What path should the non-profit organization myAgro take to ensure its continued growth in support of African smallholder farmers?
What path should the non-profit organization myAgro take to ensure its continued growth in support of African smallholder farmers?
Tamer Center for Social Enterprise Smallholder farmers make up 80% of the world's poorest people. Founded in 2011, myAgro uses a mobile layaway savings model that enables smallholder farmers in West Africa to invest their own funds in high-quality seed, fertilizer, and agricultural training to increase their harvests and income. With a business model that utilizes a mobile layaway plan—allowing farmers to save earnings from harvest time to reinvest in planting season—the organization launched a test program in Mali in 2012, later expanding into neighboring Senegal. By 2018, myAgro served 46,000 farmers and raised their income by $104 per farmer. With the positive results experienced in Mali and Senegal, myAgro was approached by the Aga Kahn Foundation to partner with them on a program in East Africa, in Tanzania. With a "North Star" goal to reach one million farmers by 2025, my Agro considered its best path forward: whether to focus on economies of scale in its existing territories or to partner with other organizations to expand into other countries.
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