myAgro Performance Report

May 2012

 “  With  myAgro,  I  can  save  ‘doni,  doni’  (little,  little)  when  I  want,  however  much  I  want.  With  credit,  I  always  needed  another  loan.  But  with  my  savings,  I  can  earn  more  every  year.”  –  Samaké,  Sanambele  Village  

By the numbers 300+  Farmers  saving  with  us    

$6,000      USD  value  of  farmer  savings  to  date.  We’re  on  track  to  leverage  over  $15,000  of  farmer  savings  to  help  them  improve  their  harvests  and  get  out  of  poverty,  permanently.  

1300    Savings  cards  sold  to  date  

75  %  of  farmers  who  buy  their  second  savings  card  within  21  days  of  their  first  payment  

3  Village  Vendor  Partners  

150    #  of  control/test  farmers  we  will  survey  this  May  as  part  of  our  rigorous  evaluation  process    

1  myAgro  operated  store  in  a  market  center.    

 %  of  total  saving  card  purchases,  by  card  value.  myAgro  saving  cards  range  from  500  CFA  –  12,500  CFA  ($1  –  25  USD).        

     It’s  been  an  incredible  six  months  since  myAgro  launched  in  Mali,  West  Africa  and   I   am  delighted   to   share   our  progress   in  our   first   6-­‐month   report.   In   this  report,   we’ll   share   updates   from   our   various   programs   as   well   as   more  background   on   Mali   and   myAgro’s   unique   savings   model   for   small-­‐scale  farmers.      It’s   hard   to   describe   the   amazing   momentum   of   support   behind   myAgro’s   model.   What’s   most  exciting  for  the  myAgro  team  is  that  small-­‐scale  farmers,  like  Sitan  Sacko  (right),  are  the  ones  setting  the  pace!      Sitan  is  a  farmer  in  Sanambele  village  who  registered  with  us  in  December  to  plant  a  half-­‐hectare  of  peanuts.  After  listening  to  a  myAgro  market  access  and  price  training,  Sitan  left  and  returned  to  the  meeting  with   her   husband   and   200   pounds   of   peanuts   to   sell.   Sitan   sold   her   peanuts,   and   then  promptly  turned  to  the  village  vendor  (a  myAgro  partner)  and  bought  a  savings  card  of  10,000  CFA  (~$20)  towards  her  $48  savings  goal.      Sitan  inspired  her  neighbors  and  the  myAgro  team  by  demonstrating  the  effectiveness  and  power  of  being   able   to   save   right   at   harvest   time   for   inputs   of   next   year.   Not   surprisingly   several   others  followed  Sitan’s  example.      To  date,  we’ve  enrolled  over  300  farmers  in  our  maize,  sorghum  and  peanuts  program  who  in  total,  have  saved  over  35%  towards  their  savings  goal  in  preparation  for  planting  this  rainy  season.      It’s  clear  that  small-­‐scale  farmers  see  the  benefits  of  having  a  safe  way  to  make  committed  savings  towards   fertilizer   and   seed   for   the   rainy   season.   Even   in   the   days   following  Mali’s   recent   coup,  farmers   continued  to  make  saving  payments  via  SMS.  They’re  not  asking  for  a  handout  or  even  a  loan    -­‐  just  a  way  to  invest  their  own  money  safely  and  conveniently  to  improve  their  harvests.    At   such   an   uncertain   time   politically,   it   is   even  more   critical   that   there   are   ways   for   small-­‐scale  farmers  to  be  able  to  feed  their  families  and  contribute  to  the  food  security  of  the  country.  Oxfam  recently   noted   that   cereal  production   is  projected   to  be   80%  below   average   this   year.   Instead   of  raising  millions  in   food  aid,  which   is  unsustainable  and  often  counter  productive,  myAgro  believes  that  we  can  be  a  catalyst  and  help  farmers  use  their  own  capital  more  effectively  to  increase  their  income,  season  after  season.      Thank  you  for  supporting  and  cheering  on  our  hard-­‐working  farmers  from  afar  –  we  couldn’t  have  done  this  without  you!            Anushka  Ratnayake,  Founder  and  Director    Ka  sènè  soro  yiriwa!  Grow  more  profit  from  agriculture!                

