Measuring what matters: Evaluating 2024 impact and charting the path forward
At One Acre Fund, we believe smallholder farmers are the foundation of thriving rural communities. They grow the food we eat, steward the land for future generations, and fuel local economies. When given the right support, including quality inputs, training, finance, and access to markets, farmers have the potential to become a powerful engine of global prosperity.
In 2024, this belief remained at the heart of everything we did. We focused not only on delivering meaningful impact, but also measuring that impact thoughtfully and accurately. Because, to truly serve farmers and to achieve our ambitious goal of reaching 10 million farmers by 2030, we must deeply understand what is working, what is not, and where we can do better.
Looking back on the past year, we are proud of the progress we have made in strengthening our monitoring and evaluation systems. These systems not only help us track progress but also allow us to make smarter, data-informed decisions, build more inclusive programs, and stay accountable to the farmers we serve.
Looking back at a year of milestones and growth
In 2024, we made significant progress across our programs and used in-depth, rigorous data collection and analysis to understand the scale and depth of our impact.
- We reached 5.5 million farmers across sub-Saharan Africa, a 15% increase from 2023, and are now halfway toward our 2030 goal of serving 10 million farmers.
- We planted our 250 millionth tree, marking the successful close of Phase 1 of our 1 billion tree goal.
- We helped farmers generate a total of $434 million in new profits and assets.
- We more than doubled our reach in Nigeria, growing from 125,900 to 304,000 farmers and solidifying it as one of our fastest-growing country programs.
- We achieved a 38% increase in cost-effectiveness in our full-service program, meaning that every $1 of donor support translated into $5.34 in new farmer profits and assets.
Additionally, we also asked better questions and listened closely to what farmers were telling us. We strengthened our monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) systems to ensure we are not just growing bigger, but smarter and more equitably. By investing in these systems, we are positioning ourselves to serve farmers more effectively in the years to come and to contribute to the global body of evidence on what works in smallholder agriculture.
How we measured our impact in 2024
At One Acre Fund, our impact vision is rooted in a simple but powerful idea: Driving Productivity, Building Resilience and Strengthening Markets. Based on these pillars, in 2024, we continued our MEL practices to measure what matters most for the farmers we serve.
- Increased farmer income and financial gains from crops and long-term agroforestry or fruit trees.
- Gains in food security, nutrition, soil health, and household resilience through sustainable land use, increased assets, and improved well-being.
To measure the financial impact, we estimated the profit gains that farmers achieved by participating in One Acre Fund programs. We did this by comparing participating farmers’ profits to those of control farmers who were not enrolled in our program but were otherwise similar in background and farming conditions. Additionally, we accounted for the fact that One Acre Fund clients tend to have more land than control farmers by equalizing for land size, assuming both groups farm the same amount of land. This helped us isolate the true impact of our support: things like improved yields, better planting techniques, or more productive trees.
We also dove deeper into the “why” to understand yield differences among farmers. By analyzing adoption of specific practices or inputs, such as timely planting, proper spacing, compost use, or fertilizer application, we identified which behaviors are most strongly linked to higher harvests, which allowed us to fine-tune our program focus and training efforts in 2025.
The long-term view: Measuring tree impact
To measure the impact of trees, we looked at the additional trees planted by One Acre Fund farmers as a direct result of participating in our program and used our tree value models to estimate the expected future profits that farmers will earn from those trees, year by year, for up to 20 years. These profits come from selling timber, fruit, and other tree products or from savings due to using tree resources like firewood or poles. This approach helped us make smarter decisions about which species to distribute and where in 2025, ensuring that tree planting delivers real and measurable benefits for farmers and communities.
“(Before One Acre Fund) farmers had no way to find tree seedlings. They used to walk around looking for tree seeds that had fallen from the few existing trees. They would collect those seeds and try to grow them in their fields. Some would grow, but others would not. (Now) the trees that farmers planted from my nursery are growing well, and that really motivates me. I am putting a lot of effort into the production and being very attentive to ensure the seedlings are of good quality.”
Through these rigorous methods, our MEL team consistently ensures that the data we collect reflects the real-world value we deliver to farmers, not just in theory, but in practice, season after season. This commitment to accurate, farmer-centered evaluation is what allows us to adapt, improve, and scale with confidence.
Listening to the Farmers
In 2024, we doubled down on our commitment to truly listening to the farmers we serve. Through both internal efforts and partnerships with leading research organizations such as IDEO.org and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), we conducted in-depth interviews and focus groups with farmers across our program areas. These conversations focused especially on youth and women, helping us better understand their unique challenges, constraints, and day-to-day realities.
These regular touchpoints are not just research exercises but are central to how we shape and adapt our programs. By staying closely connected to the people we serve, we ensure that our support remains relevant, inclusive, and impactful. Listening helps us stay on track, and more importantly, stay grounded in what truly matters.
“Farmers keep asking me for fruit trees, especially avocados. I would love for One Acre Fund to include fruit trees in our partnership, but if not, I will go ahead and produce them myself.”
Preparing for the Future
This year, we are placing a strong focus on further refining and expanding our MEL methodologies to capture a more complete picture of our impact. Specifically, we are adding:
- Whole-farm assessments to capture the full range of agricultural activities and income sources across the entire household, and not just those supported by One Acre Fund, through bi-weekly follow-ups with farmers for a more accurate recall. This approach also allows us to collect data on all crops, unlike our previous method of using crop cuts, which was limited to only a few crops.
- New survey modules focused on youth, with a special emphasis on young women, to compare their participation in agriculture between One Acre Fund and control households.
- Building internal systems to disaggregate key impact indicators like adoption of good agricultural practices, yields, and profits by gender.
We are also continuing ongoing validation of our MEL methodologies through randomized control trials, as we are currently doing in Rwanda (tree program) with GiveWell and in Uganda (coffee program) with Here We Grow.
These efforts are part of our broader commitment to equity, inclusion, and smarter decision-making, ensuring that we not only measure our impact more accurately but also use that insight to deliver better results for every farmer we serve, whether man or woman, young or adult.
“As a young person, I see the benefit of growing trees not just in protecting the environment, but also in building a sustainable livelihood. I thank One Acre Fund for the support they provide to young people, and it is encouraging young people to do agricultural work.”
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