Finding solutions to problems at home is never far from the minds of EaSEP students. The Class of ’16 recently enjoyed an in-the-field introduction to the One Acre Fund and some of the smallholder farmers it serves. OAF is a non-governmental organization that provides east African farmers with the financing and training to improve their output, reducing hunger and poverty.
One Acre Fund is based in Bungoma, Kenya and serves 420,000 farming families in five east African countries, including 211,000 in Kenya, near the Uganda border. Founded in 2006, OAF plans to expand its services to 400,000 farmers in western Kenya by 2020. OAF farmers have seen their annual incomes increase by more than 50 percent.
The Bungoma trip was a reunion of sorts for the EaSEP Class of 2013. Evans Yatich (Penn) is tutoring the current class while Hepsiba Chepng’eno (Michigan State) and Caroline Kimetto (Harvard) are both interning with One Acre Fund this summer.
Caroline recently joined OAF after working with small-scale farmers in Bangladesh through the Grameen Foundation. As a Future Global Leader Fellow, she co-founded AgriCOOP, a platform that empowers such farmers with resources to get their produce to consumers without dependence on middlemen. An Economics major, Caroline is working in Microfinance Partnerships at OAF.
Hepsiba has been working as a field intern since May. “One Acre Fund has given me a great opportunity to grow professionally as well as personally,” writes Hepsiba. “I’m majoring in Agribusiness Management and my passion is helping rural communities get out of poverty through agriculture. OAF is doing just that…OAF and EaSEP have one major thing in common, their rooted passion for serving humanity and reducing poverty.”
Photos courtesy of Winnifred Akiso, OAF Communications Officer
One Acre Fund is based in Bungoma, Kenya and serves 420,000 farming families in five east African countries, including 211,000 in Kenya, near the Uganda border. Founded in 2006, OAF plans to expand its services to 400,000 farmers in western Kenya by 2020. OAF farmers have seen their annual incomes increase by more than 50 percent.
The Bungoma trip was a reunion of sorts for the EaSEP Class of 2013. Evans Yatich (Penn) is tutoring the current class while Hepsiba Chepng’eno (Michigan State) and Caroline Kimetto (Harvard) are both interning with One Acre Fund this summer.
Caroline recently joined OAF after working with small-scale farmers in Bangladesh through the Grameen Foundation. As a Future Global Leader Fellow, she co-founded AgriCOOP, a platform that empowers such farmers with resources to get their produce to consumers without dependence on middlemen. An Economics major, Caroline is working in Microfinance Partnerships at OAF.
Hepsiba has been working as a field intern since May. “One Acre Fund has given me a great opportunity to grow professionally as well as personally,” writes Hepsiba. “I’m majoring in Agribusiness Management and my passion is helping rural communities get out of poverty through agriculture. OAF is doing just that…OAF and EaSEP have one major thing in common, their rooted passion for serving humanity and reducing poverty.”
Photos courtesy of Winnifred Akiso, OAF Communications Officer
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