September 6, 2010

Phelix Wasonga, Kenyan Field Officer

Filed under: StaffProfile, Trials — Tags: — admin @ 4:16 PM

PhelixIn July, One Acre Fund opened a trial district in a low-rainfall area of Nyanza Province.  Six new field officers enrolled over 1,000 farmers in the program. From November 2010 to March 2011, these farmers will plant trees and beans using quality inputs and trainings designed to work in low-rainfall conditions. Phelix Wasonga is one of the new field officers working in the trial district. At twenty-two years old, he is the youngest of the field officers, but he was the most successful at enrollment, registering almost 300 members himself.

What did you do before you joined One Acre Fund?

I worked with Kenya Scouts as a scout leader and a trainer in peer counseling for HIV/AIDS and other issues which affect youth. We would bring people together for trainings or conduct counseling sessions at schools. I was also a volunteer English teacher in a secondary school.

How did you get started at One Acre Fund?

I learned of One Acre Fund through flyers asking for serious people who wanted to work with the community, specifically farmers. I was interested because I want to see many people succeed. When I saw the advertisement, I knew the job was for me. It was a tough interview, but God saw me through it.

What about One Acre Fund interested you?

There is so much hunger in my community. We have no way to fight that hunger except hard work. With One Acre Fund inputs we now have the capability to fight that hunger. I enjoy seeing people prove that they can fight hunger.

What are your primary responsibilities as a field officer during enrollment?

I work six days per week directly with farmers. I visit them. I know their plans and dreams. And their problems. The key is to mobilize them and impart knowledge, to teach them that their future is in their hands.

Every week I set goals. For example, if today I want to sign up fifteen members, I identify groups with low membership, and I make an appointment with the leader of that group. I meet them and then discuss steps to make that group strong.

What do you say to farmers to convince them to join?

I tell them if you join One Acre Fund there is a short-term investment and a long-term investment. Short-term is beans. Long-term is trees. The longer you let the trees grow, the more you will earn. Your loan is a small loan, and you can earn much more if you follow our trainings and work hard.

I also tell them that One Acre Fund gives you a sense of unity through our group work.  Always where people are united, big things will happen. They plant together. They solve problems together. And always they have the desire to achieve.

What were the challenges enrolling farmers, and how did you overcome them?

When I first started I faced many challenges when looking for members. I met hostility from farmers who have been hurt by other organization that had come and taken money and done nothing. I had to build trust to change that. My community knows me because I grew up there. That is important.

You enrolled more farmers than any other field officer in the low-rainfall program. What is the secret to your success?

Proper planning of my work. When I set goals, I always work toward them. By the end of the day I will always achieve my goals as I have planned them.

If only one person plants one hundred trees, nothing happens. If everyone in the community plants one hundred trees, the world is different. I will only be proud if I see that many people benefit and have more food.

What are your favorite activities outside of work?

Outside of work I have a good taste for books. I read them everywhere I am when I’m not at work. I spend almost any day off reading. I also enjoy filling out puzzles in the newspaper.

What do you hope to accomplish during your career with the One Acre Fund low-rainfall program?

This is our first year. I would like to see us progress for many years and have many farmers joining because of the benefits they see.

The most important thing is the education and inputs we give to our farmers. Our people do not have the means to purchase the correct inputs, and many times they don’t know how to use them properly. With these inputs and education, our farmers are bound to succeed.

August 30, 2010

Christine Wafula, Kenyan Farmer

Filed under: FarmerProfile — Tags: — admin @ 10:15 AM

August1All over western Kenya, farmers are harvesting their maize. Walking through the fields, you will see some farmers cutting down maize stalks, others shucking maize from its husks, and still others drying kernels on plastic sheets in the sun. One Acre Fund’s farmers planted four different varieties of maize, and each matures at a different time. Our farmer groups are able to help one another harvest, because not everyone’s maize is ready simultaneously.

