Impact studies library

At One Acre Fund, we care deeply about measuring and understanding the impact of program participation on farmers' lives. We think of impact as our "North Star", and rigorous measurement is the only way to know if we are heading in the right direction.
Impact studies
Kenya income and expenditure study
We tracked 400 farmers for a full calendar year, exhaustively surveying them about their spending and income.
Actionable Measurement: Getting from “Prove” to “Improve”
There’s a set of common questions every direct-service nonprofit should answer to maximize learning, action, and impact.
Agriculture/nutrition 2018 RCT results
Assessing the effectiveness of our integrated agriculture/nutrition intervention program targeted at families in Western Kenya with children ages 6-35 months
2019-2021 Tree Seedling RCT summary of results
Central findings of Laterite study of tree-planting activity in Kenya, 2019.
2019-2021 Tree Seedling RCT: endline report
Study conducted by evaluation firm Laterite, looking at the impact of One Acre Fund's grevillea (timber) tree-planting program In Kenya, 2019.
2020 annual impact: country report
This report provides a detailed breakdown of One Acre Fund's program impact by country in 2020.
Teso 2017 RCT Summary
Summary of results for our maize and beans production impact study in Teso district, Kenya, 2017.
Teso 2017 RCT final results
Maize and beans production impact study in Teso district, Kenya, 2017.
Developing a maize planting decision support tool
This study demonstrates the potential of providing planting date decision support to farmers, based on real-time forecasts of soil moisture, combined with climatological information on rainfall and temperature seasonality.
2019 Annual impact: country report
This report provides a detailed breakdown of One Acre Fund's program impact by country in 2019.
Assessing our holistic impact
A look at our impact beyond immediate farmer profit by considering factors that are not easily monetized, but which bring meaningful changes in farmers' lives.
Quality of Life Study in Kenya and Rwanda: Year 3 Results
This report summarizes the results from 2 years of data collection which examine the impact of One Acre Fund program participation on farmers' quality of life.
2018 annual impact: country report
This report provides a detailed breakdown of One Acre Fund's 2018 program impact by country.
Farmer resilience white paper
This report outlines the methodology used to measure our program’s impact on farmer resilience and also presents the results from the study conducted across six countries in 2017.
2017 Country Specific Impact Report
This report provides a detailed breakdown of One Acre Fund's 2017 program impact by country.
Quality of Life Study in Kenya and Rwanda: Year 2 Results
This report summarizes the results from 2 years of data collection which examine the impact of One Acre Fund program participation on farmers' quality of life.
How Nonprofits Can Drive Healthy Growth Using SROI
This article explores why we believe social return on investment is an underutilized yet surprisingly flexible tool for making strong resource allocation decisions that maximize nonprofit impact.
Reinventing Foreign Aid: Commonsense Proposals For More Efficiency and Impact
As an active partner with the U.S. government, One Acre Fund believes that foreign aid must be designed to maximize impact and value for money for taxpayers, while submitting to rigorous evaluation.
Difference in Difference Impact Study
In addition to the randomized control trial (RCT), One Acre Fund uses the Difference-in-Difference (diff-in-diff) statistical technique to verify our everyday measurements. This memo covers our most comprehensive difference-in-difference studies.
2016 Country Specific Impact Report
This report provides a detailed breakdown of One Acre Fund's 2016 program impact by country.
Quality of Life Study in Kenya and Rwanda: Year 1 Results
This report summarizes the results from 2 years of data collection which examine the impact of One Acre Fund program participation on farmers' quality of life.
Measuring farm profit
Measuring farm profit is surprisingly complicated. This paper explains the assumptions we make when calculating farm profit, and why.
Comprehensive Impact Report
This report takes stock of One Acre Fund’s M&E as we complete our first decade of operation, highlighting lessons learned, methods we have refined, and areas for further improvement.
Spillover Effect Kenya Analysis
This report reviews an analysis One Acre Fund undertook to better understand the extent to which farmers who live in our program areas, but who are not enrolled in the program, still receive some program benefit.