OAF Town HallOne Acre FundTaking Agricultural Technologies to Scale

February 11th, 2015 – Eric Solomonson, Agriculture Research Manager

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Today’s agenda

The One Acre Fund operating model

What we do at scale

Where we work

Scaling new technologies

Our research platform

Looking forward

Longer-term impact work

Q&A

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The One Acre Fund Operating Model

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What we offer

…delivered to farmers doorsteps.

A complete service bundle…

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How we deliver

Our Distribution Network (Kenya)

806 input delivery points

All within walking distance

1,100 tons of seed

8,000 tons of fertilizer

93,000 solar lamps

135,000 farmers

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Our Products (Kenya)

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Our Impact

Scale:Families served

Impact:2x farm profit per acre

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$50

$100

$150

$200

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Control Test

Sustainability:Earned revenue ($ USD)

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Where we work

Kenya

Rwanda

Burundi

Tanzania

Uganda

Malawi

Ethiopia

Direct Program

Fertilizer Services

Seed Services

Training Services

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Our research platform

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Product selection

We select products based on their ability to improve farmer livelihoods, specifically focusing on the following criteria:

Impact: can a product significantly increase a farmer’s income?

We are increasingly looking at impact through a long-term lens as well, considering soil fertility and environmental impacts.

Adoptability: are a significant number of farmers willing to purchase this product?

This is often a function of cost, cultural practice, preference, and simplicity

Operability: can we scale this product with a minimal increase in operational complexity?

This is often a function of product availability, size, and storability.

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Impact x Scale = Social Good

Scale

Impact (per client)

Social Good

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Research Stations

Kakamega, Kenya

Gucha, Kenya

Kendu Bay, Kenya

Rubengera, Rwanda

Muramvya, Burundi

Iringa, Tanzania

Kakamega Research Station• 10 acres• 15 different crops• 73 treatments• Randomized Complete Block Design (6 replicates)

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Farmer Trials

2015 Long Rains trials include: Small-quantity lime application Urea vs CAN topdress Compost application Maize-bean intercrop Maize-soybean intercrop Leaf count-based topdress Bean disease management Green gram agronomy IR maize seed in striga areas Zai pits in low-rainfall areas Pigeon pea agronomy

Kenya (2014 Long Rains) 21 trials 7 different crops 3,135 farmers ¼ acre split plot design Sites are geo-tagged (most) soils are sampled Yields are physically measured Farmer preferences are recorded

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Scale Trials

We are looking to:

1. Understand real-world farmer adoption levels

2. Understand obstacles or limitations to offering this new technology at larger scale.

Additionally, we run scale trials to:

1. Understand what marketing techniques may work best for different products.

2. Understand which maize varieties are likely to perform best in different areas.

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A phased approach

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Input from the best

We get a lot of our program content from direct farmer feedback. However, we need input from a wide range of experts to take our work to the next level including

The Research Community

Industry Professionals

Government

We view ourselves as scaling partners with logistical expertise.

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Looking forward

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Our work with agroforestry

Focus on Grevillea robusta

We distribute 10g of seed to each farmer in the program (80,000 in 2014).

We provide training on how to properly plant and transplant seedlings.

We encourage farmers to grow their trees for at least six years before cutting.

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Grevillea at scale

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Long term soil health

Western Rwanda – 951 samplesWestern Kenya – 1,410 samples

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Sharing results

• Agriculture Innovation

• Farm Finance

• Social Enterprise

• Agriculture Policy

• Failures

• Annual Reports

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Questions?