Christine Wafula, a farmer in Chwele District, harvested her maize with help from her family and some of the members of her group. As she shucked maize and threw the cobs into a pile, she talked about the change in her harvest. She estimated that she would harvest 10 bags of maize on ½ acre of land this year. This is a significant improvement—last year she only harvested 3 bags on ½ acre of land.

“With One Acre Fund, we spend little and we harvest much,” she said. “I have come to realize that most of the time, with the way we planted before, we wasted our fertilizer.”

Before joining One Acre Fund, many farmers used a planting method that mixed seed and fertilizer in a long furrow. The fertilizer would often burn the seed, leading to a low harvest.

Nearby, Parnifin Wafula, Christine’s husband, was listening as he shucked maize. He added:

“This was a trial. After seeing how the harvest has been, I am very happy.”

August2Christine and Parnifin have five children—Brian, Elisa, Aaron, Manuel, and Daniel. They are focused on improving the productivity of their farm and providing for their family. In fact, they are planning to plant beans with One Acre Fund during the short rains season. As soon as they finish harvesting their maize, they will prepare the land for planting beans. Next year, they will take a larger loan from One Acre Fund to plant 1 full acre of maize.

With the harvests she hopes to receive from beans and maize, Christine wants to buy a dairy cow. For now, though, she is happy that she has grown enough maize to feed her entire family.

August 23, 2010

Performance-Based Compensation for Field Staff

Filed under: CoreProgram, Operations — Tags: — admin @ 6:29 AM

_DSC0292Every year, One Acre Fund strives to improve the core program model that we offer to farmers. This upcoming year, we will be focusing on two goals: increasing client density, and increasing the average transaction size per client. Achieving these goals will bring clear benefits to our farmers. Increased client density means that a higher percentage of each community is benefiting from our program. More farmers will see increases in food production, which raises the overall food security of a community. Larger transaction sizes and new products will provide additional income increases to our farmers.

Increasing client density and average transaction size will also help One Acre Fund move toward financial sustainability (see this blog post for an in-depth discussion of the key factors affecting financial sustainability).

But we will only meet our core program goals if our field staff can execute these changes on the ground. To motivate our staff and align their personal goals with One Acre Fund’s organizational goals, we are rolling out a new compensation structure.

This new structure will compensate field staff based on the total credit amount that they are managing—the overall size of their “loan portfolio.” This will allow us to recognize the additional work that they are doing as well as the positive impact they are having on financial sustainability.

As in any incentive scheme, achievable yet ambitious targets are an important component in our new bonus structure. We have developed a field officer ranking system, from “1 star” to “5 star,” based on the total credit amount managed by that officer. Field officers will be given a “star target” based on the “age” of the site they are working in (i.e. a brand-new site will have different enrollment targets than a third-year site).

Once the enrollment period is complete, field officers will be assigned a field officer rank based on their total credit amount, and their performance-based compensation will kick in. Currently, most of our field officers in Kenya serve roughly 100 clients. We have made next season’s targets aggressive, because we believe that as our program improves, our staff will be able to handle well over 200 clients and much larger credit amounts.

The new system gives performance-based bonuses around two key areas of our operations: total credit under management, and repayment. The bonuses will be divided as follows:

  • Enrollment bonus – Field officers will receive a bonus based on the total credit amount they are managing.
  • Monthly bonus and airtime increment – Each month throughout the season, field officers will receive a bonus on top of their base salary, as well as an increase in their airtime allowance, to provide ongoing recognition of the work they are doing. This bonus is also tied to total credit under management. We are giving monthly bonuses instead of a permanent raise so that compensation is always tied to credit under management, which could fluctuate from season to season.
  • Repayment bonus – Field officers can earn up to 1 percent of their total credit amount as a repayment bonus, assuming they reach 100 percent repayment (which almost all of our field officers do).

Top-performing field officers stand to benefit greatly from this new system. A 2-star field officer – the target we are setting for all returning staff members – can earn 500 to 700 percent of their monthly salary in bonuses throughout the year! This may seem like a lot, but this incentive structure accurately reflects the additional value that field staff will be creating for our farmers and our organization.

