Press and awards
A snapshot of the awards and recognition we've received for our work from major organizations, media outlets, and publications.
Press
One Acre Fund's work highlighted in PBS News Article (2023)
Vice President Kamala Harris toured farms outside Zambia’s capital as she highlighted ways to secure food supplies in an age of global warming.The focus of the trip was to encourage private sector investment to boost conservation and improve food production. One Acre Fund's plans to raise $100 million to plant 1 billion trees by the end of the decade was named in the article.
Click here to read the article titled, "In Zambia, Vice President Harris visits farm with climate change innovation in mind".
National Geographic Features One Acre Fund Farmers (2014 & 2016)
In early 2014, National Geographic photographer Robin Hammond visited our Kenya and Rwanda field operations to photograph several farmers we work with for an article on food and farming in Africa. The photographs were published in the July 2014 print magazine and in their digital issue. To view the gallery, click here.
Following that, in 2016 a Kenyan smallholder farmer named Christine Wasike that One Acre Fund serves was profiled in another article titled "Could Climate Change Build a Business Boom In Kenya?".
Andrew Youn Delivers a TED Talk
In early 2016, One Acre Fund co-founder and Executive Director Andrew Youn delivered a talk at the TED2016: Dream conference in Vancouver, Canada. In his talk, titled "3 Reasons Why We Can Win The Fight Against Poverty," Andrew presented practical strategies to end extreme poverty– and made the case for putting farmers first in this fight.
In early 2016, The Economist visited our work in Rwanda as part of a larger piece examining the optimistic outlook for farming in Africa. The piece, titled "A Green Evolution", can be found here.
Subsequently, in late 2017, One Acre Fund was again featured in The Economist in a piece titled "Your Inflexible Friend", which examines the resurgence of microlending around the world.
"Energizing the Green Revolution in Africa" (2015)
In June of 2015, David Bornstein of the New York Times wrote an article profiling One Acre Fund and the impact our work has had on smallholder farmers in East Africa.
Click here to read the piece, titled "Energizing the Green Revolution in Africa."
Awards
One Acre Fund receives recognition as Conrad N. Hilton Foundation's, 2023 Humanitarian Prize winner.
"One Acre Fund is honored to receive this recognition from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation at a critical moment for Africa’s smallholder farm families. Tens of millions of such families play a vital role in ensuring the well-being and food security of their communities and environments, and now stand at the forefront of the pressing global crises of our time: extreme hunger and poverty, and climate change,” said Andrew Youn, co-founder and CEO of One Acre Fund.
For more on the award and on the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, please read the blog titled, "Supporting Africa’s smallholder farmers to build prosperous, resilient communities" here.
"Time for Gifts of Meaning " (2022)
In November of 2022, One Acre Fund was selected as the Grand Prize winner of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and The New York Times columnist Nick Kristof’s 2022 Holiday Impact Prize.
Click here to read the piece, titled "Time for Gifts of Meaning."
One Acre Fund receives Atlassian 2021 Team of the Year award
Out of over 100,000 teams that use JIRA and Atlassian technology products, for “best demonstrating its ability to break down silos, build a culture of innovation, and unleash its full potential” in the area of digital innovation for the poor.
One Acre Fund named an inaugural member of Million Lives Collective
In October 2020 we were named members of the Million Lives Collective celebrating social entrepreneurs who have benefited at least 1 million lives of those living on less than $5 per day.
Click here to read the blog titled "Financing and Training For Smallholder Farmers".
Norman Borlaug Award (2015)
Eric Pohlman, One Acre Fund's Rwanda Country Director, was the recipient of the 2015 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application, endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation, for his work in developing highly innovative programs that are transforming subsistence agriculture in rural Rwanda.
Top 10 Most Innovative Companies In Africa (2014 & 2015).
Recognized for our innovative program model and potential for scale, One Acre Fund was listed on Fast Company Magazine's Most Innovative Companies in Africa list in both 2014 and 2015.
One Acre Fund co-founder Andrew Youn Receives Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur Award (2013)
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship provides unparalleled platforms at the regional and global level to highlight and advance leading models of sustainable social innovation.
Each year, in close collaboration with stakeholders of the World Economic Forum, the Foundation identifies a select community of social entrepreneurs to engage in shaping global, regional, and industry agendas that improve the state of the world. One Acre Fund founder Andrew Youn was one of 24 entrepreneurs awarded in 2013 in recognition of his innovative approach and potential for global impact.
One Acre Fund Wins Financial Times Sustainable Banking Award (2010 & 2011).
One Acre Fund was the proud recipient of the Financial Times/ IFC Sustainable Banking Award for Achievement in Basic Needs Financing, two years in a row.
The awards attracted 156 entries from 110 institutions in 44 countries. The basic needs financing award is a tremendous validation of One Acre Fund's model from some of the preeminent thought leaders in the banking world.
2010: One Acre Fund Awarded Prestigious Skoll Award
One Acre Fund was one of five organizations to win the prestigious 2010 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, which includes $765,000 awarded over three years. The Skoll Foundation’s mission is to drive large-scale change by investing in, connecting, and celebrating social entrepreneurs and other innovators dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing problems. The Foundation is known for its incredibly thorough due diligence and they verified that we are on a path to create as much human impact as the best organizations in the world.
For more on the award and on Skoll, please view Andrew Youn's acceptance speech or click here to view the announcement page on Skoll's website.
One Acre Fund Wins Echoing Green Grant (2006).
Echoing Green identifies individuals with ideas for social change and provides them with seed money and strategic support to help them launch new organizations.
One Acre Fund was one of 12 young "social start-ups" selected by the Echoing Green Foundation, out of 850 applicants, for a two-year startup grant.