A One Village committee member enjoys a meeting.

Every year that One Acre Fund operates, the demand for our services increases. However, there are still farmers in the areas where we work that are not willing to adopt new farming practices, even when they see the great harvests of One Acre Fund clients in their communities. To increase our client density, we need to find a way to convince those farmers of the benefits of changing their farming practices. We hypothesized that farmers who were reluctant to enroll might be convinced by the outreach of someone they already know in the community. In early 2011, One Acre Fund’s Kenya operation started a trial to test that hypothesis.

In the trial, we engaged community leaders several months before farmer enrollment, and asked them to help lead One Acre Fund’s expansion into their villages. We used a multi-step selection process to vet those leaders, creating an “advanced platoon” of community members who could help enroll new farmers.

The results from the first season of the trial were even better than we expected. The average enrollment was nearly 500 farmers per field officer, nearly double our program average.

Not only were the two field officers in the trial able to dramatically increase enrollment, they were able to serve their farmers with a high level of customer service thanks to the community leaders. These leaders assisted with training, as well as with repayment collection.

Going into our 2012 planting season, we decided to scale up the trial to one expansion district, Teso, and one existing district, Kakamega. We would enroll completely new farmers in Teso District, and retrofit our operating model in Kakamega, where we already had a client base of thousands of farmers.

We are now midway through the season, and both districts are posting strong performance. Teso District enrolled 5,608 farmers in its first season—a record enrollment for any new district. Kakamega District ballooned to 18,720 farmers, more than double their 2011 enrollment.

How did these two districts post such fantastic numbers? Field staff attribute the high enrollment in both districts to the effectiveness of the volunteer community leaders, and the rigorous selection process used to identify them.

Committee members work together at a training session.

Though the community leaders are volunteers, not just anyone can sign up. They must make it through a multi-stage selection process that mirrors our field officer recruitment process. First, the field officer holds open community meetings. He explains One Acre Fund to these leaders, and the kinds of qualities we are looking for in our volunteers (we call them “committee members”). Next, he asks interested individuals to attend a selection meeting to identify the people who will work best with One Acre Fund.

We look for individuals who:

• Are servant leaders, with a strong desire to help improve their community;
• Do not have full-time jobs, so that they can devote enough time to the committee;
• Have a positive attitude;
• Can read and write;
• Have the ability to lead and influence people in their communities.

To find these individuals, we use interactive exercises to identify the strongest candidates in the selection process. One exercise, a group brainstorming session, asks candidates to discuss how to deal with a farmer who has produced a good harvest, but is delaying repaying their loan. The group presents their ideas to One Acre Fund staff, and individuals are evaluated on their communication skills, creativity, and ability to work well in a group.

Committee members wear their One Village t-shirts proudly.

In the final stage of the selection process, we ask candidates to mobilize farmers in their communities for a meeting and training session. They must bring 8-15 farmers to the meeting, and then deliver a training to them. We evaluate candidates on their ability to mobilize farmers, and their skill at delivering the training. The best candidates from this exercise are selected as committee members.

One Acre Fund committee members are genuinely excited to help their fellow farmers. In recognition of their hard work, all our committee members receive t-shirts. This is just one way of acknowledging their status as community leaders and ambassadors for One Acre Fund. But the biggest reward of being a committee member is seeing your community improve, and more and more families reach food security.

Our enrollment trial has taught us two important lessons. First, farmers who are reluctant to adopt new farming practices can be convinced to do so by personal outreach from someone they know in the community. Second, this community member can’t be just anyone—using a rigorous selection process is critical. Luckily, there are many enthusiastic and talented individuals who are excited to help lead One Acre Fund’s expansion efforts. We are grateful for these individuals, and their commitment to improving the lives of their friends and neighbors.