One Acre Fund aims to reach over 50,000 farmers in 2011, and over 85,000 farmers in 2012. Our new compensation scheme will help us meet these targets, as well as propel us to serve 1 million farmers by 2020.

July 26, 2010

Protecting Maize After Harvest

Filed under: CoreProgram — Tags: — admin @ 4:18 PM

_DSC0365One Acre Fund field officers deliver training sessions to their farmers throughout the season. In August, when the product of six months of hard labor can be seen in the tall, healthy maize, it’s time for harvest and storage training.

When the maize is on the stalk, it is still filled with water, as with any ripe vegetable. If a farmer does not carefully dry her maize after harvest, fungus can grow and rot the entire crop. If the maize is carefully dried before it is stored, it is still vulnerable to pests, which can chew through storage bags and eat the maize kernels. The drying and storage processes that take place after the maize harvest are essential. Unless a farmer takes the necessary precautions to protect her maize, a grain borer or weevil can destroy the harvest in three short months.

In order to combat post-harvest crop loss, we teach our farmers a five-step harvesting and storage process:

1. Stook maize (let the maize dry while it is still on the stalk).

2. Dry maize on the cob in the sun for a few days.

3. Store maize on the cob in a cool dry place in the house for a few weeks to continue the drying process.

4. Shell the maize, then dry it in the sun again.

5. Sprinkle actellic dust, a chemical that prevents pest infestation, on the kernels and store maize in storage bags until ready to be eaten. Actellic dust protects maize from weevils, and ensures that farmers can keep their harvests safe and pest-free.

Using a substance to protect their maize is not a new concept for our farmers. In the past, some spread ash over their dried maize to prevent pest infestation. This technique only protects maize for around two months, however, and can lead to stomach ulcers when that maize is consumed. There are other commercial chemicals offered, but they are often expensive and ineffective. We have found that actellic dust, when applied correctly, protects maize from pests for up to six months. It is also relatively cheap.

While many of our farmers have used actellic dust in the past, they do not know how to use it effectively. This year, we have modified our harvest and storage trainings to include information on how to properly use and dose actellic dust. Our field officers are also selling packets of actellic dust and storage bags in the field, which allows farmers to save on transportation costs.

If a farmer uses actellic dust correctly, there is an immediate economic impact on his household. One Acre Fund farmers will harvest an average of 15 bags of maize in the main growing season, which is just enough to feed the average family of eight (each person will eat about two bags of maize a year). But if a farmer does not use actellic dust when he stores his maize, pests will typically ruin the whole stock in three months, after the farmer’s family has eaten only 4 bags. That farmer would then need to spend roughly 29,700 Kenya shillings ($370 USD) to feed his family for nine months, until the next harvest.

All of this money can be saved by spending 1,300 Kenya shillings ($16 USD) on materials for maize storage. That is a savings of 28,400 Kenya shillings ($354 USD) a year! If a farmer harvested more maize harvest than necessary to feed his family, he can store his maize until market prices are higher. For instance, in March, the market price for maize is double the price at harvest.

One Acre Fund is dedicated to spreading best practices at all stages of the growing season. Educating our farmers about proper storage practices increases One Acre Fund’s impact on its clients, but it also ensures that the hard work and financial investment our farmers have made is protected.

July 19, 2010

Irene Khaoya, Kenyan Bookkeeper

Filed under: StaffProfile — Tags: — admin @ 5:05 PM

DSC_0321Irene Khaoya joined One Acre Fund in August 2008 as the bookkeeper for Chwele District, Kenya. Chwele District has doubled in size in the past year, and Irene’s responsibilities have grown—she now manages the books for a team of over thirty field officers.

When you first joined One Acre Fund, what did your duties include?

I worked on the roster database [to track client enrollment and repayment] and often went into the field to check compliance and assist the field staff as needed.

How has the job changed since then?

