Innovation
Progress comes in many forms: New ideas, new products, new ways of doing things. Farmers often need to be innovators to meet changing circumstances, and we match their progressive thinking with our own.
What farmers need
When farmers have access to technology and innovative products for work and life, the impact on their lives is enormous.
What we do
One Acre Fund takes a research-based approach to bringing technology to smallholder farmers, putting a team of scientists to work on maximizing impact for our clients.
Our farmers can use mobile phones to make loan repayments, sign up for products and services, view trainings, and more. We've rolled out the use of USSD, a text messaging-based service available on basic mobile phones, through which our customers can get services and access farming and market information straight from their phones. And we've equipped our field officers with tablets to make it easier for farmers to sign up for our products and services. These technological innovations helped farmers get through the pandemic and now they're equipping farmers to build a better future.
Innovation can mean many things. Besides technical advancements, we have a continuous pipeline of trials for new farmer-facing techniques and products to increase harvests and diversify income sources. This includes irrigation, livestock, tree-planting, high margin crops like avocados, and more. If a trial proves to make a major impact, we test larger-scale adoption and eventually roll it out as a part of our service offering.
We also recognize our unparalleled opportunity to deliver lifestyle products to underserved rural smallholder farmers - products like solar lights and quality cook stoves that would otherwise be difficult for them to access.
See us in action
Explore how our innovative products and services are helping rural farmers thrive.
Seeing the whole farm: A new way to understand farmer progress and prosperity
To better reflect the reality of farmers’ lives, our Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) team developed a new approach; whole-farm measurement. By measuring the whole-farm impact, we will develop stronger, data-driven strategies to better support farmers across all their crops, and ensure we continue to generate a meaningful impact for the farmers we serve.
Bringing digital tools to one million smallholder farmers
One Acre Fund commits to reaching 1 million smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa by 2027 with a new set of digital tools designed to improve productivity and help farmers withstand extreme weather.
How AgTech supports women and youth to shape Africa’s farming future
Closing the agricultural digital divide is key to securing Africa’s food future. When women and youth farmers are prioritized in AgTech, adoption grows, resilience strengthens, and impact deepens.
How the science of soil testing translates into farmer impact
Oliver Shibonje, a retired geography and music teacher from Kenya's Kakamega County, has traded in his chalk and classroom for the open fields, embracing full-time farming with a focus on maize, vegetables, and sugarcane.
Invest in Farmers
Smallholder farmers hold the key to a brighter future. Help us serve even more farm families today!
