Family Profiles

Dear Friends – On a recent trip to Rwanda I had the opportunity to meet many new One Acre Fund farmers. It was a joy to see how happy they were with our services and the increases they’ve seen in their harvests. Our success is tied to their success and these moments help to underscore the positive impact of our ongoing efforts in Rwanda. Be well! - Andrew

Euphrase was happy to see her field officer.

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.

One of Euphrase’s bean fields, with beans dried and ready for harvesting.

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.

Kenya prepares for seed and fertilizer delivery

At the end of February, all of One Acre Fund's farmers in Kenya will receive their fertilizer and maize seed. We deliver these products to 100 market points close to where our farmers live, which is no small feat in such a rural area. This year we will be delivering to 12,000 farmers, all in the same week.

One Acre Fund's Board Chairman to speak at prestigious conference on Social Entrepreneurship

One Acre Fund's Chairman of the Board, Matt Forti, will be speaking on February 28th at the 2010 Social Enterprise Conference hosted by Harvard Business School and the Kennedy School of Government. Over 1000 students and professionals involved in the fields of international development and social entrepreneurship are expected to attend the sold-out conference.

Matt will be specifically addressing the challenges of starting and scaling a social enterprise in a panel titled Social Entrepreneurship Start-up Workshop.

Join One Acre Fund's next Board Call!

Last year, you - our most important supporters - shared with us a desire to hear about our results more directly and more often. In response, we are very excited to announce that we are opening the beginning of our March board call for an exclusive opportunity to hear our Founder Andrew Youn discuss 2009 results and 2010 goals. Please mark your calendar for Monday, March 22nd from Noon - 12:45PM EST.

In order to access the meeting on March 22nd, please dial: 617-572-3131. Press 1 to attend the meeting, then enter the meeting ID (3983) and press #. We also ask that you RSVP for the call by replying to this email, as this will allow us to send you materials in advance.

Call to Action!

Please think about one person that you think might want to hear about One Acre Fund, and forward this message to them. Don't be afraid to get personal - tell them the reasons for why you are involved yourself. Thank you for being a friend to our farmers and children! Comments? Need to update your information?

One Acre Fund - www.oneacrefund.org

Corporate Address: 1954 First St. #183, Highland Park, IL 60035 - Donations and Correspondence: 1742 Tatum Street, Falcon Heights, MN 55113