When I started working, I was doing field work most of the time, but now I am mostly based in the office entering data and carrying out other office duties.

How would you describe the growth of your technical skills?

When I first starting working for One Acre Fund, they were not so good. As time went by, they really improved. My typing was much better with practice, and I even learned how to work with databases using Microsoft Access.

Do bookkeepers generally prefer being in the field or in the office?

They like being in the office more because they can understand the program as a whole and not just what is happening in the field. They have a bigger picture of everything that’s going on in the organization

Does the bookkeeper’s input ever change how things are done in the field? Yes. For example, when a problem arises with repayment collection, the bookkeeper can talk to her field director and give suggestions about how to improve the system. She can suggest changes in field policy because she knows where there’s a problem and where improvements can be made.

So the bookkeeper is like the right hand man of the field director?

Yes.

Even though there is only one bookkeeper per district, do One Acre Fund’s bookkeepers feel like a team?

We definitely feel like we’re a team. While I run duties in Chwele, a bookkeeper in another district might have a problem and contact me to know how to solve it. During our [monthly] bookkeeper meetings, we interact and share how we can improve our performance on the job.

What is a work week like for a bookkeeper?

Monday: Run the district meeting and collect repayment from the field officers.

Tuesday: Data entry on the roster database and quality control to ensure that I’ve completed all the entries and to see if there are any problems.

Wednesday: Sometimes I’m sent out into the field to do compliance or data accuracy checks.

Thursday/Friday: I sit down with the field director to plan ahead on the coming week, determining the materials or possible policy changes that need to be made.

What are some of the highlights of being a bookkeeper?

So many people respect us and trust us with the money. Whenever we collect repayment, we ensure that it’s banked and that field staff have a rough figure of what each farmer has paid and his remaining balance. We are conversant with almost all the farmers in each location. We feel highly appreciated and like being able to see the bigger picture of One Acre Fund.

What are some of the challenges?

We are responsible for a lot of cash! Also, we interact with all levels of the field staff, so we are constantly attending to the needs of the many field officers, field managers, and field directors.

Are you a farmer yourself?

I do farm. I hire other people to plant on my land, and I teach them the One Acre Fund technique so I can get a good harvest. If you compare someone who’s used the One Acre Fund technique and one who hasn’t, there’s a very big difference. It’s a lot of work but the end result is good.

July 12, 2010

Pauline Wanjala, Kenyan Field Manager

Filed under: StaffProfile — Tags: — admin @ 1:01 PM

DSC_0719Pauline Wanjala is a field manager in Webuye District, Kenya. She manages five field officers who serve nearly 500 farmers. She is also part of our fast-track management training program for talented staff.

How did you first become interested in agriculture?

From childhood, I played around with jembes [agriculture tool] and planted some crops. Seeing them grow has always made me happy.

I took advice from my parents who said that if you take up agriculture, you will be in a better position in life. Other industries have very high competition, but in agriculture competition for jobs is less, and so they encouraged me to go into agriculture.

What was your background before coming to One Acre Fund?

I completed my B.S in Horticulture at Egerton University [near Nakuru, Kenya]. Afterwards, I worked with Nzoia [Sugar Company] as a head woman, in charge of harvest and managing the cane cutters.  After Nzoia, I joined One Acre Fund in 2008.

Describe how you started working with One Acre Fund and your progression to field manager.

I came in as a Field Officer in Lutacho [village], where we were planting soya beans as part of a trial.

How long was it before you were promoted to field manager?

I joined in August 2008 and was promoted in October of the same year.

Did you grow anything for yourself this year?

I rented a shamba [piece of land] where I planted 1/2 acre of maize. It is doing very well.

What skills have you developed at One Acre Fund?

One Acre Fund has taught me how to work in teams and how to develop leadership skills. When you are in charge of more than six people and over 1,000 farmers, it makes you feel as if you are really capable. I see that I have made the right career choice. There is no other job I would want to do.   The job that we do makes us tough and able to handle any problems we encounter. I wish to be here a very a long time because I know we are growing and expanding!

