Case Closed? Not Quite. Investigating what drives impact: Wafa Khan

Growing up, Wafa switched dream careers frequently, wanting to be something new almost every week. Inspired by her dad, she wanted to become a doctor. Later on, she wanted to be a criminal investigator after watching a lot of crime shows. Today, Wafa is not a criminal investigator, but she investigates the effectiveness of our programs using data and farmer feedback.

Let’s start easy, how would you describe your role to a 5-year-old?

One Acre Fund works with farmers to help them get bigger harvests. I evaluate the impact of our work, looking at whether farmers who work with One Acre Fund produce more and earn more from their farms than those who do not. Specifically, I analyze our data through a gender lens, tracking how male and female farmers are doing separately. This allows me to see if our work is effectively helping both groups get better produce and profit from their land.

Take us back a bit, what did you want to be growing up, and did you ever imagine you’d end up in the work you do today? How did One Acre Fund come in?

As a child, my dream job changed weekly. I initially wanted to follow in my dad's footsteps and become a doctor, until I realized I couldn't stand the sight of blood. Later on, I wanted to be a criminal investigator after watching a lot of crime shows. In a way, I am now an investigator, only through data rather than crime scenes.

I spent most of my life in Pakistan with my family and friends. After completing my master's, I joined a research think tank working on data-intensive agricultural research. Collaborating with international teams and professors sparked a deep curiosity in me to explore the world beyond my borders. That curiosity led me to take a leap of faith and move from Pakistan for a role at a startup in Kenya. A year later, I came across an open position at One Acre Fund on LinkedIn, which offered the ideal intersection of my agriculture and MEL experience. I appreciated the opportunity to use data to make a real, meaningful difference in farmers' lives, particularly for women.

If you had to clear up one major misconception about what you actually do, what would it be?

Some people think that AI can do most of the heavy lifting for MEL. The truth is that MEL work at One Acre Fund is far more hands‑on, and while AI can support parts of our workflow, our MEL requires human judgment for the level of rigor we maintain. We look closely at individual farmer records, check whether patterns make sense, and verify anything unusual with our field teams. The level of accuracy and care One Acre Fund maintains still relies on human eyes, human judgment, and human conversations. 

What do you enjoy about being a woman driving impact?

As a woman working in this field, I enjoy and value the opportunity to speak openly about women farmers beyond just their farming practices. Discussing the challenges they face, creating and executing trials, seeing the impact we create, and receiving feedback from farmers is profound. It places a responsibility on everyone in the agricultural space to speak up about the challenges smallholder farmers face.

Career growth isn't always linear. What is one challenge you faced early on that eventually became the foundation for the professional you are today? 

Early in my career, I felt that if I kept my head down and did my work, I would not have to speak because my work would speak for itself.  Along the way, I realized that I had to speak up and ask for what I wanted. Shaping my career this way also taught me to keep learning and challenging myself. I do not like getting too comfortable with routine and repetitive tasks. As soon as I feel I am not learning something new, I step back to see how I can bring in more excitement or challenge.

If One Acre Fund were a person, how would you describe their personality?

Meticulous. One Acre Fund is detail-oriented and data-driven, which shapes how we work and how we can keep serving farmers better. Also, we take pride in learning, growing, and doing better, season after season.

One app you cannot survive without? 

WhatsApp, whenever I can access the internet, because I love staying in touch with family and friends. Otherwise, Kindle, where I have downloaded books.

When your "Out of Office" reply is on, where are we most likely to find you?

Somewhere on the beaches of Zanzibar, sipping coconut water! The sound of the waves acts like the perfect white noise, making it my favorite place to catch up on sleep. 

The best part of my work is…

digging into farmer data, uncovering what’s working, what’s not, and why. Every insight we generate helps us design programs that genuinely improve farmers’ lives, especially for women whose experiences are often overlooked.