Women’s Peanut Program

•100+ women enrolled in 3 villages •$25 average savings goal •42% saved to date towards goal

 myAgro  women  have  the  opportunity  to  save  for  fertilizer,  seed  and  training  for  1/16  ,  1/8,  ¼  or  ½  hectare  of  peanuts.      Women  have  turned  out  to  be  enthusiastic  savers,  reaching  over  42%  of  their  savings  goal  to  date.  Women’s  savings  often  come  from  village  savings  groups  where  women  come  together,  save  ~$1  every  week  and  take  turns  giving  each  other  loans  with  the  accumulated  savings.  In  fact,  there  are  400,000  women  farmers  who  participate  in  savings  groups  like  these  across  Mali      that  we  hope  to  reach  in  the  years  to  come!      After  reaching  their  savings  goal,  we  deliver  the  inputs  directly  to  the  villages  and  provide  trainings  on  how  to  plant,  weed,  harvest  and  store  their  peanuts  for  longer.  We’re  also  ensuring  that  every  step  of  the  way,  farmers  take  steps  to  limit  a  fungus  called  aflotoxin.  We’re  hoping  to  find  a  market  for  high-­‐quality  peanuts  in  the  fortified  peanut  butter  sector,  which  1)  will  help  myAgro  farmers  earn  a  higher-­‐than  market  price  and  2)  support  efforts  to  help  malnourished  children  in  Northern  Mali.        Maimouna  Coulibaly,  a  group  leader  in  Sanambele  village  is  excited  about  the  savings  aspect  most  of  all.  She  told  us  recently:      

“I  love  savings  because  it  suits  me  more.  I  can  progress  and  pay  when  I  have  money,  it's  easier.”  

   

 Women  in  Mali      Women  in  Mali  face  a  number  of  barriers  –    lack  of  access  to  land,  low  literacy  levels  (18%)  and  less  access  to  formal  education.  The    average  woman  has  6  children  and    grows  vegetables  and  rice  on  a  small  plot  of    land.      Our  women’s  program  logo,  the  baobab,    represents  strength,  creativity  and  endurance    -­‐  all  adjectives  that  aptly  describe  the    amazing  women  in  the  myAgro  program!    We  hope  to  grow  our  women’s  peanut    program  from  3  villages  to  20  in  the  next  year.    

Men’s Cereals Program

• 200+ men enrolled • $100 average savings goal • 35% progress to date

 Farmers’  Radio  Outreach  myAgro  has  a  weekly  radio  program,  which  helps  us  build  legitimacy  in  the  eyes  (and  ears)  of  farmers.  As  one  farmer  told  us  “I  heard  about  your  program  on  the  radio  and  now  I  believe  you!  If  you  tell  everyone  the  same  thing  you  told  me,  it  means  a  lot!”      Our  programs  are  a  mix  of  farmer  interviews,  trainings  and  call-­‐ins  with  prominent  people  in  the  agricultural  sector.  Here,  the  mayor  gets  interviewed  –  he  even  became  a  member  afterwards!  

 We  have  two  men’s  programs  –  sorghum  and  maize,  both  two  of  the  top  three  cereals  grown  in  Mali.  Our  maize  and  sorghum  farmers  have  signed  up  for  roughly  1  hectare  of  inputs  on  average,  and  are  30%  towards  their  savings  goal.      Farmers  we  surveyed  were  using  seed  from  their  father’s  generation  –  some  seeds  were  even  20  years  old  and  producing  less  than  1  ton  per  hectare.  For  the  same  amount  of  labor,  plus  a  little  bit  more  of  their  savings  to  pay  for  certified  seed,  farmers  can  expect  to  grow  3-­‐4  tons  per  hectare  with  myAgro.      Farmers  can  also  elect  to  get  a  labor  loan  to  pay  for  additional  farm  workers  or  to  buy  a  planting  machine  with  a  microdisk  to  apply  fertilizer  correctly.  Micro-­‐dosing  fertilizer  is  known  as  one  of  the  best  ways  to  increase  harvests  and  profitability  but  for  small-­‐scale  farmers  with  large  land  sizes,  it  would  be  impossible  to  add  a  teaspoonful  of  fertilizer  for  every  single  plant  –  there  are  more  than  33,000  plants  in  one  hectare!      By  giving  a  labor  loan  to  farmers  to  pay  for  additional  farm  workers  or  buy  a  planting  machine,  we  double  the  amount  of  land  farmers  can  cultivate  using  modern  planting  techniques  –  increasing  farmer’s  harvests  and  profits.  Sekou  Coulibaly,  (pictured,  left)  told  us:      

“With  myAgro,  and  good  rains,  I  hope  I  will  have  a  great  harvest  this  season!”  

   

 

SMS Payments • 1300 savings payments to date • On track to collect $12,000 in

program revenue • Modeled after the way farmers buy phone credit for their cell phones.

We  partner  with  village  vendors  who  have  an  existing  stores  in  the  villages  where  we  work  to  sell  myAgro  savings  cards  alongside  the  tea,  sugar,  and  other  household  goods  they  sell.  When  farmers  go  to  their  local  shop,  they  can  buy  savings  cards  conveniently  and  securely:    • After  a  farmer  buys  a  savings  card,  the  vendor  sends  an  SMS  on  the  back  of  the  card  to  myAgro    • Our  database  receives  and  validates  the  code  and  adds  the  amount  of  the  card  to  the  farmer’s  

account.  The  vendor  safely  holds  on  to  the  money  until  we  pick  it  up.  • We  respond  back  to  the  farmer  with  an  update  on  their  new  payment  and  their  progress.    