What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced at One Acre Fund?

During enrollment, it is challenging because you are enrolling farmers whose background you don’t know. You find that farmers pretend to be good during enrollment, but when it comes to repayment, you see their real faces. That is when you learn that the farmer you recruited is not the same farmer you are facing for repayment. During enrollment meetings, you find that they are very punctual. But during repayment, you might not even see someone for weeks and weeks.

How do you deal with that challenge?

You visit the farmer in the early part of the year and try to collect 100 Ksh [$1.30 USD] one week, maybe 50 Ksh [$0.75 USD] the next week, so you can determine if later this farmer will either give you a headache or will give you a smooth way. One farmer will come and pay 500 Ksh [$6 USD] and then come the next week and pay 800 Ksh [$10 USD]. This is a farmer that will go smoothly. But if there is a farmer who comes with 20 Ksh [$0.30 USD] and he has a full acre of credit for 8,000 Ksh [$100 USD], if he pays 20 or 50 or 80 Ksh per week, he will have problems with repayment. But if you keep persisting with that farmer week after week, you can solve that problem.

What are your strategies for managing your team?

Once we have a problem, we always put it on the table so each and every field officer talks about the problems or challenges he or she is facing in their location. At the same time, we are going to share the successes. So when we find something that works in one location, another location copies it and goes to implement it in their location.

What do you enjoy the most about working at One Acre Fund?

With other organizations, you are only given the job to do. But in One Acre Fund you are given the job to do and the way to do it. What I like most is that I am told, for instance, to go collect repayment. But that is not the only thing I am told. I am told you are supposed to do this and that to go for repayment. So they always give me directions and support. When I am stuck, there is that team that comes to pull you up – you are not left alone.

How has the management training program helped you?

It is giving me a clearer picture of the organization and is telling me that I am a leader and that I am supposed to lead a good number of people.  I am looking forward to leading as many people as I can, at the district level and beyond.

July 5, 2010

The Benefits of Planting More Maize

Filed under: CoreProgram — Tags: — admin @ 8:47 AM

Here in Kenya, our field directors are working on a short training for farmers about the benefits of planting more maize with One Acre Fund. When farmers first enroll with One Acre Fund, they take a loan for seed and fertilizer for 1/2 acre of maize. In their next maize planting season, they will often take another loan for 1/2 acre of inputs, even if they have more land that could be planted. Anecdotally, farmers told us that they were so pleased with their harvest from ½ acre–why would they need to plant more? But most of them do plant more on the rest of their field (usually an additional 1 acre), but they often do not use fertilizer, and might use low-quality seed. This means their profit margin and harvest are a lot lower than what it could be. We wanted to create a training that would encourage farmers to take out a larger loan, while explaining the benefits of doing so in a convincing way.

Our new training will have several components. First, we’re putting together a simple, straightforward cost-benefit analysis that shows the benefits of spending a bit more on inputs (through a One Acre Fund loan). One reason farmers might hesitate to take on a larger loan is time. The One Acre Fund planting method is more time consuming that the local method, and time spent planting means that farmers can’t earn money working on a richer farmer’s land. For farmers with intermittent and unreliable incomes, it’s hard to give up money today for the potential of more money at harvest. Our field officers will discuss this issue with groups one-on-one.

The more interesting part of the training, however, will be the story of two farmers. Hungry Humphrey planted ½ acre and barely grew enough food to feed his family. He did not have any additional income to invest in his goat-rearing business, or to pay for health care for his family.

Happy Henrietta planted 1 acre of maize and 1/4 acre of beans with One Acre Fund and saved more than enough food for her family. She will sell some extra food to invest in a brick-making business. She is also saving money to invest in a dairy cow after next season’s harvest. By planning ahead, Happy Henrietta’s family was able to skip the hunger season for the first time in a long while. Her four children are enrolled in school and Henrietta was able to pay school fees comfortably.

