CASE STUDY
Women farmers in Senegal space crops for better yields
myAgro, Senegal
The Social Enterprise
African small farmers living in extreme poverty can double or triple their incomes with high-quality seeds, if they can afford them. myAgro’s mobile layaway program helps rural farmers in Senegal save money year-round so they can afford high-quality seeds and fertilizer without ever going into debt. myAgro also provides seed delivery and agricultural training.
The Challenge
Okra is an extremely a high-yielding cash crop in this region, yet myAgro’s data showed that women farmers were achieving only a small fraction of the high expected income from okra. They suspected women weren’t planting early enough during the rainy season to get a full harvest. Perhaps they didn’t know to plant early, or perhaps their husbands withheld seeds acquired from myAgro the land needed to plant the seeds. They weren’t sure.
The Research
Appleseed led myAgro team members to conduct research across Senegal in fields, homes, and local markets. We discovered that men there are not actually involved with planting or harvesting okra crops at all. Women manage the land and have decision-making power the seeds they plant and the money they earn. Also, women did know to plant early — everyone wanted to maximize their harvests and beat their neighbors to market! The reason for low harvests was due to crop spacing: women, not wanting to waste seeds, crowded their crops which hurt overall yields.
