Oumou is one of our “Farmer Leaders” who saved for small 1/16 hectare pacakges of certified seed, fertilizer and training.

Oumou and other Farmer Leaders are excited to work with us this year, and we’re hoping to use their enthusiasm to launch a full enrollment process later this year for a wider group of farmers who are waiting to see the results from the Farmer Leaders’ fields.

To find the Farmer Leaders, we asked our field agents to survey various farmers in each village to find out whom they would go to for advice and see as a Farmer Leader in their village. The agents then identified at least three potential farmer leaders based on how respected they are in the community, their farm yields and how likely they are to use fertilizer and certified seed.

We held meetings to explain myAgro to the Farmer Leaders and explained the role of the small packages in “testing” myAgro before rolling out a larger enrollment next season. Farmer leaders will plant the 1/16 hectare packages and then lead farmer discussions in front of their farms to share their thoughts on myAgro and our planting packages. We’re betting on farmers like Oumou, her strong social capital and word-of-mouth marketing strategy  to increase our farmer numbers for 2014.

Kadiatou, like many women in Mali, doesn’t just farm, she is also a vendor at the Bougoula market, she sells food (like yams, beans and mangos) on market days. By participating in myAgro’s savings program and having another good harvest this year, she hopes to continue to support her family, grow the family business and sell seeds. Kadiatou hopes that myAgro will continue its work with farmers in her village so they can learn more farming techniques and benefit from its programs.

After spending the first part of the year conducting baseline surveys and learning more about the challenges farmers face in this region. myAgro has selected 23 villages in the communes of Sinthiou Maleme and Ndoga Babacar in which to launch our Senegal program. Six dedicated field officers, all of whom grew up and reside in the target villages, are leading our pilot.

This season, we will be partnering with a number of early adopter farmers to cultivate maize, sorghum and peanuts, a main cash crop in Senegal. We will also run test plots in all of our villages to teach myAgro’s planting methods to farmers, which helped double crop yields for participating farmers in Mali last season.

The Senegal program also gives us the opportunity to add a new product to our repertoire: millet. Our field team will be running trials with millet, a crop which has a significant amount of cultural and dietary importance in this part of Senegal.

As in much of West Africa, the biggest challenge for farmers in Tambacounda region is a lack of access to high quality seed and fertilizer, as well as assuring that these vital inputs arrive before the rainy season begins. The market for certified seed and quality fertilizer is less-developed in this region than anywhere else in the country; the majority of farmers cultivate enormous tracts of land without putting any sort of nutrients back into the soil, primarily using seed that has been saved year after year. Thus, the myAgro approach – providing affordable access to seed, fertilizer and training, well in advance of the rains – has been well received.

Just last week, we opened our myAgro store in the market center of Sinthiou Maleme, to a great deal of enthusiasm and anticipation from the local community. Our in-country team is enthusiastic to see how the myAgro model can help Senegalese farmers profit more. Or as we say in Wolof: “Suqali njëriñu mbéy mi!”

When Yaya did a germination count, he saw that if Amadou didn’t re-plant the bad portion of his field and follow the myAgro planting method on the rest of his farm, Amadou would lose faith in myAgro and most importantly, not harvest well.

Amadou was discouraged, but Yaya persuaded him to weed his field by offering to help and convincing him that his hard work would pay off.

Amadou’s field did much better thanks to Yaya’s training and encouragement.

Amadou agreed and his field became an inspiration to others in Falan Village. He harvested more maize than he ever had before and used his extra income to pay for his son’s school fees and transport to the district high school. The previous year, his son had to stay at home because the family couldn’t afford the cost.

Amadou is incredibly proud and says, “Before myAgro, I was ready to give up farming because it was not productive. Now I see what my field can produce with good inputs and the planting technique. myAgro’s payment process,  “doni, doni” (little by little), is much easier than paying at once. I really salute the myAgro team.”

