One Acre Fund
Encyclopedia
One Acre Fund is an organization that aims to help poor East Africa
n farmers emerge from persistent poverty
and hunger
by increasing their farm-based incomes. They do this by introducing more profitable crops and farming techniques to farmers and by providing farming inputs in exchange for a share of future revenues. Unlike most interventions designed to improve farming incomes in poor settings, One Acre Fund facilitates activities and transactions at each level of the farming value chain
, from organizing farmer groups to negotiating with export markets. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
headquartered in Illinois
with operations in Kenya
and Rwanda
.
"grow themselves out of poverty." The market bundle is made up of five components. First, One Acre Fund identifies existing local farmer groups with an interest in working together to increase their farming incomes. Second, One Acre Fund provides the farmer groups with agricultural education to improve their farming techniques and knowledge of how to grow more valuable crops. The third component of the market bundle is capital
: One Acre Fund distributes planting materials and fertilizers to the farmer groups. Generally, these are farming inputs that these farmers would not use because the up-front investment costs are too high. The fourth component is a connection to harvest markets. One Acre Fund facilitates the collection and sale of its farmers' crops. A portion of the revenue is retained by One Acre Fund to cover the cost of the capital investments and farmer education; the remainder is distributed to farmers based on their individual contributions to the harvest. Finally, One Acre Fund offers its farmers crop insurance to mitigate the risks of drought and disease.
, Andrew visited western Kenya in August 2005 and interviewed subsistence farmers about their quality of life and the challenges they face in providing for their families. Upon returning to Kellogg in the fall, Andrew began designing a business plan to employ a market-based approach to introducing more productive farming techniques to subsistence farmers in East Africa. One Acre Fund launched in February 2006, initially serving 38 farmer families in Bungoma
, Kenya. In April 2006, One Acre Fund won the Social Entrepreneurship Track of the Yale
50K Business Plan Competition and the Social E-Challenge of the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES)
. In May 2006, Andrew received an Echoing Green
Fellowship, which provided a two-year stipend to pursue One Acre Fund full-time. In 2007, One Acre Fund received a $300,000 grant from the Draper Richards Foundation and a $100,000 grant from Mulago Social Investments.. In 2007, the organization expanded to Rwanda
.
, Stanford Social Innovation Review, The American
and Glamour Magazine
, and Andrew has appeared on NPR
, Chicago Public Radio
, and CBS2 Chicago.
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
n farmers emerge from persistent poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
and hunger
Hunger
Hunger is the most commonly used term to describe the social condition of people who frequently experience the physical sensation of desiring food.-Malnutrition, famine, starvation:...
by increasing their farm-based incomes. They do this by introducing more profitable crops and farming techniques to farmers and by providing farming inputs in exchange for a share of future revenues. Unlike most interventions designed to improve farming incomes in poor settings, One Acre Fund facilitates activities and transactions at each level of the farming value chain
Value chain
The value chain, is a concept from business management that was first described and popularized by Michael Porter in his 1985 best-seller, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance.-Firm Level:...
, from organizing farmer groups to negotiating with export markets. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
headquartered in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
with operations in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
and Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
.
How it works
One Acre Fund utilizes a "market bundle" to help subsistence farmers in Sub-Saharan AfricaSub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
"grow themselves out of poverty." The market bundle is made up of five components. First, One Acre Fund identifies existing local farmer groups with an interest in working together to increase their farming incomes. Second, One Acre Fund provides the farmer groups with agricultural education to improve their farming techniques and knowledge of how to grow more valuable crops. The third component of the market bundle is capital
Financial capital
Financial capital can refer to money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their products or provide their services or to that sector of the economy based on its operation, i.e. retail, corporate, investment banking, etc....
: One Acre Fund distributes planting materials and fertilizers to the farmer groups. Generally, these are farming inputs that these farmers would not use because the up-front investment costs are too high. The fourth component is a connection to harvest markets. One Acre Fund facilitates the collection and sale of its farmers' crops. A portion of the revenue is retained by One Acre Fund to cover the cost of the capital investments and farmer education; the remainder is distributed to farmers based on their individual contributions to the harvest. Finally, One Acre Fund offers its farmers crop insurance to mitigate the risks of drought and disease.
History
The organization was founded by Andrew Youn in 2006. While earning his MBA at the Kellogg School of ManagementKellogg School of Management
The Kellogg School of Management is the business school of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, downtown Chicago, Illinois and Miami, Florida. Kellogg offers full-time, part-time, and executive programs, as well as partnering programs with schools in China, India, Hong Kong, Israel,...
, Andrew visited western Kenya in August 2005 and interviewed subsistence farmers about their quality of life and the challenges they face in providing for their families. Upon returning to Kellogg in the fall, Andrew began designing a business plan to employ a market-based approach to introducing more productive farming techniques to subsistence farmers in East Africa. One Acre Fund launched in February 2006, initially serving 38 farmer families in Bungoma
Bungoma
Bungoma is a town in Western Province of Kenya, bordered by Uganda in the west. Bungoma town was established as a trading centre in the early 20th century. The town is the headquarters of Kenya's Bungoma District and it hosts a municipal council...
, Kenya. In April 2006, One Acre Fund won the Social Entrepreneurship Track of the Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
50K Business Plan Competition and the Social E-Challenge of the Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES)
Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students
The Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students is a student group at Stanford University focusing on business and entrepreneurial activities...
. In May 2006, Andrew received an Echoing Green
Echoing green
For the electronic band, see The Echoing Green , for the poem see The Echoing GreenEchoing Green is a twenty year-old global non-profit organization operating in the area of early-stage social sector investing...
Fellowship, which provided a two-year stipend to pursue One Acre Fund full-time. In 2007, One Acre Fund received a $300,000 grant from the Draper Richards Foundation and a $100,000 grant from Mulago Social Investments.. In 2007, the organization expanded to Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
.
Publicity
One Acre Fund has been spotlighted in BusinessWeekBusinessWeek
Bloomberg Businessweek, commonly and formerly known as BusinessWeek, is a weekly business magazine published by Bloomberg L.P. It is currently headquartered in New York City.- History :...
, Stanford Social Innovation Review, The American
The American (magazine)
The American is an online magazine published by the American Enterprise Institute , a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. The magazine's primary focus is the intersection of economics and politics...
and Glamour Magazine
Glamour (magazine)
Glamour is a women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. Founded in 1939 in the United States, it was originally called Glamour of Hollywood....
, and Andrew has appeared on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
, Chicago Public Radio
Chicago Public Radio
WBEZ is a noncommercial, public radio station broadcasting from Chicago, Illinois. Financed primarily by listener contributions, the station is affiliated with both National Public Radio and Public Radio International; they also broadcast content from American Public Media...
, and CBS2 Chicago.