myAgro

At myAgro, they believe that solving the financing problem for smallholder farmers is the key to ending poverty in their lifetime. myAgro’s mission is to move smallholder farmers out of poverty. Their North Star is to work with 1 million smallholder farmers (supporting 10 million family members) by 2025 to increase their income by $1.50 per farmer per day to move out of poverty. While many microfinance institutions are reaching rural farming communities, most are focused largely on the provision of loans. But are loans always the best answer? The current system assumes that smallholder farmers are too poor to save. In fact, farmers would like to save, but live so far from banks that their savings payments would be dwarfed by the transport costs and bank fees. myAgro has pioneered an alternative system that matches how farmers already manage their money. Using a prepaid scratch card model — similar to buying prepaid mobile minutes -—farmers can pay in advance for fertilizer, seed and training packages by buying a myAgro card at their local village store (from 50 cents to $50), depositing their money into a layaway account by texting in the scratch-off code. After a few months of buying the scratch cards and saving little by little, myAgro delivers the fertilizer, seed, and training they’ve paid for in time for planting time. Through this bank-less savings scheme, average harvests for myAgro farmer increase from 50% – 100% over traditional farms, and net farming income increases $150-$300 per farmer. What they do: myAgro farmers use their mobile phones to pay for quality seeds, fertilizer, and training. MOBILE LAYAWAY myAgro’s unique mobile layaway platform allows farmers to save money for seed and fertilizer using their mobile phones. LOCAL STORES They partner with local stores—the centers of village life—to create a sales network that is convenient, trustworthy and safe. SEEDS AND FERTILIZER myAgro delivers high-quality seeds and fertilizer to farmers at the start of each planting season. TRAINING Their field agents provide training in modern farming methods contextualized for the West African farm. IT WORKS: myAgro farmers grow more food and make more money to support their families.