Amadou and his family – his wife, Koro is now a member.

Amadou’s wife, Koro, also is very happy. She said she’s seen a positive change in Amadou and the way he supports the family. She joined myAgro for the 2013 season so she too can help the family increase its income.

Yaya, who was promoted from Intern to Business Associate last fall, is thrilled for Amadou. Yaya says “Amadou really believes in myAgro now and helped me enroll new farmers this year based on his experience. In sh’Allah, we will have a great harvest again this year.”

Yaya (right) with Ousmane, a new team member he’s training.

Our farmers start at 11:46 in the video: Check out Minata Coulibaly explain why she likes the myAgro model.

Our myAgro team has been busy for the past few months. In addition to completing harvesting from the 2012 season, we expanded our vendor partnerships to 8 and started 2 new myAgro stores. To date we’ve enrolled over 1500 farmers!

In the picture above, Oumar, our new Business Associate, shares the myAgro story to new and potential farmers during market day.

So what would it mean to families in Mali if women were able to be more productive in agriculture?

USAID, in a Global State of Agriculture infographic, says that women could increase crop yields around the world by 20-30% with equal access to resources. This would feed more than 150 million people!

We also found this interactive infographic on the website of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The information shows how “all farmers need quality land to yield a good harvest. Women in the developing world are 5 times less likely than men to own land, and their farms are usually smaller and less fertile.”

And from the Female Face of Farming, on the Farming First website, “The vast majority of studies have found that differences in yields between men and women exist not because women are less skilled but because they have less access to inputs such as improved seeds, fertilizers and equipment.”

This is why myAgro offers programs for women including our Women’s Peanut Program. MyAgro women have the opportunity to save for fertilizer, seeds and training.

We believe that by empowering and investing in rural women, we can increase productivity, reduce hunger and malnutrition and improve rural livelihoods not only for women, but for their families as well!

Broulaye recently stated:

“The myAgro farming method is long and difficult but I can see the difference between my farms. Not to flatter you, but the myAgro system and seeds are the best. I do a lot of activities to earn money but to have 50,000 CFA ($100) all at once to pay for fertilizer is nearly impossible. I really like myAgro’s method of paying “doni doni” (little by little). The microdose method helps us save fertilizer; my plants are strong and the cobs are large. I’m very hopeful.”

See more photos of our myAgro Farmers.

An excerpt from “How to Sell Education”, published SEPTEMBER 7, 2012, by Jake Asher:

“In the meantime, I’m going to take some time now to tell you about some interesting things going on in one of my other homes-away-from-home, Mali.  The news there is remaining steadily ominous.  We’ve got a fog (’cause it’s the rainy season there now, get it?) of political uncertainty in the south involving interim governments and conditionally-rejected offers of international military support, profoundly disturbing reports of Islamist extremists sending the northern part of the country on a fast-track to becoming “the next Afghanistan,” as the media is often fond of putting it, and no end in sight to a long-standing drought and regional food crisis.  While I’ve been reading the headlines often enough, and I’m probably equally informed about current events in Mali as I am about those in American, which is actually saying fairly little, I’ve definitely lost my inside grasp on what’s been going on there since the Coup.

So I’m not interested now in rehashing what a 5-minute Google News search could tell you.  No, I’d rather let you know about some of the positive influences that are continuing over in Mali, despite these times of uncertainty which try even the noblest hearts.  There are dozens of great organizations, and I’m sure most of them deserve at least your awareness, if not your support, but today, I’m picking just one particularly cool project for this post because, well I have friends who work there.

