Environmental Sustainability

One Acre Fund has a unique, multi-year relationship with the farmers that we serve. Unlike many organizations and companies that do a one-time training or a one-time sale, One Acre Fund is genuinely concerned about the long-term sustainability of our farm families, and we work hard to protect their environments. We believe that our farmers make a uniquely positive contribution to the long-term health of their soils and to their environments.

1. Why One Acre Fund uses conventional fertilizers

In order to nourish plants, healthy soil needs carbon (organic matter), soil nutrients, and water. One Acre Fund trains farmers to increase their soil carbon – primarily through composting of crop wastes. This is one of the first trainings that we conduct with our farmers. We are also actively engaged in trials of several different composting methods.

However, soil nutrients (like N, P, and K) are difficult to produce organically, in our context. Because of the low availability of land, farmers cannot leave their fields fallow – they are constantly producing food. Because of the low availability of animals, farmers cannot use manure to produce Nitrogen for their crops. For this reason, One Acre Fund has decided to use a small amount of conventional fertilizer. Our farmers use ½ to 1/3rd of the dose of American farmers. Furthermore, every single teaspoon of fertilizer is hand-delivered to the planting hole beneath the surface of the soil, so that the plant uses the nutrients. There is minimal unused runoff into soils or into the environment. This "micro-dosing" technique results in an environmentally-responsible way to continue to steward the long-term health of our soils. Furthermore, the resulting healthy root development of the plant results in long-term improvements in soil quality.

2. Why the use of conventional fertilizers reduces global warming

A further concern is the impact that conventional fertilizers have on global warming. However, counter-intuitively, we actually believe that the use of conventional fertilizer significantly reduces the carbon footprint of agriculture. For an academic discussion of the topic, please see: Burney J, et al. "Greenhouse gas mitigation by agricultural intensification," (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2010). Below is a plain English explanation:

Basic Logic:

There are only two ways to increase food production in the world: either increasing productivity on existing land, or clearing more land.

From the perspective of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, using fertilizer to significantly increase crop yields is far preferable to clearing additional land.

This results in a counterintuitive outcome: increased fertilizer usage is one of the key potential worldwide drivers for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

1. Fertilizer is a cleaner way to increase food production.
   
   The production/ distribution/ use of fertilizer contribute about 2.5% of world GHG emissions, about 5-10 times less than GHG from deforestation.
   
   The shares of total global GHG emissions directly related to the production, distribution, and use of fertilizers have been estimated to be approximately 0.93%, 0.07% and 1.5% of global GHG emissions, respectively, or 2.5% in total (UNEP 2009). This is 5-10 times less than the GHG emissions related to deforestation, according to the 2006 Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change (Stern 2006).


2. This is particularly true in tropical countries
   
   The majority of world deforestation occurs in tropical countries.
   
   Relatively small increases in fertilizer usage in tropical countries could dramatically increase food production in these markets, thereby easing pressure for deforestation.

3. Other activities that create a reduction in global warming

In addition to our core crop programs, One Acre Fund expects to 1) plant more than 3 million trees in the coming three years which we estimate will sequester about 40,900 tons of carbon over a five year span, and 2) sell 56,000 or more solar lights, resulting in 8,100 saved tons of carbon per year, from reduced kerosene consumption for home lighting. We are also working hard to reduce the impact of climate change on our farm families, through our trial programs which adapt low-rainfall crops to our environment, and numerous composting trials to increase soil carbon and water retention. We are also one of the largest purchasers of weather insurance on behalf of smallholders in Africa.