Seeds of Change: How Fair Planet Helped Farmers Double Their Yields, and Their Futures

Target 2.3 – Double the productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers

In the highlands of Ethiopia, farming has always been the heart of rural life. Most families rely on small plots to feed themselves and to earn what little they can. For generations, farmers have worked hard, planting, tending, and hoping for rain. But yields stayed low, and so did incomes. Crops failed often. Seeds were poor quality. Tools were basic. Even the hardest-working farmers found themselves stuck in the same cycle: survive, not succeed.

That began to change after 2015, when an Israeli non-profit called Fair Planet arrived with a new approach. They weren’t bringing handouts. They weren’t building large-scale industrial farms. What they offered was smaller, smarter, and more sustainable: better seeds and better training, delivered through local people, using existing farming systems.

Fair Planet began by identifying a few key crops that could generate strong returns for local farmers, particularly tomatoes, onions and peppers. Working with global seed companies and local agricultural experts, they tested dozens of seed varieties to find those best suited for Ethiopian conditions: the climate, the soil, the altitude. Once those varieties were proven to perform, the real work began.

The organisation trained groups of “lead farmers”, respected, experienced members of the community, in how to grow these new crops successfully. This wasn’t high-tech or theoretical. It was visual, hands-on, and designed for replication. Once trained, those lead farmers went on to teach their neighbours, creating a powerful ripple effect.

And the results were nothing short of remarkable.

Farmers who previously harvested around 7,600 kilograms of tomatoes per hectare began producing more than 32,000 kilograms using the same land, labour and water. That’s more than four times the output, and four times the income. Many households doubled their income within a single season.

With extra earnings, families could afford school fees, better tools, more nutritious food and basic health care. Children returned to school. Women gained more economic independence. Entire villages began to feel the impact, not through donations, but through self-generated income and pride.

By 2020, over 2,000 lead farmers had been trained across Ethiopia, influencing more than 75,000 neighbouring households. That meant hundreds of thousands of people were now eating better, earning more, and gaining security.

But Fair Planet didn’t stop there. The model was deliberately built for scale. After its success in Ethiopia, the organisation expanded into Rwanda and Tanzania, adjusting the seed selection and training materials to match local conditions.

What makes Fair Planet’s approach different is how deliberately human it is. It doesn’t sideline the farmer. It doesn’t assume local people are the problem. It starts with what they already know and builds on it. Farmers lead their own transformation, one small plot at a time.

The work is low-cost, high-impact, and remarkably resilient. Seeds are sourced and distributed locally. Training is peer-led. Inputs are kept affordable. There’s no dependency, and no loss of dignity. Farmers aren’t recipients, they’re decision-makers.

This is what SDG 2.3 really looks like on the ground. It isn’t abstract. It’s a real-world example of how food systems can be more just, more productive, and more inclusive, when we invest in people first.

Your Voice. Your Target. Your Legacy.

If your classroom, business or youth group wants to support real change in how food is grown and livelihoods are built, this is where to begin. Start with one seed, one training, one farmer. Help build capacity, not just crops.

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