CINQ 396 Post 4/22/19

Develop a detailed business model canvas for one of the following social enterprises: One Acre Fund, Acumen Fund, or Envirofit International. Integrate insights from at least five different valid sources for your chosen social enterprise and provide those citations in your blog.

 

Business Model Canvas for: One Acre Fund

 

Value Proposition

One value proposition of One Acre Fund could be, “Financing and training farmers in East Africa in order to eradicate hunger and poverty”. A value proposition that focuses more on the micro aspects of the One Acre Fund could be, “Ensuring healthy, well-fed families throughout East Africa through funding and educating smallholder farmers”.

 

Key Activities

One of the main activities that One Acre takes part in loaning assets to the farmers in East Africa. One Acre provides seeds and fertilizer to the farmers on credit, and offers them flexible repayment options so the farmers are not faced with heavy financial burden through the process. One Acre Fund also makes distribution of the assets a key activity for their organization, as they deliver the resources to locations that are within walking distance and close for all the farmers receiving them.

One Acre Fund also carries out training for farmers. During this activity, One Acre gives training to farmers on how to best manage their crops throughout the season and provide them with modern agriculture techniques so they can get the best production possible out of their crops. In addition to the training on how to best produce crops, One Acre Fund also offers education on crop storage solutions and market fluctuations, so the farmers understand how to best maximize profit for themselves. (Our Model)

 

Key Resources

One of the main resources One Acre Fund has is the supplies such as seeds and fertilizer that is given to the farmers to help their crop production. Without these resources, the organization would most likely be unable to take the first steps in creating a more effective and sustainable farming.

One Acre Fund also has the resource of agriculture expertise. This resource is important to the organization, as it is what is bestowed upon the farmers that allows them to maximize their farming productivity and in turn gives them a chance at earning a higher income.

 

Key Partners

One of the larger partnerships for One Acre Fund is their association with USAID. This partnership between the two parties began in 2012 and is funded through the Development Grants Program and the Global Development Alliance, and most recently, this partnership has seen two grants awarded for a total of $6.4 million dollars. (USAID)

One Acre Fund also has a strong partnership with the Pershing Square Foundation. PSF made a $500,000 investment to One Acre during its early stages in 2008 and has since supplied One Acre with over $10 million in additional funding to help the organization run its operations more effectively. (One Acre Fund)

However, the largest partnerships for One Acre Fund is the partnerships that the company takes up with the local farmers in East Africa. These partnerships see One Acre Fund supply the farmers with resources and training, and the farmers take on repayment plans so One Acre recovers what they provided for the most part.

 

Customer Relations

One Acre Farms creates a solid system of customer relations, as it provides these farmers in East Africa with the assets they require (seeds, fertilizer, tools) in order for them to have the means to grow good crops. In addition to the materials, One Acre ensures that farmers will be able to maximize their crop growth and profit and be self sustaining by providing them with the training and education needed in order for the farmers to fully understand how to harvest these crops and sell them in the markets. This method of supplying the farmers with what they need, but also educating them so that down the road they can effectively produce crops on their own would appear to create better relations than if the organization just supplied the resources to the farmers without actually teaching them how to utilize them in the most effective way.

Channels

One Acre Fund creates a channel of farming supply delivery to farmers that is both accessible and better financially for farmers. By delivering the supplies to locations close to farmers and providing them on a loan that allows the farmers to provide the repayment however they want over a certain amount of time, this channel makes it easy for farmers to grow their production. One Acre Fund also provides an education channel to the farmers that allows them to learn how to best manage their crops and make the most income and return on what they’re growing.

 

Customer Segments

One Acre Fund is mainly focused on bettering the lives of smallholder farmers, specifically located in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and Malawi. These smallholder farmers that One Acre is targeting lack the money and ability to access basic assets such as seeds and fertilizer, and do not have the proper training and knowledge to maximize their crop production, which is why One Acre Fund comes in and provides these farmers with both funding and training to expand their operations. (One Acre Fund)

 

Cost Structure

One cost that One Acre Fund takes on is for the traveling they do, both for the delivery of fertilizer, seeds, and other assets, as well as the traveling that is done to provide education and training to the farmers, who are often located in remote areas. One Acre Fund also takes on costs just to purchase all of the resources that are then given to the farmers. Although the fertilizer, seeds, and other farming assets are paid back by the farmers in the end, those are still initial investments that One Acre Fund has to make.

 

Revenue Streams

Farmer loan repayment from farming resource lending is the largest revenue stream, as it repays roughly 75% of One Acre Fund’s field expenses. The rest of the field expenses are financed through donor money. In the future, One Acre Fund looks to increase in operations so that the repayments provide enough revenue to fully fund the field expenses that the organization takes on. (How We Grow)

 

Citations:

“How We Grow.” One Acre Fund, oneacrefund.org/what-we-do/how-we-grow/.

“One Acre Fund.” Pershing Square Foundation, pershingsquarefoundation.org/case-study/one-acre-fund/.

“One Acre Fund.” The Life You Can Save, www.thelifeyoucansave.org/where-to-donate/one-acre-fund.

“Our Model.” One Acre Fund, oneacrefund.org/what-we-do/our-model/.

“USAID.” One Acre Fund, oneacrefund.org/about-us/press-and-awards/usaid/.

 

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