Excerpted from the organization's web site with emphasis added by the editor:
"One Acre Fund is a non-profit organization started in January 2006, with the goal of completely re-thinking how to solve the chronic hunger problem in Africa. We don't give food away - handing out food will never solve hunger for more than one meal. Rather, we are pioneering a tiny investment package that will enable farm families to grow their own way out of hunger, permanently.
"We attack the number one health problem in Africa, which is lack of food. Hunger is the number one reason that one in six of our children dies before age five, and the number one reason that nearly half of the remaining children are physically stunted. We take a holistic approach to health, providing food security together with basic medicines.
"We seize an opportunity to make a permanent difference. The amazing opportunity is that the majority of the world's hungry are farmers, whose sole profession is to grow food. One Acre Fund provides a small amount of seed and fertilizer on credit, weekly farm training in the farmers' own fields, and market access. We empower farmers to grow four times more food within six months, and ten times more food value within three years. By linking our farmers with existing market-based solutions, our contributions stay with the family forever.
"We work with the poorest of the poor, people that other organizations will not touch. We deliberately target those who have been left behind. And we are not content to simply touch their lives. We will make a total change in their living conditions - health, food, income - in a few short years.
"Our investment package costs $240 per family of five, for the first year of involvement, and we are working hard to bring this cost down dramatically. This lays the foundation for a permanent solution to hunger for an entire family. I hope you will read more about our work, and consider joining our founding Investment Council. For $20 per month, you can make Africa and hunger elimination a part of your life through rich monthly portraits of our African farm families. Help us found a movement that will change how the world attacks hunger!"
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At their page entitled: " How It Works ", One Acre Fund states:
"We use markets to eradicate hunger permanently. We make it possible for even the tiniest of farmers to participate in highly profitable agribusiness. We create a "market bundle" that contains all the pieces our farmers need to plant, grow, and sell new crops that multiply the value of their harvest. By linking our farmers with markets, we help them to create a permanent solution to the hunger problem."
One Acre Fund
One Acre Fund was founded by Andrew Youn who was also the recipient of the:
Echoing Green Visionary Leader Award for 2006.
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