Family of farmers standing in a field

myAgro

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Model & Strategy

myAgro believes that it is incredibly important that poor people have a way to protect and save their wealth in order to move out of poverty. Small-scale farmers, who make up the majority of the world’s poor, are also the most likely to lack access to a savings account.

myAgro enables farmers in West Africa to save for fertilizer, seed and training packages on layaway through a mobile-based platform and a network of vendor partners. By training farmers on labor-saving techniques, myAgro makes it possible for farmers to plant more land, with increasing productivity.  Using this system, farmers increase their yields 50-100% and use the increased harvest to connect to markets, or feed their families year-round.

Over time, myAgro’s impact goal is to help farmers more than double their farm income to exceed $1,000 annually.

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At a Glance
Founded: 2012
Founder & CEO: Anushka Ratnayake
Food & Agriculture
Location of work: International, Africa
http://www.myagro.org
myAgro
Rue 14, Porte 71 Faso Kanu
Bamako,
Grow more with myAgro
Farmer smiling with his crop in the background
Founder photo
Meet Anushka Ratnayake

Anushka has worked in rural Africa since mid-2008, helping to increase market access for small-scale farmers. From her on-the-ground experience working with farmers, she learned about the lack of savings options for small-scale farmers and set out to create a model that would reach remote and hard-to-serve farmers.

Anushka previously created and led Kiva’s Fellows Program in 2007.  She joined One Acre Fund in 2008 in Bungoma, Kenya and created many of the operations and back office structures to scale the program 50x in three years. Anushka is a 2011 Rainer Arnhold Fellow, 2012 Echoing Green Fellow and 2014 Pop!Tech Fellow.

IMPACT

Farmers increase yields 50-100% and net farming income $150-$300 per year.

240 farmers reached in 2012; 50,000 farmers reached in 2018 (E).

In just 4 years, myAgro has grown its budget by 872% and the beneficiaries by 1086%, while halving the donor subsidy required to lift a farmer out of poverty from $320 to an estimated $158 in 2018.

myAgro was a recipient of a 2018 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.

Woman farmer posing with her crop yield of peanuts

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