One Acre Fund

One Acre Fund is a non-profit organization that small farmers in subsistence agriculture in East Africa offering a program with high-quality seeds, fertilizers and weekly training. Thus, the farmers gain access to markets, increasing their income. In the areas where One Acre Fund operates, the infant mortality rate of up to two years old children has declined by 50%. In 2011, these programs have been adopted by 55,000 farmer families from Rwanda, Kenya and Burundi, their crops and tripled its profit by 102% increased on average. The on loan at One Acre Fund paid by the farmers participation fee has been paid back to 98%, and covered 80 % of costs. The remaining costs are funded One Acre Fund through donations and grants from other organizations, particularly from the USA. One Acre Fund employs 565 people, almost exclusively on site. The headquarters of the organization is located in Bungoma, Kenya.

Concept

Service locally in a field officer 150 to 200 farmers: In the first step, he explains the concept, convinced the farmers to participate, it summarizes in small groups of three to twelve farmers together and closes contracts with them about the loans for seeds and fertilizers and their repayment from. The field officer is also responsible for collecting the loan repayments. Farmers typically have a half to five acres available.

In addition to supplying the seed One Acre Fund also conducts extensive training. For example, is taught to apply the seed in rows and in optimal intervals, but before fertilizer is portioned placed in the hole provided. As various seed hybrids of maize and beans are offered for cultivation as a staple food. Experiments run with Grevilleen which are trees that accumulate nitrogen in the soil and can be sold after a few years. The fertilizers are fertilizers, as natural fertilizer - manure in particular - are not available in sufficient quantity.

After harvesting, the proper drying and storage is taught and awarded an insecticide, so that the crop is not destroyed after about three months, but until the next harvest season remains as food or can be sold when market prices are high.

History

The organization was founded by Andrew Youn in 2006, after he had during his MBA at the Kellogg School of Management Kenya visited and studied there farmers and their living conditions. One Acre Fund won the Social Entrepreneurship Track of the Yale 50K Business Plan Competition by Yale University and the Social E- Challenge of the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students ( BASES ). In the years 2010 and 2011 the organization the Sustainable Finance Award from the Financial Times received. One Acre Fund aid to have been awarded, among others, Echoing Green Fellowship, Draper Richards Foundation and the Skoll Foundation. About Kiva, an organization that provides microloans, can individuals from all over the world microloans to farmers in Kenya are awarded who want to participate in the One Acre Fund Program since October 2011. Since 2007, the organization is in addition to Kenya and in Rwanda since 2011 and active in Burundi.