Written by Paull Young, this article details how One Acre Fund leverages GitHub Copilot and open source solutions to scale its mission of empowering millions of smallholder farmers across Africa, driving accelerated digital innovation and direct socioeconomic impact.

Scaling for Impact: How GitHub Copilot Accelerates One Acre Fund’s Mission for African Farmers

Author: Paull Young

Introduction

What began in 2006 with 40 farm families in western Kenya has evolved into a transformative movement touching the lives of millions. Today, One Acre Fund supports 5 million farm families across ten countries in eastern and southern Africa. Their vision: by 2030, empower 10 million families annually and collectively generate $1 billion in new revenue for these communities. Central to this quest are open source tools and artificial intelligence, with GitHub Copilot playing a pivotal role.

Cultivating Impact with Technology

For smallholder farmers—typically those working with an acre or less—increasing agricultural productivity is essential. Intensification means producing more food without increasing land usage. The resulting higher yields stimulate local economies, strengthen communities, and empower families to scale their efforts.

One Acre Fund’s core mission is to provide these farmers with a sustainable pathway out of poverty. Unlike traditional microfinance organizations that primarily offer loans, One Acre Fund delivers vital farm resources (such as fertilizer and seed), specialized training, and ongoing support services. Their training also addresses soil health improvement and tree planting for resilience against climate change.

“In the past, farmers used to fear using technology. But, as we provide training to them, they’re now eager to use it.”

— Blaise Murame, Regional Lead, One Acre Fund

From Analog Roots to Digital Transformation

Technology is at the heart of One Acre Fund’s rapid expansion. Having shifted from paper-based, in-field operations to a highly digitized infrastructure, the organization has revolutionized its logistics, delivery, and farmer outreach. Digital solutions have made tasks like registration, resource allocation, and training material distribution far more efficient. Notably, after receiving timely resources and exceeding targets, once-hesitant farmers have grown enthusiastic about adopting new technologies.

Growing Products to Empower Farmers

A significant leap in One Acre Fund’s digital evolution comes from its adoption of GitHub Copilot. The AI-powered coding assistant has become integral to accelerating the organization’s development cycles.

“Since the coming of GitHub Copilot, the time it used to take us three weeks, that development work can be finished within a week. That’s affecting our goals – we’re able to set more goals than last year.”

— Yididiya Gebredingel, Developer, One Acre Fund

By leveraging Copilot, developers at One Acre Fund complete projects three times faster. More than 30% of their development work is now aided by AI, enabling them to concentrate on features that drive field impact and to realize more ambitious annual goals.

Open Source: A Sustainable Model for Scale

Working with the world’s poorest populations, One Acre Fund must maximize cost-effectiveness. Escalating software license fees are unsustainable for their nonprofit model. Instead, open source solutions provide optimal “solution maturity and solution flexibility” without the risk of exponential cost increases as scale is achieved. The organization has therefore migrated most of its core operational systems to open source, benefiting from collaborative development and ongoing community support.

“As a nonprofit, we can’t tolerate license fees that will grow exponentially as we scale. Open source gives us the right balance between solution maturity and solution flexibility.”

— Sarah Hylden, Global Director of Operations, One Acre Fund

A Moral Imperative to Scale

One Acre Fund believes that when a successful intervention enables a sustainable pathway out of poverty, there’s a moral responsibility to scale it as far as possible. AI-powered tools like GitHub Copilot, combined with open source innovation, are helping the organization accelerate and amplify its impact, touching more lives each year.

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