These moments matter because recognition matters. But what role do men play throughout the entire conversation about gender equity? Traditionally, allyship has meant good intentions—sending supportive messages to colleagues or attending events.
Yet, real progress requires more—creating an environment where women truly belong and thrive, ensuring better outcomes for the farmers we serve. And that realisation did not begin with a declaration, but with listening. The turning point for me came in 2020.
At One Acre Fund, the Covid-19 pandemic challenged us to rethink how we work. Although a majority of the farmers we serve are women, most of our senior staff were men. Addressing this required a genuine mindset shift from leadership to acknowledge this imbalance as a critical issue and we had to confront the systemic barriers preventing women from rising through our ranks.
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We could not just say we wanted more women; we had to examine how our recruitment processes and workspaces unintentionally excluded them and completely overhaul our approaches. The progress we have made since has been driven by incredible women leaders across our teams. I have learned that part of allyship is knowing when not to get in the way, ensuring women have the space and authority to drive change themselves.
This agency led to impactful policies. In Malawi, our Planting Partners programme provides contract labour to support mothers with demanding farm tasks during pregnancy and after giving birth. Internally, we improved our maternity policy to offer 104 days of leave, exceeding labour laws.
We now allow breastfeeding mothers who travel for business to bring a nanny, and provide a lodging stipend to ensure both mother and child are supported. We also changed how we recruit field staff; within just two seasons, women’s representation increased from about 27 percent to 40 percent.
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