The organization is called myAgro, and while it’s only just a baby, at 8 months old, they’ve been making some really great headway, and influencing a lot of small-scale Malian farmers.  They do this through giving loans and establishing savings programs with local farmer who sign up for the program.  According to one of their recent performance reports, they have already signed up hundreds of farmers for their program, earned thousands of dollars in savings for farmers in their program (in a country where, for millions of people, earning just one dollar in a day can make the difference between eating today or not), and continue to run a weekly program to publicize the programs and educate and interview farmers and program members around the country.  As those of you who know me might imagine, this some-time farmer, radio DJ, and cheapskate finds a lot to like about myAgro!  And of course, the founder, Anushka Ratnayake, is an awesome person who I met a few times during my last stint in Mali.  And to quote my good friend and fellow Mali RPCV, Audra, who currently volunteers for myAgro while living in Chicago, “What is really interesting with myAgro is that in the midst of all of the Malian politically instability, their programs are offering solutions for farmers to create sustainable food security for themselves.”  See, we’re not talking about a charity here, we’re talking about a capacity-building venture, a program that doesn’t give away fish, but creates fishermen.

If you want to learn more about myAgro, peruse their website at www.myagro.org, or alternatively, you could just take my word for it and head straight to their Donate Now page.  Trust me, a few bucks on your end can go a long way towards some relief in a country that needs it, and setting good examples for sustainable agricultural methods which, if spread widely enough, will encourage positive and lasting change where it’s needed.  That’s right, for the price of one trenta-sized double-macchiato triple-mochaccino latte caffeine jug, you could help improve farming capabilities in the most fantastic country most of you have never been to!”

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

Farmers listen to our business associate, Dembele, explain how to set up the seed beds. 

Farmers practice spacing the seeds in the nursery. Typically, farmers might throw the seeds randomly or in clumps. By spacing them out, it will be easy to remove at transplanting time. 

Broulaye Samake (middle, with Dembele and Oumar) was eager to show us his myAgro maize field. So far he’s very happy but of course it all comes down to the harvest. He told us that he had never cultivated this land, but requested it from his family to plant with myAgro. Last year he planted millet and sorghum and was able to feed his family for 6 months. His two wishes are that his maize harvest is really strong and that more farmers join myAgro next season. Ka sènè soro yiriwa (Grow more profit from agriculture)!

Each village selected a volunteer Agricultural Leader to receive extra training from myAgro so they could provide advice to farmers. They commit to following up on everyone’s fields within the week, problem solving together with farmers and the myAgro business associate and ensure farmers have all the right tools before going to the farm. In the picture above, Agricultural Leaders from different villages are presenting and discussing various key indicators, such as number of farmers who followed our training, number of farmers who need to weed, number of farmers who will plant – all in Bambara, the local language.

The Agricultural Leaders are key partners in our work with myAgro farmers. Because they know the farmers well, they can be great convincers and their presence in farmers’ fields has increased the planting quality all around.

Moussa is incredibly motivated – he joined us as an assistant vendor, and he spent countless hours speaking to farmers, reminding them about their layaway payments and goals and explaining the benefits of myAgro. In fact, Moussa shared some his strategies which are now myAgro “best practices” that we’ll teach new vendor assistants to do from now on: first he visits farmers during the weekly market and then, knowing that they will put aside money for myAgro layaway payments he visits them that evening or the next day. In the cool night, he sits, has tea and chats with farmers who buy cards from him. The majority of his myAgro layaway card sales happen at 9 pm when farmers are relaxed and at home.

Moussa is excited to plant a half-hectare with myAgro. He chose Faso Kaba’s Sotubaka maize seed and made sure to fastidiously follow myAgro’s planting methods. His land is at the entrance of the village so he asked us about putting up a sign to show everyone that he’s working with us. It is his 2^nd time to use certified seed but his first time to use fertilizer. “I couldn’t afford it before,” he said.

“I have to take care of my wife, 2 small children and 8 others in the family. My goal is to harvest enough food for my family to eat. Last year our harvest was enough for 4 months. After that I took credit for the rest of the year so we could eat.” Moussa explained. Then with a smile, he added “And my second goal is that next year everyone joins myAgro. We’ll have less hunger and the community and myAgro will be more successful!”