Impact
- By contracting with smallholders to grow fonio and other grains, and by processing them in a way that meets the requirements of large companies, SAF supports thousands of livelihoods from small scale conservation agriculture.
- We provide an economic incentive for farmers to rotate multiple climate-resilient indigenous crops on their fields, rather than allocate their land to chemical-intensive and water-heavy crops that are not suitable for local climates.
- Our supply contracts promote field-level biodiversity and improve soil health measurably.
- Purchasing our sustainable ingredients makes it possible for small-scale farmers to earn a dignified living by operating in a way that respects rather than depletes their environment.
- Farm income in communities whose lack of opportunity drives huge waves youth flight – to overcrowded cities, to hazardous desert and sea crossings toward Europe, and even to violent extremism – changes the decision tree for kids who are not quite as desperate to leave.
- Meeting the needs of local and global customers with climate-smart indigenous ingredients supports an agricultural system that adapts to and even mitigates climate change.
- The multi-crop rotation that feeds our factory is mostly part of a silvo-agro-pastoral system that builds organic matter in soil, and contributes to the Great Green Wall that prevents the southward expansion of the Sahara Desert.
- As you can see, impact is baked into our everyday operations. When companies source fonio from us, it’s baked into their operations too.
- But SAF goes further than that. The key to increasing farm income is increasing productivity.
- At SAF, we support research into agronomic method improvements to increase yield and reduce inputs – and then we support training for farmers on implementing those improvements.
- We are also supporting longer term goals with seed improvement efforts. This will include not only crowd-sourcing seed development, but also making those seeds available to farmers inside our network and outside it as well.
- We also supply our farmers with tools to help them get more out of a day’s work. That includes seeders and weeders at the farm level, and also thresher/winnowers and secure storage facilities at the community level