This time each year, One Acre Fund gears up for a massive logistical undertaking. It involves hundreds of trucks moving massive quantities of farming inputs around warehouses across the country. And it's all for one objective: supplying our farmer clients with the high-quality inputs they've ordered, on time, within a day's walk from their homes.
This guarantee is a crux of OAF's program model, and addresses a key challenge faced by smallholder farmers worldwide. When everyone in the farming business is looking for these same goods at the same time each year, finding them anywhere, let alone those of high quality at a reasonable time and price, is no easy feat. By meeting this need, we're ensuring farmers can start planting on time with the best inputs. By pairing this with intensive training throughout the season on correct use of these inputs, we're maximizing their impact on farm productivity and ultimately, harvest yield.
That's why so much depends on the logistics behind moving these goods running smoothly. Thousands of staff hours are spent facilitating this, from price negotiations at a high level down to the people unloading the trucks at the pick-up site. I was able to see a few parts of this chain in action: the loading of trucks at one of our warehouses in Bungoma, and the unloading of a truck on the day one group of farmers received their goods. I've included some photos from these days below.
(Warehouse jam-packed with inputs)
(Truck loading)
(Delivery day and truck unloading)
(Bonus: my highly public struggle eating sugar cane)
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