We hope that this story will encourage farmers to make the leap and take on a loan for planting more maize next season. Growing more maize will help our farmers make investments in income-generating businesses. From One Acre Fund’s perspective, helping farmers increase their acreage under cultivation with high-quality inputs will help us reach sustainability faster. By increasing average transaction size, we increase the total loan portfolio of each field officer. Because our office cost remains constant, our overall level of sustainability goes up.

June 28, 2010

Violet Laisa, Kenyan Farmer

Filed under: FarmerProfile — Tags: — admin @ 5:07 PM

June1As the rainy season in Kenya draws to a close, our farmers are starting to get ready to harvest their maize. In Chwele District, the difference between the maize of One Acre Fund farmers and non-One Acre Fund farmers is stark. At the beginning of June, one of Chwele’s farmers, Violet Laisa, stood on the edge of her maize field holding a baby in her arms. Her dark green maize stalks soared over her head, and they were covered with sizeable cobs.

Violet planted Pannar seed and plans to harvest at the end of June. Pannar is a fast-growing variety of maize, and it has performed well for our farmers this year. One Acre Fund provides professionally grown hybrid seed, and we allow our farmers to choose between several different varieties. Hybrid seed is naturally grown and selected for higher yields and drought resistance—it is not genetically modified.

Violet liked Pannar so much that she has a cloth with the Pannar logo that she likes to tie over her skirt. When farmers use improved seed for the first time, they are often amazed at how well it performs—and they become loyal customers.

Violet said she hoped to harvest ten bags of maize on ½ acre of land, double what she harvested last year. One Acre Fund farmers generally double to triple their yields in one growing season. This increase means that Violet will have enough maize to feed her family this year—last year, she didn’t.

Violet raises five children, but only two of them are hers—Ian, who is nine months old, and Regan, who is three. The other children belonged to her husband’s first wife, but after she passed away, Violet adopted them.

June2Though she is raising five children and managing her fields, Violet also holds a leadership position in her group. In fact, she had already finished repaying her loan—a full three months before the repayment deadline.

In the next growing season, which begins in August, Violet plans to plant beans. Early repayment of her maize loan means that she is eligible to receive beans and fertilizer from One Acre Fund. Like many farmers in Chwele District, Violet saw that One Acre Fund farmers had good bean harvests last year. Beans are a good crop for home consumption, and they fetch a good price at the market. Next year, Violet wants to plant 1 acre of maize with One Acre Fund, and a good bean harvest will help her earn enough income to repay a larger loan.

June 24, 2010

Adapting Our Model to Different Farming Conditions

Filed under: Trials — Tags: — admin @ 12:09 PM

Dryland SoilMaize seed and fertilizer on credit is what One Acre Fund does best in Kenya. But there are many areas of the country where maize cultivation on credit simply does not make economic sense. In these locations, low rainfall and poor soil conditions virtually guarantee weak maize harvests. One Acre Fund wants to help smallholder farmers increase their harvests in these areas too, which means we must adapt our core program model to different crops and farming conditions.

To learn about the challenges of working in low rainfall areas, we recently started a new trial program in a dryland district bordering Lake Victoria in Nyanza Province. The program is only a few months old, but we have already started tackling two significant challenges: low population density and limited water access.

Low rainfall tends to correlate with low population density throughout the world, and Kenya is no exception. Low population density is challenging for numerous reasons. First, One Acre Fund’s service model entails frequent contact between field officers and farmers. When farmers live further apart, this contact becomes more time consuming, as well as more costly. Second, fewer farmers means fewer potential clients, which means our trial program will require a higher adoption percentage than most One Acre Fund districts to reach sustainability. In high-density areas, enrolling 10 percent of households in the first year would be considered a major win. In a low-density area, with fewer households to serve, we must enroll closer to 40 percent of households to achieve the same level of sustainability. To accomplish this target, we are experimenting with field officer transport and farmer mobilization to maximize our ability to reach clients.

