myAgro: Cultivating a culture of continuous improvement

One of the Swiss Re Foundation’s partners, myAgro, works to move smallholder farmers out of poverty by offering agricultural training and access to quality seed and fertiliser that allow farmers significantly improve their yields. With the support of the Swiss Re Foundation from 2019 through 2021, myAgro helped 115 000 smallholder farmers in Senegal (West Africa, 270 000), 60% of them being women, grow more food and earn additional income for their families. At a field cost of just USD 38 per farmer in 2021, these farmers have grown 176% more food than farmers not yet enrolled in myAgro, bringing them USD 194 more in net income per year. That’s a 34% higher income for a farmer living on USD 1.50 per day.

Every organisation we work with collects learnings both to drive its own improvement and to help other organisations that tackle similar challenges. To find out what it has learned, we asked myAgro to share some of the challenges and opportunities it has faced during its collaboration with the Foundation.

Learnings, challenges and opportunities

• Recognising that the pandemic would make conducting “business as usual” impossible, myAgro’s revised plans focused entirely on supporting myAgro farmers during this difficult time. For example, it fast-tracked introduction of its call centres and integration with mobile money companies. Both efforts enabled farmers to enrol with myAgro and make payments remotely. Agricultural training was also offered via video and radio, which proved so effective that myAgro kept remote training in place even after travel restrictions were lifted.
• Through qualitative and quantitative research, myAgro discovered that farmers are currently focused on how to cope with rising global costs. In response, it adapted its offerings and introduced year-round delivery and sales. By cultivating new products like poultry, moringa tree seedlings and tomatoes during the off season, myAgro farmers can now increase their earnings outside the traditional agricultural season. Year-round sales have the potential to increase farmers’ income by over 20% and allow myAgro to reach up to 15% more farmers each year, including some who would not otherwise enrol.
• Although women grow 80% of the food in Sub-Saharan Africa, men are the primary beneficiaries of government support. Only 5% of women have access to government agricultural extension programmes, which are often targeted at cash crops grown by men, partly due to women’s lower visibility. At present, governments collect too little data on female farmers to understand the breadth of challenges they face or the critical role they play in feeding their communities. myAgro has consumer spending data on 75 000 female farmers in Senegal. The power of such data will only grow as myAgro moves toward its goal of working with a total of 700 000 women. With more knowledge and understanding of women who farm, governments and other stakeholders can more effectively and equitably allocate agriculture spending.

Way forward: Aim to reach 1 million farmers by 2026

Despite global challenges from 2020 to 2022, myAgro is confident that, with its investments in new systems, tools and talent, it will grow to 1 million farmers by 2026. As the number of enrolled farmers increases, the donor cost per farmer will keep dropping – from USD 107 in 2021 to USD 20 by 2026.

To increase its positive impact on farmers’ yields and earnings, myAgro will continue with its research and development to optimise the climate resilience of farmers, by continuing to provide drought-resistant seeds and organic fertiliser. In 2024 or 2025, it will also conduct an external evaluation to review its methods and impact on farmers as well as to build a case for layaway payment as a cost-effective intervention that governments and other funders can scale.

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High-yield investment | Swiss Re (swissrefoundation.org)

 

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