By Audra Arnold
Audra is a former Mali Peace Corps volunteer (’08-’10) and now lives in Chicago, IL and works for a nonprofit cultural exchange organization. Audra volunteers her time for a few hours a week to do research, update the myAgro website, and promote myAgro’s mission through social media. Below, Audra reflects on her experience with myAgro and the potential impact it has for rural farmers in Mali.
I first learned about myAgro though a Peace Corps connection in December of 2011. I was immediately interested and wanted to learn more about their programs. I did some research, and discovered their innovative use of SMS technology to offer savings plans for small-holder farmers. From my time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kouoro Village near Koutiala, I knew firsthand the struggles that many of the farmers in rural areas of Mali face.
Abdoulaye Sogodogo, my Peace Corps counterpart and dearest friend in village, makes a living as a famer. Abdoulaye was only 28 years old when I arrived in Kouoro Village in September of 2008, and I immediately learned the Bambara words for the crops he grows: ‘cori’ (cotton), ‘kaba’ (corn), ‘tiga’ (peanut), and ‘ɲɔ’ (millet). Most of what Abdoubaye grows is for his family’s consumption, but he also sells grains and livestock every week at the local market.
Some of the major issues that Abdoulaye would chat with me about over hot cups of tea on those hot Malian nights were struggles of not having money to buy enough chemical fertilizers to improve crop yields and the lack of labor and equipment to apply herbicides. Abdoulaye and his wife, Alima, would save as much money as they could in a lockbox under their bed in their small mud brick hut. Somehow, there was always something that came up that needed to be funded: a sick goat needing new special medicine, a new outfit for Alima to attend a wedding, tea and sugar for when a friend from the next village stopped by to say hello, or extra phone credit to call their uncle in Abidjan. During the dry season, when it was time for the cattle to plow the fields, there was never enough money to hire someone to help Abdoulaye or invest in new seeds to increase yields. The cycle repeated itself, with the family receiving an inconsistent income throughout the year and then reaching planting season with little or no resources left.
Despite the challenges, I know that Abdoulaye enjoys his work and feels that he is living out his father’s legacy by farming his land and providing for himself and his family without asking for handouts. Abdoulaye believes that farmers are the backbone of Mali and that Africa as a whole could not develop without enough farmers who support those who are in non-labor jobs.
Last year, as I learned more about myAgro and talked with the founder, Anushka Ratnayake, I knew that the programs and innovative methods myAgro offers to its farmers would make a HUGE impact on their lives and increase their ability to provide for their families in sustainable ways. If Abdoulaye had the option of saving “dɔni, dɔni” (little by little) through doing something so similar to what he did every week, buying mobile phone credit, I believe that he and his family would have been able to improve their lives and take small steps to get out of the cycle of poverty.
In this time of political instability, I know it is more important than ever that Malians be offered sustainable ways to increase food security for themselves and their families. I am excited to be a part of myAgro’s team and can’t wait until they can reach Kouoro and Abdoulaye and his family can become myAgro farmers as well!
Help myAgro expand to 15 villages and 1500 farmers for the 2012-2013 season. Collectively, those farmers will support 15,000 family members! Connect with us here! or Donate now!
Abdoulaye and Audra during her Peace Corps Service
Audra in 2008 with Alima and the newest member of their family