Our second major challenge is water access. In our existing districts in Kenya, high rainfall levels are conducive to growing maize. In our trial program, we are offering tree and bean inputs to farmers. But even tree seeds need a fair amount of water—they must be cultivated in water-hungry nurseries during the dry season prior to transplant during the rains. Other One Acre Fund districts planting trees use seed beds as nurseries, which require 20-40 liters of water per day. Many farmers in the dryland district must walk an hour or more each day to access this amount of water. It’s possible that farmers will be willing to invest the labor to produce healthy tree seedlings, but there is no way to guarantee full adoption.

To address this problem, we are developing a less water-intensive planting method involving smaller bucket nurseries. This method should allow farmers to plant the same number of seeds using only around 2 liters of water per day. After a few months in the buckets, seedlings are transplanted into perforated tubes. Five hundred tubed seedlings only require 15-20 liters of water per day. By significantly reducing the amount of water needed, we hope to save our farmers time and money and ensure that they have strong tree seedlings for transplant during the rains.

This is only the first season for the dryland district. We plan to open a trial nursery this summer to experiment with alternative low-rainfall crops, including peanuts, millet, and short-maturity maize varieties. We are focused on offering products and services that are adapted to the challenges our clients face. Through this “farmers first” strategy, we plan to help dryland farmers achieve the same income increases that our other One Acre Fund farmers have achieved.

June 17, 2010

Developing Kenyan Managers

Filed under: CoreProgram, Operations — Tags: — admin @ 10:45 AM

DSC_0050One Acre Fund wants to reach as many needy farmers as we can, as quickly as possible. Our current districts in Western Kenya are each serving between 3,000 and 4,000 clients this season. At the top of each district, we have one extremely dedicated, highly competent leader – the field director. Field directors are the engines of growth within One Acre Fund, pushing the organization to reach even the most ambitious goals season after season.

Our field directors have set aggressive growth targets for the coming season. Our biggest district will aim to reach more than 7,000 clients. Yet field directors already manage on average thirty-three field officers and six field managers. Growing a district staff to fifty field officers and eight field managers necessitates some additional management support to maintain the quality of our services.

In preparation for rapid growth, this season we have developed a new role with our field operations – the assistant field director. In Kakamega, our largest district, we promoted one of our top field managers – Joan Lihru – to the assistant field director position in January.  She has thus far done an amazing job helping to define this important role. Joan joins the Kakamega field director and fellow Egerton University alum Daniel Okongo as a leader of Kakamega District.

Based on this first experiment, we have so far identified three critical roles filled by the assistant field director:

  • Field presence and supervision: With 35 field officers per district and more on the way, there is a lot of ground to cover in the field. The assistant field director gives the district another set of highly trained eyes to observe key field activities, to monitor staff, and to capture best practices to improve our program.
  • Mentorship of Field Managers: A growing management team needs additional mentorship, and the assistant field director helps fill this role by taking primary ownership over mentorship of half of field managers.
  • Planning and logistics: As the district grows, planning and logistics become even more critical to a smooth operation. The field director and assistant field director meet twice weekly to discuss field progress, and to make plans for upcoming field activities.

Within a few short weeks under Daniel’s guidance, Joan was able to independently manage her new mentorship and training responsibilities. Not only has Joan benefited from Daniel’s experience and perspective, but the process of training a high-level manager at the district level has also helped to develop Daniel’s leadership skills.

Aside from helping a district to handle the challenges of rapid scale-up, the assistant field director position serves another very critical strategic purpose. In the next few years, we will grow our service territory in Kenya by opening up new districts and even new regions. These districts will need strong leaders like Daniel and Joan to build a new team, to start a new operation, and to instill their nuanced understanding of the One Acre Fund model and organizational culture. The assistant field director role is a valuable opportunity to rapidly develop future leaders of One Acre Fund. If the experience thus far with Joan is any indication, we can look forward to a fast-growing team of excellent leaders, helping to expand the reach of One Acre Fund to smallholder farmers across East Africa.

Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress