A book and One Acre Fund

I finished the book The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change  recently, by recommendation from a friend. It’s about the story of the social enterprise One Acre Fund. I’ve been interested in their methods and approach and was looking into working with them. The book came at just the right time and brought back a flood of memories from Uganda.

All the farms and farmers and maize and bean and soya seems long ago, yet I’m itching to get my hands and feet on the farms again. The seasons and rhythms and logic of the farms; so much more to learn and dissect.

In general, I don’t get the trendiness of social entrepreneurship. While I think they are important and a new way to do business, I fail to see how they would challenge established political structures and the way we distribute resources. Which, in my view, is the only way to ever pull people out of true poverty and have a more equitable society. Sometimes, I think the whole push for social entrepreneurship is a band-aid and distraction to dealing with the ‘real problems.’

One Acre Fund seems different though. I’m happy to be proven wrong. And learn how to start and run a business on the way.