One Acre Fund: a Nonprofit's Business Approach to Helping Small Farmers


International development organization One Acre Fund opts to set up shop in rural locations like Bungoma, Kenya rather than major cities like New York and Nairobi and treat its stakeholders as customers instead of beneficiaries. This non-profit's business-like approach has helped it grow from 5,000 farm families in 2006 to 125,000 in 2012, and around 99 percent of families repay their farm loans. As One Acre Fund farmers sell their excess produce, they can invest in basic necessities like education for their children.

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