 See  a  short  3-­‐minute  video  on  how  our  SMS  database  works!        

 Vendor  Assistants    Vendors  and  their  assistants  get  regular  trainings,  feedback  and  marketing  support  to  increase  their  savings  card  sales.      Here,  Coulibaly  reviews  some    marketing  photos  with  Fassoli,    who  is  learning  how  to  motivate  farmers.  Fassoli  is  also  a  member,  who’s  saved  for  over  2  HA  of  maize  and  counting!  He’s  learned  how  to  send  an  SMS  for  the  first  time  and  helps  other  farmers  send  their  SMS  payments  throughout  the  week.    

Our Vision for 2012 • Partner with 2000 farmers • Increase ave. savings goals by 10% • Offer more high-impact products:

fruit, vegetables and drip irrigation

Help  myAgro  implement  our  bold  vision    Consider  joining  our  partners,  One  Acre  Fund,  Mulago  Foundation  and  Syngenta  Foundation  in  helping  us  close  our  funding  gap  for  2012.      Your  donation  will  help  us  develop  our  pilot  program  further  and  help  increase  food  security  at  a  critical  time  in  Mali’s  history!      To  help  myAgro  grow  more,  please  donate  securely  online  via  our  fiscal  sponsor,  Trust  for  Conservation  Innovation:            Or  send  a  check  to:    Trust  for  Conservation  Innovation  (please  write  myAgro  on  the  check)  150  Post  Street,  Suite  342  San  Francisco,  CA  94108    Or,  for  other  ways  to  donate  and  more  information,  please  email:  audra@myagro.org.    

 

myAgro’s  Model  |  Importance  of  Savings-­‐based  Approach      Through  our  pilot,  we  hope  to  prove  that  farmers  not  only  can  save  but  also  will  save  if  we  provide  them  with  an  option  that  is  safe,  transparent  and  convenient.      There  are  over  1.4  billion  small-­‐scale  farmers  in  the  world  who  need  ways  to  invest  their  own  money  to  increase  their  harvests  to  feed  their  families.  If  we  can  help  farmers  leverage  their  own  funds,  plus  support  them  with  training  and  access  to  large-­‐scale  markets  we  can  help  them  achieve  their  goals  and  increase  food  security  in    the  region  as  well.      Mali  has  a  strong  savings  culture  –  but  there  are  no  options  for  farmers  to  save  up  conveniently  for  fertilizer  and  seed.  myAgro  fills  that  gap,  and  helps  farmers  access  the  tools,  training  and  market  incentives  they  need  to  increase  productivity  and  move  beyond  subsistence  farming.        

Helping people save their way out of poverty can be much cheaper and less risky than help-ing people borrow their way out of poverty. Borrowing has its place, but now is the time to focus on saving.

Dean Karlan, IPA, Stanford Social Innovations

Review  

 

   

myAgro    Core  Values      Our  values  make  us  unique,  keep  us  focused  and  are  the  “special  sauce”  in  our  fieldwork:      

• Implement  market-­‐based  solutions:  we  build  and  develop  markets  for  our  products  and  services  to  increase  farmer  revenue.            

• Listen:  We  listen  to  our  customers  and  team  members  and  make  extra  efforts  to  include  and  listen  to  women.      

• Promote  fair  and  transparent  partnerships:  we  partner  with  vendors  and  farmers  transparently  and  fairly.      

• We’re  dedicated  to  having  a  professional,  curious  and  collaborative  culture.      

• Innovation:  We  think  of  easy  to  implement  solutions  to  complex  problems.  We  use  innovation  to  bring  focused  and  sustainable  financial  opportunities  to  our  customers  and  partners.      

 • Courage  and  Passion  –  We  care  intensely  and  work  

passionately  to  ensure  our  farmers’,  vendors’  and  myAgro’s  success.  We  have  the  courage  to  resolve  difficult  problems,  reach  hard-­‐to-­‐serve  areas  and  develop  sustainable  solutions  to  end  poverty  for  thousands  of  farmers.      

• Results  –  we  get  results,  we  beat  deadlines  and  meet  targets  –  consistently.  We  stay  away  from  “analysis  –paralysis”  to  get  things  done  and  out  to  the  farmers  as  quickly  as  possible.    

 

Want  to  learn  more?    Comments?  Feedback?  Contact  us!  

www.myagro.org  |  +223  7772  8888  |  audra@myagro.org    

Photo  Credits:  Thanks  to  Jake  Kiser  and  Pauline  Watine!