. myAgro translates this information into local languages and visual aids for farmers and shares them via myAgro field agents and through SMS text messages.

Helping farmers strengthen their climate adaptation and resilience means that communities in the villages where we work can become more food secure. Through our package offerings, trainings, and continued innovations, myAgro is dedicated to working alongside farmers to curb the impacts of climate change, which is essential in fulfilling our mission to move farmers out of poverty.