Our Rwanda operation is located near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the most isolated districts in the country—Nyamasheke and Rusizi. It’s a six-hour drive from Kigali to our Rwanda headquarters, much of it on unpaved dirt roads. Our farmers and our field staff walk everywhere. Some of our field officers walk four hours to reach their weekly staff meetings.
I recently traveled to Rwanda to visit our farmers as they were harvesting beans. One of our field officers took me around Rwesero, her village, and introduced me to many of her farmers. They were all excited to tell me about the good harvests they were expecting with One Acre Fund. One woman, Euphrase, had been farming with us since our second season in Rwanda—for almost three years. As she plucked beans off climbing vines and threw them into a large basket, she told me how pleased she was with her One Acre Fund harvests. In fact, she has seen big improvements in her crop yields each year she has farmed with One Acre Fund. She was excited to show me the fields she has cultivated with One Acre Fund seed.
Euphrase is the co-leader of her group of farmers, and she has been so happy with her harvests that she has mobilized many, many farmers to join One Acre Fund. She started joking with our field officer, who was busy helping Euphrase harvest beans, about how many farmers she had helped her enroll. It was wonderful to see the two women laughing and working together—our field officers and farmers develop great relationships through their work with One Acre Fund.
Euphrase has five children, three of whom are currently in university and two who are in secondary school. The income she has earned from her harvests has allowed her to help pay their tuition and school fees. Euphrase herself was only able to complete six years of primary school, so being able to send her children to secondary school and university is a big accomplishment. Many of One Acre Fund’s farmers use their additional income to send their children to school; like parents everywhere, they want to give their children the opportunity to improve their lives.
Drip irrigation provides our farmers with two huge opportunities: the ability to feed their families during the dry season, traditionally a time when food supplies dwindle, and the chance to generate revenue that can be used in other areas of their lives.
The cost of the kit alone was $12, while seed and fertilizer were sold for $2.50. The repayment structure was divided into two installments, to make it easier for the farmers to repay. After successfully completing the first installment, they received seeds and fertilizer, as well as comprehensive training on how to prepare a seedbed. The second installment complete, they received the drip kits. Our field officers were on hand to ensure that the kits were set up correctly and functioned as expected.
This season we also added a plant treatment kit to the program that included pesticide, leaf booster, and a communal spray bottle. The value of this kit was shared by members of a group, and so the per farmer cost was slightly over $1. As anticipated, the plant treatment kit has added tremendous value to our farmers, who have avoided outbreaks of aphids, worms, and other pests.
This year, our farmers faced the challenge of market volatility. Because there was more rain than usual in December, many people planted vegetables, which initially flooded the market. However, the rains did not continue into January and February, and as the supply of vegetables dwindled, our farmers benefited from the irrigation systems. They were able to access above-market prices when this occurred of up to $0.26/kg.
“I have to be busy because I have a lot of mouths to feed,” Grace Alande explains. Although Grace, 58, retired from teaching three years ago, she continues to assume responsibilities within her family and in her village. At home, she cares for her husband who suffered strokes in 2000 and 2007 and, as a result, is partly paralyzed. Grace is also raising three of her grandchildren. The children’s mothers, two of Grace’s daughters, passed away from HIV/AIDS several years ago.
For about one year One Acre Fund has been running forestry trials, studying popular tree varieties in Kenya, and experimenting with planting techniques. We settled on grevillea trees after surveying our farmers on the tree varieties they liked best.
Daniel Okongo is the field director in Kakamega District, Kenya. He is currently leading Kenya’s largest district, with forty-five staff members and over 4,100 clients.